by Alex Gugel , all rights reserved
Grand CanyonPhantom Ranch Walking Tour |
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National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Grand Canyon
Phantoms of the Past
A Historic Walking Tour
Like a long-forgotten diary in a dusty cellar,
Phantom Ranch tells stories of a time gone
by. It is a memory of a era before cell phones,
computers, and energy bars, when few
people visited Grand Canyon. Shaped by
entrepreneurs, presidents, architects, and
work crews, Phantom Ranch sits humble
and rustic. It still remains and reminds us,
like musings in an old journal, of an era
of changes, challenges, and achievements.
On this walking tour, follow along in the
diaries—and footsteps—of Phantom Ranch’s
pioneers.
Stop 1: Rust’s Camp
(at Mule Corral)
“An ill omen for us, a heart breaker. We had salty coffee for
breakfast, but that isn’t the trouble. Just as we have finished
the platform. . .we load the cage. . .and start her across. All
goes lovely and jubilant until the car is nearly half way over,
then buzz! Whang! Ka-splash. She sinks out of sight…a pall
comes over me, stunning, like some friend were stricken dead.
We…go to camp sad, sad!”
“[N]early pulled end of finger
off the other day. . .No use
to say more - the tram runs
o.k. and looks pretty good.”
~David Rust, September 22.
National Park Service (NPS)
photo ca. 1910.
Cover Image: Sierra Club
members perform a skit at a
Phantom Ranch campfire. NPS
photo ca. 1948.
~David Rust, April 1, 1907
A few years after the Santa Fe Railroad started bringing
tourists to the South Rim, David Rust on the North Rim
hoped to capitalize on increased tourism as well. A tourist
here in 1907 would have seen a different landscape, with no
permanent structures and little vegetation. Rust and several
men worked hard to build a camp at the bottom of Grand
Canyon. Against many challenges, Rust persevered. He and
his crew improved trails, planted trees, built an irrigation
system, and constructed several tents and ramadas for
overnight guests. Eventually, his modest accommodations—
not so modestly known as Rust’s Camp—allowed
prospectors, hunters, and a “few sturdy and adventurous
tourists” to stay comfortably in the canyon.
Grand Canyon National Park 1
President Teddy
Roosevelt, while on a
hunting trip, enjoyed
the tram so much he
rode it multiple times
and even cranked the
winch!
At that time no reliable way existed to cross the Colorado
River. To move tourists and their mules over the river, Rust
installed a cable tramway. This system—a cage suspended
60 feet (18 m) above the river on a 450-foot (137 m) long
cable—relied on gravity to propel tourists halfway across
the river. At a winch on the other side, a tram operator
cranked the cage the rest of the way. One early tourist
described riding in the cage on a windy day as “being the
clapper in a bell.”
Rust’s Camp operated from 1907 to 1919, when Grand
Canyon officially became a national park. Though his camp
did not survive, Rust is one of the most important—and
most overlooked—figures in the development of inner
canyon tourism. Rust’s achievements were the first to
change the face of Phantom Ranch. Unfortunately, little
evidence of Rust’s Camp remains today. Portions of his
improved trail do exist in the form of the North Kaibab
Trail, enjoyed today by many “sturdy and adventurous
tourists.”
Ellsworth Kolb and a young
woman dine at Rust’s Camp.
NPS photo ca. 1907.
As you meander along the trail, think about the challenges
(imagine: salty coffee!) Rust and his crew faced while
making changes to the area. Walk north from the corral
back toward the ranger station.
2 Phantom Ranch: A Historic Walking Tour
Stop 2: Orchard
“Our first dollar...I feel something like Lincoln felt over his first
$1.00…We are puttering around on the farm. Radishes, peas,
lettuce, oats up nicely. Alfalfa put in yesterday.”
Phantom Ranch orchards (top,
ca. 1933) and early Ranch
guests (bottom, ca. 1925).
Try to match the photos with
what you see today. Do you
see any resemblance? NPS
photos.
