People and the Grand Canyon: A timeline

10,000 YEARS AGO PEOPLE FIRST OCCUPIED THE CANYON, ACCORDING TO THE OLDEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS.

4,000 YEARS AGO FIGURINES MADE OF SPLIT WILLOW TWIGS OFFER CLUES TO THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE IN THE CANYON. THE FIGURINES DEPICT MULE DEER AND BIGHORN SHEEP, SPECIES COMMON IN THE CANYON TODAY.

1,500 YEARS AGO AGRICULTURE BROUGHT CHANGES TO TRIBAL LIFE. VILLAGE SITES BUILT FROM ADOBE BRICK WITH ADJACENT CORNFIELDS IN THE CANYON AREA ARE REMNANTS OF THE ANASAZI PEOPLE, FORERUNNERS TO TODAY'S PUEBLOAN TRIBES, INCLUDING THE HOPI. ANASAZI MEANS ENEMY IN NAVAJO; HOPI AND OTHER PUEBLOANS PREFER TERMS THAT MEAN ANCESTORS OR OLD ONES.

1185 THE TUSAYAN PUEBLO -- A SERIES OF ROOMS BUILT AROUND A PLAZA -- WAS BUILT ON THE SOUTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON. THE RUINS ARE STILL VISIBLE. A SMALL MUSEUM ON SITE TODAY EXPLAINS WHAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS KNOW ABOUT VILLAGE LIFE. THE VILLAGERS GREW CORN AND OTHER CROPS AND HUNTED IN AND NEAR THE CANYON.

1540 CAPT. GARCIA LOPEZ DE CARDENAS AND A PARTY OF HIS MEN BECAME THE FIRST EUROPEANS TO SEE THE CANYON. THEY WEREN'T IMPRESSED; TO THEM IT WAS AN ENORMOUS OBSTACLE TO FINDING CITIES OF GOLD.

1869 JOHN WESLEY POWELL LED AN EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER IN WOODEN BOATS AND DUBBED THE AREA THE CANYON GRAND. HIS COLORFUL ACCOUNT OF THE JOURNEY POPULARIZED THE CANYON AS A DESTINATION.

1908 TEDDY ROOSEVELT DESIGNATED THE GRAND CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT.

1919 CONGRESS APPROVED THE NATIONAL PARK DESIGNATION.

1950S Dams proposed on the Colorado River, including some that would flood the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon. The fight over the Glen Canyon Dam, just upstream, sparked one of the first major battles of the conservation movement in United States.

1956 Visitation exceeded 1 million per year.

1963 Glen Canyon Dam completed. River flow, once dictated by natural flooding, became regulated. Several species of fish were extirpated. Structure of riverbanks and sandbars began to change.

1967 In response to assertions by the Corps of Engineers that more people would be able to see the canyon if it were dammed, the Sierra Club took out ads asking "Should we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can get nearer the ceiling?" Efforts to put dams in the Grand Canyon failed.

1972 More than 16,400 people rafted the Colorado in the canyon; the park instituted a system of permits to limit numbers.

1986 A sightseeing plane crashed into a helicopter in midair, killing all 25 people in both aircrafts.

1989 The government ordered Glen Canyon Dam to adjust flow to minimize the impact on the environment.

1993 Nearly 5 million people visited the park.

1995 A general management plan was approved for the park. Because of overcrowding and traffic on the South Rim, plans included an extensive public transport system using light rail. On peak summer days, cars outnumbered parking spaces by several thousand. (Still true in 2005).

2000 Congress scuttled plans for a light-rail system. A free shuttle bus system began operating, and its most popular routes were closed to other traffic.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

John Wesley Powell with Pauite leader Tau-gu. Powell was first to pass through the canyon by boat.