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Glen Canyon is a natural
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
carved by a length of the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
, mostly in southeastern and south-central
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, in the United States. Glen Canyon starts where Narrow Canyon ends, at the confluence of the Colorado River and the
Dirty Devil River
The Dirty Devil River is an tributary of the Colorado River, located in the U.S. state of Utah. It flows through southern Utah from the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek before emptying into the Colorado River at Lake Powell.
Cour ...
. A small part of the lower end of Glen Canyon extends into northern
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
and terminates at
Lee's Ferry
Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state li ...
, near the
Vermilion Cliffs
The Vermilion Cliffs are the second "step" up in the five-step Grand Staircase of the Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona and southern Utah. They extend west from near Page, Arizona, for a considerable distance, in both Arizona and Utah.
of ...
. Like the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
farther downstream, Glen Canyon is part of the immense system of canyons carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
In 1966, a
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
,
Lake Powell
Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...
, was created by the construction of the
Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page, Arizona, Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powe ...
, in the Arizona portion of Glen Canyon near
Page
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
, inundating much of Glen Canyon under water hundreds of feet in depth. Contrary to popular belief, Lake Powell was not the result of negotiations over the controversial damming of the
Green River Green River may refer to:
Rivers
Canada
* Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River
*Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte
*Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
within
Dinosaur National Monument at
Echo Park
Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known f ...
; the Echo Park Dam proposal was abandoned due to nationwide citizen pressure on Congress to do so.
[Rusho, W. L., ""Bumpy Road For Glen Canyon Dam"", The Bureau of Reclamation:
History Essays from the Centennial Symposium Volumes I and II, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior, Denver, Colorado, 2008 https://www.usbr.gov/history/Symposium_2008/Historical_Essays.pdf] The Glen Canyon Dam remains a central issue for modern
environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
movements. Beginning in the late 1990s, the
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
and other organizations renewed the call to dismantle the dam and drain Lake Powell in Lower Glen Canyon. Today, Glen Canyon and Lake Powell are managed by the U.S.
Department of the Interior within
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon ...
.
Before the Glen Canyon Dam
Prehistoric cultural periods
Studies indicate a chronology for the Lower Glen Canyon prehistory, "from pre-A.D. 1 to the 15th century and recorded history from 1776 to the present".
[
* A ]Late Basketmaker II Era
The Late Basketmaker II Era (AD 50 to 500) was a cultural period of Ancient Pueblo People when people began living in pit-houses, raised maize and squash, and were proficient basket makers and weavers. They also hunted game and gathered wild ...
(generally AD 50–500) is represented by several sites. Radiocarbon
Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
dates from charcoal material span the period between AD 250 and 440 (plus or minus 80 years). Basketmaker III is not found in the Lower Glen Canyon, but is documented in Navajo Canyon, a large left bank tributary of the Colorado River, within the geographical area of the Lower Glen Canyon.[ Basketmaker III introduced fired pottery, mostly Lino Black-on-gray and Lino Gray, and some small amounts of Lino Fugitive Red and Obelisk Gray. The ]Basketmaker culture
The Basketmaker culture of the pre- Ancestral Puebloans began about 1500 BC and continued until about AD 750 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era. The prehistoric American southwestern culture was named "Basketmaker" for the large number of ...
is believed to have lasted later than Pueblo I.
* Pueblo I Era (AD 750–900) remains are found at Rock Creek in Lower Glen Canyon, and in Navajo Canyon. The pottery types are Kana-a Black-on-white, Deadmans Black-on-red, and Kana-a Gray, made from deposits found in Lizard Alcove. Pueblo I is the best documented period of Navajo Canyon, beginning in AD 800 and lasting 200 years. " Pueblo II in Navajo Canyon is represented by the absence of Kana-a Black-on-white and the dominance of Black Mesa Black-on-white".[
* Pueblo II (AD 900–1100) and early Pueblo III is the best documented cultural area in Lower Glen Canyon, corresponding with habitation on Cummings Mesa. Pottery includes mostly Tusayan varieties, Black-on-white, Black-on-red, and Red Wear Polychromes.
* Hopi people from the Jeddito area came into the canyons in the 14th century, represented by Yellow Wares, mostly Jeddito Black-on-yellow, and Jeddito plain.
Most of the ceramic material found in the main canyon was probably made in the highlands, although it is possible some pottery was manufactured in Lower Glen Canyon. Clay deposits are found along the river, and some crude pottery specimens may have been made there. Only four burials were found in Lower Glen Canyon at three sites. Trash dumps are not very common at most sites. This is more evidence to suggest the seasonal rather than permanent occupation of hunters and farmers in the canyon.
Cultural similarities are based on the presence or absence of certain types of ceramic wares.][ Group types of pottery, including Kayenta (Tusayan and Tsegi Orange Ware), Virgin (San Juan Red and White Wares), with Fremont, and ]Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States.