~David Rust’s diary, February 22, 1909
Pass by the ranger station on your way to the Phantom
Ranch canteen. In the area between both mule corrals and
spanning across the canyon floor, Rust, and later the Fred
Harvey company, grew an orchard and alfalfa field for
livestock. Because of the remote location, Rust’s Camp and
Phantom Ranch had to be as self-sustaining as possible.
Guests at meals often delighted in the fresh food: peaches,
plums, apricots, and pomegranates from the orchard;
chicken and eggs from a chicken house; and rabbits from
a rabbit run. And you thought ice-cold lemonade was the
cream of the crop! With all the hard work Rust, the Fred
Harvey company, and architect Mary Colter put into this
area, it started to look less like a desert and began to evolve
into the hypnotic hideaway you find today.
How will your dinner compare to that of early guests? Will
you have steak and cake at the canteen? Or create your own
feast in the campground?
Stop 3: Mary Colter Buildings
“Phantom Ranch is one of the earth’s most restful spots. Time
for a swim or shower before dinner. This meal is served family
style and if you prefer to stand after eight miles in the saddle,
dinner will be served on a shelf.”
~Adrian Harbin, Phantom Ranch visitor, 1937
In early 1922, the Fred Harvey company and Santa Fe
Railroad began to construct a new resort—Phantom
Ranch—near the location of Rust’s Camp. While the name
alone attracts attention, the stone cabins and canteen Colter
designed provide the real appeal of the area. To achieve a
rustic and homey look, she used rounded river rocks and
simple wooden eaves painted a dark brown, with splashes
of bright color for accents. Other than the color, little about
the buildings’ outward appearance has changed since 1922.
Grand Canyon National Park 3
The Fred Harvey company planned to
name its newest hotel “Roosevelt Chalet.”
A woman ahead of her time, Mary Colter
had other ideas. The company’s architect,
with her characteristic independence,
preferred the more romantic, mysterioussounding ‘Phantom Ranch’. Many stories
exist about the resort’s name, but everyone
agrees that it is far more exciting than that
of a president, no matter his influence.
4 Phantom Ranch: A Historic Walking Tour
Sometimes staying weeks at a
time, Phantom Ranch visitors
enjoyed the fruits of the Fred
Harvey company's labor: fresh
food, music, stories from the
mule wranglers, and billiards
or bridge in the rec hall. It
was a fun, exclusive vacation.
NPS photo ca. 1950.
Designed to agree with
nature, Colter’s buildings
resembled a cattle ranch in
the desert. Her initial layout
had five buildings, as pictured
opposite. NPS photo ca. 1922.
At the canteen, you will notice the stone foundation. Look
for Colter’s whimsical touches here: a metate or grinding
stone near the canteen entrance and a “baseball mitt”
below the east windows. On the east side of the building,
you will also see (and hear!) Phantom Ranch’s dinner bell.
The animated ringing from the original 1922 dinner bell
still awakens a Pavlovian response in dinner guests, whose
stomachs are as empty as a mule’s saddlebags.
Visits to Phantom Ranch became so popular that in 1925
and in 1927, Colter designed more cabins. These ‘new’
cabins have less stone work than the originals. Can you
distinguish the new cabins from the old?
Stop 4: Swimming Pool
“The first time I saw Phantom Ranch the swimming pool was
just completed. I remember diving into the water and finding
little chunks of ice floating there. The temperature down there
was about 105 so you can imagine the shock I received.”
~Civilian Conservation Corps enrollee Leon B. Sherrod
Look for a large weedy depression near cabins 5 and 6,
seating area, and rock wall. Though overgrown now, this
place tells a refreshing story of early Phantom Ranch.
Grand Canyon National Park 5
A crew of 20 CCC men dove
into the pool’s construction
and diverted creek water to
fill a hand-dug hole. The pool
even had a waterfall! Guests
relaxing in the pool may not
have known the hard work
that went into it. Above
photo by Dave Beal ca. 1961,
NPS collection; below photo
by George Grant ca. 1950,
NPS collection.
