PART II _A (}eo/ogic and (feographic Sketch o/ Br'Jce Can'Jon national Park

GEOGRAPHIC OUTLINE here \\·eathered to buff and gray; or that the glorious pink wall within the park is but the eastern edge of the broad As a geographic unit, Bryce Canyon National Park is a table of which Sunset Cliff is the western edge, or tha;: Bryce choice portion of the plateau lands of the Colorado drainage Canyon is but a niche in a long, high, painted wall-a. bril­ basin, SO,OOO square miles of rock tables, cliffs, and canyons liant jewel in a land of superb texture and workmanship. that seem to have an unlimited range in color, form, and The long stretches of even sky line seen on appro<:d:hing size. the park give an impression of extensive flat surfaces that ter­ Of this vast region of unexcelled scenery in and minate in lines of cliffs, but view-points within the park re­ , Bryce Canyon National Park is but a short, narrow veal a mggedness possessed by a few other regions. The can­ strip along the southeastern rim of the , vons are so narrow, so deep, and so thickly interlaced, and the and this plateau is only one of the seven great tables that dom­ edges of the strata so continuously exposed that the region inate the landscape of southern Utah. In such a setting, the seems made up of gorges, cliffs, and mesas intimately a.ssocia- region that includes the park might have attracted little at­ tention were it not that within its borders are features of e..':­ ceptional interest, some of them unique; and the surroundings are truly magnificent. In broad outline, the history of the park is the history of the Paunsaugunt Plateau-a facinating storv of geological events that needs no profound study for interpretation. Few, if any, places in the world afford better opportunity to realize the power and persistence of the forces that have-shaped the surface of the earth, for though displayed on an enormous scale, the rock units show a certain simplicity of mass com­ position, form, and arrangement that makes their relations clear. On the approach roads to the park from and Zion Canvon through Hatch (south and west) and from central U tab through Panguitch (northwest), (See Fig. 1.) visitors are confronted by the great pink wall of Sunset Cliffs along the , easily recognizable as a single group of strata in plain sight for 30 miles. As the road leads eastward, the gorgeously colored Red Canyon explains it­ self-a ready-made gap in these cliffs that affords passage from their base to their top. Likewise, little knowledge of is required to recognize the flat land between Red Canyon and the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park as the eastward extension of the pink beds of Sunset Cliffs,

20 ...... c.5 ~--~--~------~------*Based on studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooper­ ation with the National Par]{ Service. In part reproduced from Figure 1. Sketch map of a part of Southen:: UtaL the Kaiparowits Region by Gregory and Moore; in part from including Bryce Canyon National Park. The Pink CliffE descriptions on the topographic sheet of the Bryce Canyon White Cliffs, and Vermillion Cliffs are high escarr-:nento National Park (1939) and in part from "The Bryce Canyo'1 that mark successively lower steps cut into the sou:h rin National Park Region" a report in preparation. Published with of Markagunt, Paunsaugunt, and Aquarius Plateau=. Th' the permission of the Director, U.S. Geological Survey. Plateaus are outlined by faults. Opposite Page: THE SPIRES OF BRYCE-Bryce Canyon National Park-Photo hy McGibbeny. Ins1de Opposite Page: THE BRYCE NATURAL BRIDGE-Bryce- Canyon National Park-Photo by Muench.