Established ...
or Anasazi
The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...
types of White and Desert Gray Ware, were found mostly on the right bank of the Colorado. Basketmaker II is characterized by a lack of pottery, as well as above-ground and underground cists lined with slabs.
There is very little evidence of permanent occupation except at Talus Ruin, a small pueblo with a kiva
A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...
, a ceremonial structure, made mostly of masonry, featuring jacal walls of sticks and reeds set in mortar in a single row of masonry. The presence of metates are evidence that campsites with slab-lined hearths were inhabited for longer periods. Agricultural structures are not found in the main lower canyon, and no formalized fields are found in the main canyon because of alleviation and slope wash burying.[ Houses, when found, are mostly sandstone slab with mortar, having one to seven rooms. "Well constructed mealing bins which usually denote permanency were lacking in the Lower Glen Canyon. In contrast, on Cummings Mesa at Surprise Pueblo, there was one entire room devoted to mealing bins…".][ In the highlands, granaries were near or incorporated into permanent pueblos, compared with smaller ones near temporary sites in the canyon.][ "Home Base" pueblos in the nearby highlands on Cummings Mesa and Paiute Mesa are believed to have supported temporary farming and hunting parties, who used an extensive trail system in the main canyon which is still in use today.
]
Natural resources for tool-making
"Stone tool manufacturing appears to have been an important industry for the entire Glen Canyon region, perhaps one of the major reasons for occupation".[ ]Cryptocrystal
Cryptocrystalline is a rock microstructure, rock texture made up of such minute crystals that its crystalline nature is only vaguely revealed even microscopically in thin section by transmitted polarized light. Among the sedimentary rocks, chert a ...
line rocks fill the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
gravel beds on the Carmel platforms. Scattered lithic tools and materials indicate workshops of various sizes. There is a lack of siliceous material in the highlands, but tools are found there made from the gravel beds in the river.
There are very few ground stone artifacts, such as manos, metates, and scrapers, found in the main canyon, since these tools are mainly found in the highlands. In the main canyon, a large number of chipped implements, ranging from small arrowheads to large knives, are found. Finished tools, and possibly blanks taken to the mesa, were probably used for trade.
Archaeology
Around 1956, archaeologists and biologists from the University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
and the Museum of Northern Arizona
The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, that was established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau.
The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist ...
, using National Park research grants, planned an emergency excavation of Lower Glen Canyon, which was soon to be flooded by the new Glen Canyon Dam. Between 1958 and 1960, four investigative phases, combined with other surveys prior to 1957, discovered 250 archaeological sites within the canyon. The Lower Glen Canyon survey was completed in 1958.
Excavations
Excavations began during the summer of 1958 on 16 sites. A thesis emerged that prehistoric people living permanently on the highlands south of Glen Canyon and on the Cummings Mesa, farmed the Lower Glen Canyon on a seasonal basis, and gathered raw materials. To prove this thesis of seasonal habitation, criteria such as architectural units, locations of trail systems, occurrence of ceremonial structures, prevalence of burials, and position of natural and cultural strata were investigated. Four types of sites are described in the survey, classified as either open sites situated on rock terraces; talus sites on broken material below cliffs; shelter sites in protected areas under overhanging cliffs; and cliff sites beneath ledges or in caves and canyon walls. Open sites are the majority on both sides of the river. The majority of sites, mostly Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
camps, feature lithic garbage or ceramics, or both. Talus sites are rarely recorded.
Most of the cultural remains found are chipped stone tools (lithic materials), including projectile points, scrapers, drills, knives, choppers, and ground stone tools and manos (grinders). The collection of sherds are mostly Tusayan Gray Ware and Tusayan White Ware. Petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
panels are found throughout Glen Canyon. "Pecked and incised figures depict mountain sheep, human figures, birds, human handprints and animal tracks. Geometric figures range from circles and spirals to highly complex rectilinear patterns. The human figures have triangular bodies. Painted figures have been reported for both sides of the river.... Petroglyph panels of such quality are lacking from the highland regions adjacent to Glen Canyon".[Long, Paul V. Jr. Archaeological Excavations in Lower Glen Canyon, Utah, 1959–1960. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No. 42 – Glen Canyon Series No. 7. The Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art (Flagstaff, 1966)]
Historic period
The recorded history of the canyon begins with the Dominguez–Escalante expedition in 1776, during which Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
explorers first documented the existence of Glen Canyon. The expedition members crossed the Colorado River in Glen Canyon at the site now known as the Crossing of the Fathers.