Until the 1960s, the Phantom Ranch guest book read
like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the time. Movie stars. Authors.
Oil and steel magnates. In every way possible, the Fred
Harvey company assured these Phantom Ranch visitors
an extravagant, semi-private experience. In 1934, to make
Phantom Ranch more relaxing, the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) built a swimming pool. Tourists now enjoyed
yet another opulent activity. Fresh breakfast, a soak in the
pool, and a martini during cocktail hour. What a life!
Like a whisper, that luxurious life slowly faded. Use of the
pool increased in the 1960s, and it became a maintenance
and health nightmare. In 1972, the concessioner filled the
pool in and, if local legend is true, crews tossed handcarved doors, oil-burning stoves, grills, blacksmithing
materials, a piano, and a pool table into the depression. If
you find yourself wishing the pool remained, you are not
alone. CCC enrollee Louis Purvis wrote, “The enrollees
who left some of themselves there in the pit wonder who
could be so selfish and ungrateful as to deprive future
visitors of the same privilege they enjoyed.”
Continue your walking tour, comparing the relaxing
experience of the tourists to the hard working lifestyle of
the CCC enrollees. Walk south toward the campground,
stopping when you arrive at three wooden benches.
6 Phantom Ranch: A Historic Walking Tour
Stop 5: CCC’s Telephone Line
“Has the Civilian Conservation Corps increased my weight
and hardened my muscles? It has done more than that. It has
. . .proved to me that Americanism is a reality, and not just a
simple word.”
~Diary entry of Frank Ranney, CCC, 1933
To help the economy during the Great Depression of the
1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt started the CCC.
This nationwide project conserved “not only our national
resources but our human resources” by giving thousands of
young men a chance to make a living and help their families.
In addition to a monthly $30 paycheck, the enrollees had
food, clothing, and shelter. For three years, Company 818,
with its crew of nearly 200 enrollees, changed the Phantom
Ranch area to make it accessible for more visitors.
To get the job done on CCC
projects, enrollees needed
“a degree in engineering,
the strength of a mule, the
endurance of a camel, the
surefootedness of a mountain
goat, and the tenacity of a
bull dog.” NPS photo ca. 1935.
In both a challenging economic and natural environment,
the crew produced remarkable results: the Clear Creek,
Ribbon Falls, and River trails and the Phantom Ranch pool.
One of the most challenging and important projects of all
was the trans-canyon phone line.
Grand Canyon National Park 7
Replacing old lines and installing new poles, the project
joined phone lines along the North Kaibab, South Kaibab,
and Bright Angel trails, ensuring the South Rim, Indian
Garden, Phantom Ranch, and the North Rim could
connect. Ironically, the CCC enrollees did not have
permission to make calls on the phone line they created.
Unless a true emergency arose only guests of Phantom
Ranch could make a phone call, further segregating the
workers from the guests.
After a hard day’s work
on the trail, CCC members
returned to their camp. They
said the “only thing attractive
or nice about the site was
the clean, pure water of
Bright Angel Creek,” quite the
contrast from the Phantom
Ranch guests relaxing with
their cocktails and cards. Top
photo NPS ca. 1934; bottom
photo NPS ca. 1935.
For years, the CCC phone line served as the only source of
communication at Phantom Ranch and along the trails. By
1982, technology had changed and Mountain Bell installed
a microwave transmitter at Phantom Ranch. At that time,
the National Park Service (NPS) removed a segment of the
CCC phone lines between the Bright Angel Trail’s River
Resthouse and Phantom Ranch; though not in use as phone
lines, campers in Bright Angel Campground still “call on”
these old poles to hang camping gear. Do you see the metal
poles across the creek? These poles, and the nearby historic
marker, reminds us of the great achievements of Company
818.