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Figure 2. Generalized sketch of the plateaus, mountains, cliffs and canyons of south central Utah showing the topo­ graphic setting of Bryce Canyon National Park. From Bryce Point the air-line distance to the Henry Mountains is approx­ imately 80 miles, to Navajo Mountain 85 miles. to the mouth of the Faria River 60 miles, and to Cedar Breaks 50 m1Jes. ted with a marYelous \·ariet\' of minor erosion forms. These creatures endowed with wings." Beginning abruptly at SuQ: features are de\·eloped on a scale that in other regions would set Point. newh· made meandering trails lead steeply down· ward alonO' tre-nches between serrated walls to the floor of justify the term mountainous. b The canyons and adjoining terraces are spectacular illus­ Paria Vallev, 2,000 feet below. Bevond this fbt floor appear ; trations of erosion. They show with diagrammatic clearness interlocking'-ridges, trenched by ~arrow, deep canyons, . • ' the work of running water, rain, frost, and wind, of ground places more than 20 of them in a mile, that carry water to water and chemical agencies active throughout a long period Paria or directly to the Colorado. Along this course the rim of time. The horizontal tables and benches, broken by ver­ the lofty Kaiparowits Plateau, cut by innumerable notches tical lines that in distant view appear to dominate the land­ the heads of innumerable canvons, stands on the skyline scape, are normal features of erosion of plateau lands in an carries the view southeastward to the dome of Navajo arid climate.!he tabular forms are the edges and surfaces tain beyond Glen Canyon 80 miles away. From Sunset -~from which softer layers have been stripped. northeastward, the details of the amazing landscape The vertical lines mark the position of fractures (joints)­ dwarfed by the towering plateau headlands that stand lines of weakness which erosion enlarges into grooves and feet above the rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and miniature canyons. As they entrench themselves in horizontal feet above the Paria. A pack train traverse along the layers of rock that vary in resistance to erosion, the master of Kaiparowits Plateau in and out of canyons, streams and their tr]butaries are developing stairlike profiles narrow defiles, across sharp ridges and flat-topped mesas on their enclosing walls. Cliffs in resistant rocks, and slopes in the edae" of Glen Canvon. at the "Crossing of the F . weak rocks constitute risers and treads that vary in steepness is a memorable experience, or those fortunate cnougn and height with the thickness of the strata involved. These ascend Table Cliffs and follow its flat surface to characteristic erosional features of Bryce Canyon National Monument will find spread out before them a !an Park derive an added meaning from the contemplation of matched in scope and beauty only at viewpoints on the surrounding region. The park is famous not only for Mountain. It is an unparalleled scene of gorges, the scenery within its borders but also for the marvelous mesa walls and volcanic piles on both sides of the

------___ ...J ...... ,..,1·.,. ""' ... ,..,".,. "lC' tl""'' Ah<::.rnrP erosion L.:.111VU11;:,, cl.!lU Ul.l. a. :l\....Q...ll.,.... .JV VU..Jl. (...I...J "''-' .._...... ----- views from the lofty rim of Lhe Paunsaugunt Plateau that ' _.______.... __.....__..1 1 overlooks the spectacular landscapes of southern Utah. (See tures that in other reaions woulddommate me 1 -- ~----- Fig. 2, 3)~_---\ (See Fig. 3). . At it~astern border )he generally flat Paunsaugunt The rim road in Bryce Canyon National Park lS Plateau gives~n of extreme ruggedness, difficult highest tread of a gigantic rock stairway cut in the flank to penetrate. In Dutton's picturesque language, "to cross great plateau. As viewed at Rainbow Point, the such regions except in specified ways is a feat reserved for descends southward in an orderly succession of GEOLOGic AND GEoGRAPHIC SKETCHEs oF ZioN AND BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARKS 23

