Grand Canyon: An astounding 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon each year, a breathtaking canyon with steep sides.
Key Points
It measures 277 miles (445 km) in length, with an average depth of 1220 metres (4000 feet), and is situated in the state of Arizona in the country’s southwest. Due to its breath-taking views of the canyon and the Colorado River far below, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon attracts the most tourists.
It’s interesting to note that the Grand Canyon National Park contains a variety of diverse ecosystems, from desert to woodland. Numerous kinds of plants and animals, including many endangered ones, find biological shelter in these diverse environments.
Although the Grand Canyon is neither the deepest, longest, or widest canyon in the world, it is recognised for its magnificence and enormous size. The astounding 277-mile-long rift, which is a portion of the Colorado River Basin, splits the Colorado Plateau.
The canyon was created as a result of erosion from the Colorado River. According to several estimations, the process started around 6 million years ago. A new study, however, suggested that it might have started as recently as 17 million years ago, which is earlier than previously assumed! Fascinatingly, the canyon’s walls provide an unrivalled portrayal of Earth’s various geologic eras. In actuality, it is thought that the rocks discovered in the Grand Canyon’s walls are around one-third as old as the planet itself.
The Colorado River, South Rim, and North Rim are each on average 2200 feet above sea level, 6800 feet, and 8000 feet, respectively. The enormous biodiversity found in the Grand Canyon is a result of this elevational variety. Grand Canyon National Park contains three of the four major types of desert and five of the seven living zones. The result is that the park is home to nearly 1500 native plant species, 355 bird species, 89 animal species, 47 reptile species, 9 amphibian species, and 17 fish species. The desert tortoise, two kinds of leopard frogs, the bald eagle, the American peregrine falcon, and bighorn sheep are just a few of the endangered species that may be found in the area.
The Grand Canyon is best visited in the spring or fall, when hiking conditions are optimum and tourist numbers are slightly lower. By no means, though, should you neglect going to the canyon during the summer. However, because to the peak tourist season and the high temperatures (exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit), hiking will not be at its best. Winter brings sub-zero temperatures and the potential for significant snowfall, which may make reaching either rim difficult. In actuality, the North Rim access route is always closed from late October until mid-May.
Fly into the international airports of Phoenix or Las Vegas. From here, you may either rent a car or sign up for one of the numerous available coach tours. It takes roughly 5 hours to go to the Grand Canyon from either of these airports. Take Arizona State Route 67 to reach the North Rim of the Grand Canyon or State Route 64 to reach the South Rim and Grand Canyon Village if you want to see the Grand Canyon by car.
Mysteries of Infinity Rich Cavern being brought to light in Jordan is remarkable. It indicates ancient people migrated from the Orient.
The latest news of the progress of the exploration of what is now regarded by scientists as not only the oldest archaeological discovery in the United States but one of the most valuable in the world, which was mentioned some time ago in the Gazette, was brought to the city yesterday by G.E. Kinkaid, the explorer who found the great underground citadel of the Grand Canyon during a trip from Green River, Wyoming, down the Colorado, in a wooden boat, to Yuma, several months ago.
According to the story related to the Gazette by Mr. Kinkaid, the archaelogists of the Smithsonian Institute, which is financing the expeditions, have made discoveries which almost conclusively prove that the race which inhabited this mysterious cavern, hewn in solid rock by human hands, was of oriental origin, possibly from Egypt, tracing back to Ramses. If their theories are borne out by the translation of the tablets engraved with heiroglyphics, the mystery of the prehistoric peoples of North America, their ancient arts, who they were and whence they came, will be solved. Egypt and the Nile, as well as Arizona and Colorado, will be linked by a historical chain stretching back to ages that defy the fictionist’s wildest imagination.
A Thorough Examination
Under the direction of Prof. S. A. Jordan, the Smithsonian Institute is now conducting the most thorough exploration, which will continue until the last link in the chain is forged. Nearly a mile underground, about 1480 feet below the surface, the long main passage has been delved into to find another mammoth chamber from which radiate scores of passageways, like the spokes of a wheel.