Stop 6: CCC’s Bright Angel
Campground
Continue south from the benches to the upper campground
bridge, where you can see the campground and an
alleyway of cottonwood trees. By improving the area, the
CCC guaranteed generations of backpackers could enjoy
a vacation almost as exclusive as the guests staying at
Phantom Ranch.
The crews labored to level and landscape the campground
and planted dozens of trees. Even though this CCC camp
held “the distinction of being the most difficult to supply of
any in the CCC system,” Company 818 met the challenges
head-on and we still appreciate their efforts.
As you amble south through the shaded campground,
and perhaps play and splash in the water of Bright Angel
Creek, think about how miserable this walking tour would
be without the improvements the CCC made! Walk to the
lower campground bridge for the next stop.
8 Phantom Ranch: A Historic Walking Tour
Stop 7: NPS/USGS Homes
“This is the laboratory. I really got a thrill out of helping
with the silt samples and evaporation. . .we watered the trees
and ‘grass.’ ...the flour had weavils [sic] in it, and the icebox would never work! But what fun waking [with] the sun
shining in your eyes, eating pancakes for breakfast and fishing
for
cat-fish in Bright Angel.”
~Dorothy Cornelius, 1945, wife of USGS hydrologist
Flood! In southern California
farming communities along
the Colorado River, that
word evoked both fright
and excitement. At Phantom
Ranch, Glenton Sykes and
other USGS scientists helped
predict floods for the farmers.
NAU photo, 1922 NAU.
PH.90.9.1750.
From the bridge, you see two houses. When the Fred
Harvey company started to attract tourists to Phantom
Ranch, the US government began housing employees in the
area. Facing south, do you see the building on the left? In
autumn 1922, the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
initiated construction on a hydrologist’s cabin. Modeled
after Mary Colter’s buildings, it had a metal roof, wooden
walls, a stone foundation, and a laboratory. After collecting
data from the Colorado River, the hydrologist brought
samples back here to the lab to determine flood stages and
silt load.
In front of you and slightly to your right sits the Rock
House, Phantom Ranch’s first park ranger residence.
Completed in 1926, this building also followed Colter’s
guidelines to ensure it did not intrude on nature. As the
Grand Canyon National Park 9
Chief Ranger Perry Brown
and other park rangers often
enlisted the help of CCC
enrollees and Phantom Ranch
staff for search and rescue
efforts. Here, he has an easier
day patrolling the trail. NPS
photo ca. 1943.
CCC crews toiled and the Phantom Ranch guests relaxed,
the rangers—much like today—maintained trails, gave
presentations to guests and CCC enrollees, and responded
to emergencies. As a home and office, the Rock House
symbolizes the demanding profession of park rangers.
As you walk from the cabins and cross the lower
campground bridge toward Boat Beach, think about how
the landscape might look if the government buildings did
not follow Colter’s guidelines.
Employees still live and work in these buildings. Please
respect their privacy.
Bonus!
Interested in Grand Canyon
pre-history? Visit Bright
Angel Pueblo, located past
Boat Beach on the trail to the
Black Bridge, to learn about
ancestral Puebloan people.
10 Phantom Ranch: A Historic Walking Tour
CAUTION: With
its cold water and
strong currents, the
Colorado River poses
serious life threats.
Swimming is not
permitted.
Stop 8: Black Bridge/Boat Beach
“[You] finally even trusted [me] to take notes while [you]
waded the stream. Crossing the Colorado cable was another
story. Every time I climbed from the platform to the cable car,
I knew for sure I would fall!”
~Dorothy Cornelius
From Boat Beach, you can see the Black Bridge and the
USGS gauging station. When Grand Canyon became
a national park in 1919, the NPS put a new wooden
suspension bridge in place of Rust’s tramway. In 1928, the
NPS deemed this “swinging” bridge faulty and built the
sturdy “Black” Bridge.