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Figure 3. View from the rim at Inspiration Point across lower portion of Bryce Canyon and across upper Valley (Faria Amphitheater). Table Cliffs in the left distance. Village of Tropic, Utah in right center. (N.P.S. photo by Grant). in width, separated by cliffs hundreds of feet high, across the ascen! of 2,000 feet in a distance of S miles brings changes White Cliffs and the Vermilion Cliffs to the Kanab Plateau that on flat lands would require a traverse from Arizona to 60 m1f~;- dista,.~d::-4..,~ooo:=f~t=b~~~~~··The terraces are Montana. Generally in the valleys at altitudes below 6,500 trenched by deep gorges, and from their floors rise small feet the summers are long and hot and the winters fairly mesas and towers and such high mesas as the conspicuous short and cold, and the yearly, monthly, even daily rainfall White Cone. ranges widely. At Tropic, where the mean annual tempera­ In this broad landscape, flowing water is conspicuously ture is 62.9, temperatures of 100 to 101 degrees are recorded absent. The one lake in view is the lone representative of its for June, July, August and September, and -9 to -32 de­ class in many square miles of territory. grees for November, December, January, and February. At In this region the gentle slopes and sweeping curves this station the mean annual rainfall ( 12.62 inches) is made that make up the artist's "line of beauty" are lacking. They up of monthly means of 0.00 to 1.85 inches. are replaced by horizontal lines, vertical lines, and oblique On the plateau top, at altitudes of 8,000 to 9,000 feet, lines that meet at angles, and along their trends are offset an uncomfortably cold season that extends from November many times. The rounded hills, the gently inclined valley to March is followed by months of delightfully cool weather. sides, the flat river bottoms of other regions are replaced by At Bryce Canyon National Park headquarters the mean flat tables, vertical walls, and lowlands cut into angular monthly temperatures range from 8.2' (January) to 64S forms that differ from their larger companions only in size. (July); and the daily temperatures, from 86' to -20'. The Because of the absence of soil and covering vegetation, the annual rainfall at this station is 18.41 inches and, except walls and canyon floors are the color of bare rock; the for the relatively dry months, April and October, is fairly blue of distant highlands, and the subdued tones of "hill­ evenly distributed. Snowfalis exceeding 20 inches, recoraeu side and lowland meadows" in more humid regions are for the months of November to May, make up a consider­ likewise lacking. The landscape of all southern Utah is able part of the annual precipitation. banded with distant colors-dominantly shades of red, yellow, In response to climatic conditions, the plants of Bryce and brown-that in few places merge into a composite tone. Canyon National Park are roughly arranged in three zones Areas of green or of gray are rare. within which certain species are dominant: Upper Sonoran Zone, pinyon-sage brush belt, altitude 3,000 to 7,000 feet; CLIMATE-VEGETATION-ANIMALS Transition Zone, yellow pine belt, 7,000 to 8,500 feet; Cana­ Bryce Canyon National Park may be said to have two dian Zone, spruce-aspen belt, above 8,500 feet. The Upper rl;m~t.>< rlPtPrminPrl rhif'flv hv rliffPrf'nrf'<: in :oJltitndP. An Sonoran Zone is the natural habitat of the pinyon pine and 24 HERBERT 1:,, GREGORY the Utah juniper (cedar) -trees that grow in poor soil and te.'.:tiles woven in fiber, fur, and feathers. The Puebloans, who good soil, in canyons, on ridges, and on cliff sides in such followed the Basket Makers, occupied many sites along tribu­ abundance as to justify the term "pigmy forest." Among taries of the Paria, on the flat lands extending vvestward to these trees where the soil is deep, particularly in valleys, sage White Cone, and eastward along the base and top of the brush grows profusely. At canyon heads scrub oak forms dense Kaiparowits Plateau. A few of the dwelling sites are marked thickets, and in favorable places such shrubs as cliff rose, by stone walls, traces of cultivated fields, baskets, crude pot­ service berry, manzanita, mountain mahogany, squaw bush, tery, implements, and textiles, but most of them show no clematis, and herbs that include larkspur, nightshade, dog­ evidence of long-time occupation. Some of them doubtless bane, stick weed, and snake \veed are conspicuous. Some cool were used onlv when crops of corn, beans, and melons needed canyons and open valleys are_ lined with cottonwood, willow, attention. Brief examinations give the impression that the water birch, and maple. ancient settlements in southern Utah \\·ere the homes of The Transition Zone is dominated by yellow pine­ pioneer colonists and essentially were outposts of the large more than half of the trees in the park. For some six miles Pueblo settlements in Arizona and New Mexico which at­ the park highway is lined with