Several hundred rooms have been discovered, reached by passageways running from the main passage, one of them having been explored for 854 feet and another 634 feet. The recent finds include articles which have never been known as native to this country, and doubtless they had their origin in the Orient. War weapons, copper instruments, sharp-edged and hard as steel, indicate the high state of civilization reached by these strange people. So interested have scientists become that preparations are being made to equip the camp for extensive studies, and the force will be increased to thirty or forty people.
Mr. Kinkaid’s Report
Mr. Kinkaid was the first white child born in Idaho and has been an explorer and hunter all his life, thirty years having been in the service of the Smithsonian Institute. Even briefly recounted, history sounds fabulous, almost grotesque.
“First, I would like to emphasise that the cavern is nearly inaccessible. The entrance is 1,486 feet down the sheer canyon wall. It is located on government land and no visitors will be allowed there under penalty of trespass. The scientists wish to work unmolested, without fear of archaeological discoveries being disturbed by curio or relic hunters.
A trip there would be fruitless, and the visitor would be sent on his way. The story of how I found the cavern has been related, but in a paragraph: I was journeying down the Colorado river in a boat,
alone, looking for minerals. Some forty-two miles up the river from the El Tovar Crystal Canyon, I saw stains on the east wall of the sedimentary formations about 2,000 feet above the river bed. There was no trail to this point, but I finally reached it with great difficulty.
Above a shelf, which hid it from view from the river, was the mouth of the cave. There are steps leading from this entrance about thirty yards to what was the river level when the cavern was inhabited.When I noticed the chisel marks on the wall inside the entrance, I became intrigued and went in, securing my gun.During that trip, I went back several hundred feet along the main passage until I came to the crypt in which I discovered the mummies. One of these I stood up and photographed by flashlight. I gathered a number of relics, which I carried down the Colorado to Yuma, from whence I shipped them to Washington with details of the discovery.
Following this, the explorations were undertaken.
The Passages
The main passageway is about 12 feet wide, narrowing to nine feet at the farther end, along which, on both sides, are a number of rooms about the size of ordinary living rooms today, though some are 30 by 40 feet square. These are entered by oval-shaped doors and are ventilated by round air spaces through the walls into the passages. The walls are about three feet six inches in thickness.
The passages are chiselled or hewn as straight as could be laid out by an engineer. The ceilings of many of the rooms converge at the centre. The side-passages near the entrance run at a sharp angle from the main hall, but toward the rear they gradually reach a right angle in direction.
The Shrine
“Over a hundred feet from the entrance is the cross-hall, several hundred feet long, in which is found the idol, or image, of the people’s god, sitting cross-legged, with a lotus flower or lily in each hand. The cast of the face is oriental, and the carving is this cavern.
The idol almost resembles Buddha, though the scientists are not certain as to what religious worship it represents. Taking into consideration everything found thus far, it is possible that this worship most resembles the ancient people of Tibet.
Surrounding this idol are smaller images, some very beautiful, others crooked-necked and distorted shapes, symbolic, probably, of good and evil. There are two large cactus with protruding arms, one on each side of the dais on which the godsquat. All this is carved out of hard rock resembling marble. In the opposite corner of this cross-hall were found tools of all descriptions, made of copper. These people undoubtedly knew the lost art of hardening this metal, which has been sought by chemicals for centuries without result. On a bench running around the workroom was some charcoal and other materials probably used in the process. There is also slag and matte-like material, indicating that these ancients smelted ores, but no trace of where or how this was done, nor of the ore’s origin, has been discovered so far.
“Among the other finds are vases or urns and cups of copper and gold, made very artistic in design. The pottery work includes enamelled ware and glazed vessels. Another passageway leads to to
granaries such as those found in the oriental temples. They contain seeds of various kinds. One very large storehouse has not yet been entered, as it is twelve feet high and can be reached only from above. Two copper hooks protrude from the edge, indicating that a ladder was attached.These granaries are rounded because the materials of which they are constructed, I think, are very hard. A grey metal is also found in this cavern, which puzzles the scientists, for its identity has not been established. It resembles platinum. Strewn promiscuously over the floor everywhere are what people call “cats eyse”, a yellow stone of no great value.