In the 1830s, trapper Denis Julien may have visited upper Glen Canyon by boat.[Marston, Otis R., (2014). "From Powell To Power; A Recounting of the First One Hundred River Runners Through the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff, Arizona: Vishnu Temple Press ] In 1869 and again in 1871, scientific expeditions led by John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...
traveled through Glen Canyon en route to the Grand Canyon, resulting in the first formal surveys of the main channel and many of the side canyons.[
In the 1890s, hundreds of miners panned for flour gold in Glen Canyon. Their main camp was at Dandy Crossing, also called ]Hite, Utah
Historic Hite is a flooded ghost town at the north end of Lake Powell along the Colorado River in western San Juan County, Utah, United States. Lake Powell, and all of its points of interest, are in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, manage ...
, after Cass Hite.[ Between 1898 and 1901, mining engineer Robert Brewster Stanton was employed by mining magnate Julius Stone to design, build, and operate a dredge in an attempt to recover Glen Canyon's flour gold. The effort failed.][
]
Geographical and cultural features
The following is a list of geographical and cultural features along the Colorado River in Glen Canyon. Many of these locations are now partially or entirely submerged beneath the waters of Lake Powell. River mileage is derived from the USGS 1921 Plan and Profile maps. River Mile Zero is at Lee's Ferry
Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state li ...
, Arizona; the numbers increase as one travels upstream, ending at Mile 169.6 at the confluence with the Dirty Devil River
The Dirty Devil River is an tributary of the Colorado River, located in the U.S. state of Utah. It flows through southern Utah from the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek before emptying into the Colorado River at Lake Powell.
Cour ...
.
Glen Canyon Dam
In the 1950s, with the proposal of a dam upstream of the Grand Canyon for water storage and hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
power generation, many environmentalist groups rallied to prevent the inundation of the largely undeveloped canyons in the upper Colorado River watershed. The Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
and its leader, David Brower
David Ross Brower (; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies (1997), Friends of the Earth (1969), Eart ...
, were instrumental in blocking the proposed Echo Park Dam
Echo Park Dam was proposed in the 1950s by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a central feature of the Colorado River Storage Project. Situated on the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, the dam was proposed for the Echo Park distr ...
in Dinosaur National Monument, but ignored Glen Canyon in the process. Before Glen Canyon was flooded in 1963, but after the struggle in Congress, Brower and many others floated the Colorado River through the canyon and realized the tremendous resource it was. The experience transformed Brower's attitude towards environmental preservation, making him more radical and less likely to compromise. His experience has been compared to the experience of John Muir
John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
with the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...
in California. For Brower, it steeled him for the battle over a proposed dam in the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
.
American writer Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author, essayist, and environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His best-known works include ''Desert Solit ...
also documented his experience exploring Glen Canyon from the Colorado River prior to the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in his 1968 memoir ''Desert Solitaire
''Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness'' is an autobiographical work by American writer Edward Abbey, originally published in 1968. His fourth book and his first book-length non-fiction work, it follows three fictional books: '' Jonath ...
'', in the chapter titled "Down the River".
See also
* Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (shortened to Glen Canyon NRA or GCNRA) is a national recreation area and conservation unit of the United States National Park Service that encompasses the area around Lake Powell and lower Cataract Canyon ...
* Glen Canyon Institute
Glen Canyon Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 dedicated to the restoration of the Colorado River through Glen Canyon, which is currently covered by Lake Powell, a reservoir created by Glen Canyon Dam. Their headquarters are in ...
References
* Jennings, Jesse D. ''Glen Canyon: An Archaeological Summary''. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966, republished 1998. .
Further reading
* Crampton, C. Gregory. ''Ghosts of Glen Canyon: History Beneath Lake Powell'', revised edition (2009). .
* Eliot Porter (Photographer), Daniel P Beard (Preface), David Brower (Foreword) (Eds., 1997). ''The Place No One Knew – Glen Canyon on the Colorado''. Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher; Cmv edition (July 21, 2000). .
* Fowler, Don D. ''The Glen Canyon Country'' (2011). .
* Abbey, Edward. ''Desert Solitaire'', Chapter 12, "Down the River" (1968). Publisher: McGraw-Hill. .
External links
canyonconservancy.org
information from Glen Canyon Conservancy, the official nonprofit partner of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge National Monument.
glencanyon.org
information from the Glen Canyon Institute
livingrivers.org
{{coord, 37, 15, 15, N, 110, 52, 42, W, scale:1000000, display=title
Colorado River
Canyons and gorges of Utah
Canyons and gorges of Arizona
Geography of Coconino County, Arizona
Canyons and gorges of Garfield County, Utah
Landforms of Kane County, Utah
Landforms of San Juan County, Utah
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Tourist attractions in San Juan County, Utah
Tourist attractions in Coconino County, Arizona
Tourist attractions in Garfield County, Utah
Tourist attractions in Kane County, Utah
Canyons and gorges of the United States