big, tall, widely spaced tained a cultural peak about 1100 A.D. and left a notable pine trees-the eastern edge of the attractive forest that covers record of excellence in architecture, agriculture, social or­ large parts of the Paunsaugunt Platea~~ Underneath them ganization, and the making of pottery. In the Bryce Canyon and in open spaces between, roses, iris, goldenrod, primrose, National Park region, the Puebloans were followed by the snow berry, rabbit bush, mustard, Indian paint brush, mari­ Piutes-peaceful tribes who built no permanent houses but posa lily, sweet clover, flax, tall bright-stemmed grasses, and from time to time occupied places favorable for hunting deer. ·many species of asters and astragulus make a flower garden rabbits, and insects, for gathering grass seeds and pinon nuts, of exceptional beauty. With increasing altitude, plants of the and for cultivating small fields of corn. Piute arrow heads are Transition Zone gradually give way to those of the Cana­ often found. In contact with the Piutes were their linguistic dian Zone. Along the rim road west of the Bridge Hollow the relatives and also enemies, the Utes ( U tahs), powerful tribe~ yellow pine and flowering herbs become fewer, the firs and that once dominated Utah, Colorado, and Nevada. In thE aspens become more abundant until, at Rainbow Point, the summer of 1872, Thompson met Piutes in camp and when thE forest consists chiefly of limber pine, foxtail pine, white fir, Paria Valley was settled, Piu tes were living near Cannonville Douglas fir, and aspen which fonn compact groves or stand At present there are no Indians ip. Garfield County nor ii alone. Between the trees grow violets, cranesbills, gentians, the adjoining Kane and Wayne Counties. Only Piutes anc blue bonnet, yarrow, cinquefoil, bell flowers, strawberries, Utes now remain in the whole State of Utah. Navajos fran six ·species of erigeron and, in suitable places, many of the south of the frequently visited the Bryct grasses and flowering plants found also in the Transition Zone. Canyon region on hunting and trading expeditions. Though in mass the vegetation of the three zones is distinc­ It seems reasonably certain that the Spanish military tive, the range in kind of soil, exposure to the sun, and ecclesiastical entradas of the sixteenth century did not reacl amount of ground water are so great that the zonal bound­ the Bryce Canyon region, but it is highly probable that som aries are zigzag lines with upward and downward depart­ unknown trappers of the period of 1800-1850 explored th ures of hundreds of feet. Thus of some 300 species of plants Paunsaugunt Plateau-known to the Piutes as the "home o recorded for the park, 71 species are listed in both the Lower the beaver." Doubtless, also, scouts sent out by the Church c Sonoran and Transition Zones, 34 species in the Transition the Latter-day Saints (1851-1860) in search of agricultur< and Canadian Zones, and 29 species in all three zones. and grazing land in southern Utah, extended their journe; The fauna of Bryce Canyon National Park is that to the Paria Vallev,, but the first recorded traverse by whit common to pine and pinyon forests of Utah. Of the 30 mam­ men of the region that includes Bryce Canyon National Par mals listed, 9 are carnivores and 20 rodents. l\1ost in evi­ is the unpublished diary of Capt. James Andrus, who in 186 dence are skunks, gray fox, bobcat, rockchuck, Fremonts led a military expedition of some 60 men from St. Georg squirrel, chipmunk, pocket gopher, white-footed mouse, por­ through Kanab and along the southern base of the Paunsat cupine, and mule deer. The rich and varied bird fauna gunt Plateau and Table Cliffs into Escalante Valley in searc of the park includes ha·wks, doves, owls and 59 species of for marauding Navajos. A memorial of this expedition passerine birds. Among the song birds are wrens, thrushes, the grave on Averett Wash bearing the inscription, "Elija vireos, warblers, and tanagers. For most reptiles the region is Averett, 1866," one of the few men ever killed by the Indiar too cold. The once common beavers (Paunsaugunt-home of of this region. Andrus may have seen Bryce Canyon, thoug the beaver) have disappeared and bears are nowadays rarely he did not describe it. In fact, the Mormon pioneers of d seen. decades 1850-1870 seem to have taken the scenery of southeJ Utah for granted. Their energies were necessarily given HISTORY the absorbing task of gaining the fundamentals of livin The pre-Indian inhabitants of Utah seem to have found The marvelous cliffs and canyons seen from their fields ar the Bryce Canyon region an unfavorable place for large­ herd grounds were made known to the outside world by e scale settlement. The Basket Makers-the earliest people pedition from Washington. whose archaelogical remains are sufficient to identify a cul­ Following his second voyage down the river (1871), M ture-are represented in Paria Valley only by fragmentary jor J. W. Powell, Civil War veteran and first explorer oft GEOLOGIC AND GEOGRAPHIC SKETCHES OF ZION AND BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARKS 25