Each one is engraved with the head of the Malay type.
The Hieroglyphics
The Smithsonian Institute hopes to discover the mysterious hieroglyphics on all the urns, or walls over doorways , and tablets of stone that were found by the image. The engraving on the tables probably has something to do with the religion of the people. Similar hieroglyphics have been found in southern Arizona. Among the pictorial writings, only two animals are found. One is of the prehistoric type.
The Crypt
“The tomb or crypt in which the mummies were found is one of the largest of the chambers, the walls slanting back at an angle of about 35 degrees. On these are tiers of mummies, each one occupying a separate hewn shelf. At the head of each is a small bench, on which are found copper cups and pieces of broken swords. Some of the mummies are covered with clay, and all are wrapped in a bark fabric.
The urns or cups on the lower tiers are crude, while as the higher tiers are reached, the urns are finer in design, showing a later stage of civilization. It is worthy of note that all the mummies
examined so far have proved to be male, with no children or females being buried here. This leads to the belief that this exterior section was the warriors’ barracks.
“Among the discoveries, no bones of animals have been found, no no skins, no clothing, no bedding. Many of the rooms are bare but for water vessels. One room, about 40 by 700 feet, was probably the main dining hall, for cooking utensils are found here. What these people lived on is a problem, though it is presumed that they came south in the winter and farmed in the valleys, going back north in the summer.
Upwards of 50,000 people could have lived in the caves comfortably. One theory is that the present Indian tribes found in Arizona are descendants of the serfs or slaves of the people who inhabited the cave. Undoubtedly, a good many thousands of years before the Christian era, a people lived here who reached a high stage of civilization. The chronology of human history is full of gaps. Professor Jordan is ecstatic about the discoveries and believes they will be of incalculable value in archaeological work.
One thing I have not spoken of may be of interest. There is one chamber of the passageway which is not ventilated, and when we approached it, a deadly, snaky smell struck us. Our light would not penetrate the gloom, and until stronger ones are available, we will not know what the chamber contains. Some say snakes, but others boo-hoo this idea and think it may contain a deadly gas or chemical used by the ancients. No sounds are heard, but it smells snaky just the same. The whole underground installation gives one of the shaky
nerves the creeps. The gloom is like a weight on one’s shoulders, and our flashlights and candles only make the darkness blacker.
“Imagination can revel in conjectures and ungodly daydreams back through the ages that have elapsed till the mind reels dizzily in space.”
An Indian Legend
In connection with this story, it is worth noting that Hopi Indian tradition holds that their ancestors once lived in the Grand Canyon’s underworld until discord arose between the good and the bad, the people of one heart and the people of two hearts.Machetto, who was their chief, counselled them to leave the underworld, but there was no way out. The chief then caused a tree to grow up and pierce the roof of the underworld, and then the people of one heart climbed out. They tarried by Paisisvai (Red River), which is the Colorado, and grew grain and corn.
They sent out a message to the Temple of the Sun, asking for the blessing of peace, good will, and rain for people of one heart. The messenger never returned, but today at sundown in Hopi villages, the old men of the tribe can be seen out on the housetops gazing toward the sun, looking for the messenger.When he returns, their lands and ancient dwelling places will be restored to them. That is the tradition.
Among the engravings of animals in the cave is seen the image of Aheart over the spot where it is located. The legend was learned byW.E. Rollins, the artist, during a year spent with the Hopi Indians.
There are two theories about the origin of the Egyptians. One is that they came from Asia; another is that the racial cradle was in the upper Nile region. Heeren, an Egyptologist, believed in the Indian origin of the Egyptians. The discoveries in the Grand Canyon may throw further light on human evolution and prehistoric ages.
