Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company's Canyon Diablo bridge

Canyon Diablo ( Navajo: Kin Łigaaí) is a canyon near Two Guns in

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially-defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Gila counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the sout ...

. Part of it is located on the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

Discovery

Canyon Diablo was named by U.S. Army Lieutenant

Amiel Weeks Whipple Amiel Weeks Whipple (October 21, 1817 – May 7, 1863)Anderson, TSHA was an American military officer and topographical engineer. He served as a brigadier general in the American Civil War, where he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chance ...

. Whipple, of the Army's Topographical Engineers, made a survey in 1853–1854 along the 35th parallel. In mid December 1853 Whipple found a steep canyon while riding west from a point near Winslow with a reconnaissance party. He named it Canyon Diablo. The canyon passes west of

Meteor Crater Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, is a meteorite impact crater about east of Flagstaff and west of Winslow in the desert of northern Arizona, United States. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are officia ...

. The community of

Canyon Diablo, Arizona Canyon Diablo is a ghost town in Coconino County, Arizona, United States on the edge of the arroyo Canyon Diablo. The community was settled in 1880 and died out in the early 20th century. The town, which is about northwest of Meteor Crater, ...

on the edge of the canyon about northwest of the crater was the closest community to the crater when scientists began investigating the crater. Consequently, the meteorite that caused the crater is officially called the

Canyon Diablo meteorite The Canyon Diablo meteorite refers to the many fragments of the asteroid that created Meteor Crater (also called Barringer Crater), Arizona, United States. Meteorites have been found around the crater rim, and are named for nearby Canyon Diabl ...

. Canyon Diablo ("devil canyon") is the Spanish translation of the Native American name. The Canyon Diablo Bridge, once used by

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

to cross the canyon south of the present

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

bridges, is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

Canyon Diablo railroad bridge is a well-known

railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter ( Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rai ...

site.Route 66, Winslow Williams Diablo Canyon
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Discovery

See also

References

Further reading