Grand Canyon ( 1869), initiated the survey that resulted in In the course of a land survey ( 1876), T. C. Bailey, maps and reports covering much of southern Utah. Under C. S. Deputy Surveyor, established a section corner on a the direction of Powell, Alvin H. Thompson, geographer, "headland overlooking Pari a, Valley" (Sunset Point) . "En­ made the first scientific traverse of the base of the Paunsau­ tranced by the view" before him he wrote: gun and Aquarius Plateaus, along the route previously "Immediately east and south of the last corner set. the traveled in part by the noted Mormon scout, Jacob Hamblin. surface breaks off almost perpendicularly to a depth of From the head of Johnson Canyon northeastward, he crossed several hundred feet-seems indeed as though the tottom had dropped out and left rocks standing in all shapes and the borders of Bryce Canyon National Park, reached the Pari a forms as lone sentinels over the grotesque and picturesque River at the mouth of Yellow Creek and proceeded up "Table scenes. There are thousands of red, white, purple, and ver­ million colored rocks, of all sizes, resembling sentinels on Cliff Creek" (Henrieville fork of the Paria) and on through the walls of castles, monks and priests in their robes, at­ Escalante Valley to the Colorado at the base of the Henry tendants, cathedrals and congregations. There are deep caverns and rooms resembling ruins of prisons, castles, Mountains. churches with their guarded walls, battlements, spires, and steeples, niches and rece1:ses, presenting the Wildest In the report of this traverse ( 1872), the salient features and most wonderful scene that the eye of man ever beheld, of Bryce Canyon National Park are for the first time des­ in fact, it is one of the wonders of the world." cribed. Thompson called the great wall facing the Faria, Though the grandeur and beauty of Bryce Canyon Na­ "Table Cliffs, 3,000 feet above us, its face a succession of tional Park and its nearby cliffs and plateau tops were thus inaccessible precipices and steep, broken, tree-clad slopes" made known by Federal surveys of 1870-1880, the region and described the rim of the plateau as "cliffs that show a attracted little attention for the next 40 years. It was re­ beautiful pink color and for the upper 2,000 feet present bold mote from railways and established settlements, and its ap­ perpendicular faces." He speaks of "mesas miles in length proach roads up the floor of Faria Canyon, up boulder­ and only a few hundred yards in width ... long narrow ridges clogged Sevier canyon, or through Red Canyon and across . . . innumerable canyons that widen into little alcove-like the muddy top of Paunsaugunt Plateau, were unsuited for valleys a few acres in extent, rock-walled and covered with wagons, and for several months of the year deep snow pre­ dense growths of grass, canes, or willows." In the scientific vented travel. Even after settlements had been established at exploration of the Bryce Canyon region, Thompson was the very edge of the Park ( 1874-1891) few accounts of the followed by Edwin E. Howell, Grove Karl Gilbert, and Lt. remarkable scenery reached the outside world. To the few W. L. Marshall, members of a survey under the direction of resident farmers, the painted canyons in the plateau rim were Capt. George M. Wheeler, 1870-1876. Howell traversed the but a part of the rugged landscape that characterizes all for a hundred miles and studied in particular their southern Utah. Of more direct concern to them was the exposure at "Last Bluff" (the southern escarpment of Table fact that the great cliffs, narrow canyons, and the meager Cliffs). Gilbert likewise extended his reconnaissance surveys supply of 1vater and tillable land made the region unsuitable to the Faria Valley. In his notebook ( 1872) he writes, "up for large-scale agriculture. To the stockmen, the rougher parts the Sevier (East Fork) a few miles and then to the left a few of the