Placed at the bridge to use nearby phone lines, the USGS
built two recorder towers and, similar to Rust’s tram, a
cable car full of scientific equipment. The towers helped
the hydrologists determine the river’s stage. On the handcranked cable car, they dangled tools and specimen jars in
the water to collect data. Relying on changing technology,
the USGS still visits this site and gathers data via satellites.
Perhaps only slightly better
than “being a clapper in a
bell” on Rust’s tramway,
this flimsy swinging bridge
“tossed about so violently”
in high winds sometimes it
would flip completely over!
NPS photo ca. 1920s.
After relaxing in the soft sand, continue back to the main
trail. Reflect on the life of early rangers, scientists, and trail
crews. Which challenging job would you prefer? Back at
the Boat Beach and North Kaibab Trail junction, look for a
grave.
Grand Canyon National Park 11
A pioneering trail crewman,
Rees Bladen Griffiths (left)
worked “in the canyon he
loved so well” for David Rust,
the Kolb Brothers, the US
Forest Service, and the NPS.
Photo courtesy of Carol Judd.
Stop 9: Rees Griffiths’ Grave
“…I said a few words to the effect that it was right that this
man should be laid to rest near the spot where he fell and
where he had spent a great part of his life; that it was fitting
and proper that we who had known him, worked with him,
and loved him should perform this last duty…we left him
there beside the trail he built.”
~Chief Ranger “White Mountain” Smith, 1922
Trail work in Grand Canyon is a challenging, and
occasionally devastating, duty. On February 6, 1922,
while constructing the “swinging” bridge, the NPS crew
experienced trail-building tragedy firsthand. In preparation
to build the bridge, the crew used dynamite to clear rock
from the trail. A mammoth boulder fell with so much force
and speed from the blast, it struck NPS Trail Foreman Rees
Griffiths before he could move to safety. Though the blow
did not kill him instantly, he later died from the extensive
injuries it caused. The NPS buried Griffiths,“a man of
12 Phantom Ranch: A Historic Walking Tour
sterling character,” near the location he died. This site, the
first and last official inner canyon grave, tells a cautionary
tale of the dangers in this challenging place.
From here, follow the trail back to the ranger station and
immerse yourself in Phantom Ranch’s natural history.
Enjoy the shade and water, listen to the breeze through the
leaves, and look for wildlife. Mule deer, gray fox, squirrels,
and birds often congregate here.
“[K]eep it for your children,
your children’s children, and
for all who come after you, as
one of the great sights which
every American. . .should
see.” Honoring the request
of Teddy Roosevelt, park
ranger Pam Cox swears in the
“future generation” of park
rangers. NPS photo.
Stop 10: Phantom Ranger Station
“We have gotten past the stage. . .when we are to be pardoned
if we treat any part of our country as something to be skinned
. . . for the use of the present generation. . .Whatever it is,
handle it so that your children’s children will get the benefit of
it.”
~President Teddy Roosevelt, Grand Canyon, 1903
On your walking tour, you followed in the phantom
footsteps of David Rust, Teddy Roosevelt, Mary Colter,
Rees Griffiths, the CCC, the USGS, and the NPS. Visitors
like you continue to add to the pages of Phantom Ranch’s
diary those pioneers started over a century ago. And just
like thumbing through diary entries, Phantom Ranch
reflects a history of changes, challenges, and achievements.
More than simply protecting Phantom Ranch, the NPS
protects memories “for future generations.” Through the
efforts of people past, present, and future, we all work to
preserve Phantom Ranch’s unique historic character.
Ranger Station
Self-service station: stamp for your Passport To Your National
Parks®, library, maps, and more.
In an emergency, use the red phone on the porch.
Further Information
Mary Colter: Builder Upon the Red Earth by Virginia L. Grattan
Phantom Ranch by Scott Thybony
www.nps.gov/grca
Follow Grand Canyon National Park on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr,
YouTube, and Instagram
Please return this brochure to the ranger station if you do not intend to keep it.
Grand Canyon National Park 13
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Grand Canyon National Park
P.O. Box 129
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
www.nps.gov/grca
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