terrace now admired as scenery were obstacles. Ebene­ more miles until we came suddenly on the grandest of views. zer Bryce is reported to have spoken of the canyon that bears We stand on a cliff 1,000 feet high, the 'Summit of the Rim.' his name as a "dandy place to lose a cow." During the sur­ Just before starting down the slope we caught a glimpse of a veys that resulted in setting aside Paunsaugunt Plateau as a perfect wilderness of red pinacles, the stunningest thing our­ national forest ( 1903), the scenic features of the upper Paria of a picture." Marshall mapped the East Fork of the Sevier Valley and of its canyoned western tributaries became better overlooking Faria Valley and the east rim of Paunsaugunt known and, as early as 1907, adventurous nature lovers made Plateau. A pencil drawing by John E. Weyss, artist of this pack-train trips to the head of ths: Sevier, to Bryce, Sheep, expedition, is the first known illustration of the strikingly and Willis Canyons, and to Table Cliffs Plateau under the picturesque erosion remnants of Bryce Canyon National Park. guidance of local stockmen who of necessity knew the feas­ In the mapping of the Bryce Camon region, Thompson, ible lines of access. With the improvement of the rough Howell, Gilbert, and Marshall were followed by Capt. C. E. wagon road from Panguitch to Cannonville (1915-1917) so Dutton (U.S.A.), who included in his traverses the Paun­ that automobiles under favorable conditions could pass saugunt and Aquarius Plateaus. Dutton's description of the through Red Canyon and down the "breaks" _to the Paria, Faria "amphitheater" and of the erosion remnants in Bryce visitors became more numerous. and C~ampbell Canyons are recognized classics in geological Even as late as 1918, LeRoy Jeffers, mountaineer, who literature. in the Scientific American (October 5, 1918) described the In his "Geology of the High Plateaus of Utah," Dutton alcoves in the plateau rim as "Temples of the Gods,"-"could writes: learn of no one who know the way save the Forester ... part " ... the glory of all this rock-work is seen in the Pink Cliffs, the exposed edges of the Lower Eocene strata. The of the way (from Panguitch) is over meadows where it is resemblances to strict architectural forms are often start­ just possible to drive a car ... at frequent intervals we had ling. The upper tier of the vast amphitheater is one mighty.. ruined colonnade. Standing obelisks, prostrate columns, to lift and push our car uphill through deep sand. When it shattered capitols, pannels, niches, buttresses, repetitions of rains in this region, all traffic is suspended for days by im­ symmetrical forms, all bring vividly before the mind sug­ gestions of the work of giant hands, a race of genii once passible mud." Jeffers reached the "fantastic towers" in rearing temples of rock, but now chained up in a spell of Brvce alcove bv "slidin!! down th~ stPFn ::mel trP::JrhPrnn< drmP pnrh:=~ntn1Pnt ur'hilo f-'hoi._ .... -4- ..... H ...... -t- .. ~ ...... --- ,.._,...! · · 26 HERBERT h. vREGORY

or si..x feet wide, whose overhanging walls are several hun­ tant landscapes stretching southward to Grand Canyon and dred feet high." eastward to Table Cliffs and Kaiparowits Plateau. (See Fig. For the peoples of Utah, interest in the Bryce Canyon 2 & 3). Branch roads lead to Sunset Point, Bryce Point, Little region was aroused by the florid account of 0. H. Grimes Bryce Point, and Fairy Land where the astonishing pinnacl~<> (Salt Lake Tribune, August 5, 1918) : and towers of the alcoves are immediately at hand and where between great pine trees are vistas of the Faria ampitheater, "Massive cathedrals of darker hues pushed heavenward their delicate spires; grotesque gargoyles sculptured by Kaiparowits Plateau, and the far-off Navajo Mountain. From wind, sand, and water, glared from cornices. And to com­ near Park Headquarters, foot and horse trails descend from plete the illusion, splotches of the more delicately colored sandstone glistened in the sunlight like stained-glass win­ the rim and wind about among the brightly colored, fantasti­ dows. Between the massive walls were wonderful rooms cally shaped figures quarried from bare rock. (See Fig. 4) . and hallways chiseled by time and the elements. "Tall and graceful pedestals of brilliant hues were View-points in Brvce Canyon National Park overlook the topped by broad tables of a delicate pinkish white; on spires, buttre:;ses and monoliths were perched fanciful headwaters of the Faria River where six settlements have been carvings of birds and animals of prehistoric size, and be­ established, all of them within a radius of about 6 miles. Three low, in attitudes of watchful waiting, stood the figures of ghouls and gnomes. Figures innumerable were aligned row of them-Cannonville, Henrieville, and Tropic-have grown above row in semi-circular formation in a bowl-shaped am­ into villages; the others were abandoned because of scarcity phitheater; while on the mammoth stage to the front, others. clothed in a brilliant scarlet, were arranged with of water and the destruction of fields by floods. Permanent military precision in long, straight lines, as though on settlements, the first in Utah- between the Sevier River and parade." Colorado, began at Cannonville in 1875 _; Henrieville, 1878; Thus it was that this region of scenic beauty "dribbled and Tropic, 1891. The combined population of these villages into appreciation." is about 1,000. For these settlements some water for irriga­ Official recognition of the Bryce Canyon area as a suit- __ tion is obtained from the Faria River and more from Hen­ able site for a national park dates from 1919 when the Utah rieville Creek, but the reliable source is the Sevier River on legislature, doubtless influenced by the writing of Grimes and the Paunsaugunt Plateau. From a dam on the river, a ditch Jeffers, addressed to the Congress of the United States the 10 miles long that crosses the highway near the entrance to following memorial (March 13, 1919): Bryce Canyon National Park directs the water over the "On the public domain within the boundaries of the plateau rim to lands along the Faria. But all the water Sevier National Forest, in the Pink Mountains region. near available is insufficient for large-scale agriculture. The villages Tropic, Garfield County, Utah, there is a canyon popularly referred to as "Bryce's Canyon" which has become famed are essentially home sites for stockmen. for its wonderful natural beauty. Inasmuch as the State Also near the park on the road to Escalante and the and Federal Governments have indicated a desire that the natural attrcctions of our State and our Country be proc Capitol Reef National Monument is the interesting settle­ tected and preserved for the enjoyment of posterity, there­ ment of Widtsoe, the site of an amateur experiment in dry­ fore, your memorialists respectfully urge that the Congress of the United States set aside for the use and enjoyment farming. Though once a village of some 200 people, it is of the people a suitable area embracing 'Bryce's Canyon' now almost abandoned. as a national monument under the name of the 'Temple of the Gods National Monument'." For the entire park, a large-scale topographic map, con­ This memorial to Congress, supplemented by descriptions structed by Richard T. Evans, U.S. Geological Survey ( 1928; solicited from John A. Widtsoe, President of the University 1931-32; issued 1939) is now available. It replaced the small­ of Utah, and from Herbert E. Gregory, Professor of Geology scale reconnaisance map of the Powell and Wheeler surveys of Yale University, was given wide publicity and enthusiastic (1875-1878), and of Gregory and Moore (1921-24). The support by the National Parks Association in 1920. new map depicts with remarkable accuracy the position and On June 8, 1923, Bryce Canyon National Monument, form of the features that make the region of special interest formerly part of Powell National Forest, was created by Presi­ to students of geography and geology. dential proclamation and on June 7, 1924, Congressional MAKING OF THE PARK LANDSCAPE authority was given for the-establishment of a "Utah National Park" which should include the monument. In consequence After feasting their eyes on the painted alcoves adorned of this authority, Bryce Canyon National Park was created with huge rock carvings, few visitors to Bryce Canyon September 15, 1928. In 1931 the original park of 12,920 National Park fail to ask the question, "How was Bryce Can­ acres in the immediate vicinity of Bryce Canyon was enlarged yon formed?" Many, unfamiliar with geologic processes, view

to include such triking features as Natural Bridge, Rainbow 1 the seemingly disordered assemblage of tables, gorges, ridges, (Po dunk) Point, and view-points overlooking the great rock and spires as evidence of a mighty upheave] and shattering terraces that descend as steps to the Colorado Canyons. As i of the earth's crust. Others, perhaps comparing it with the thus outlined, the park covers 35,240 acres, or 55.06 square ~ valleys in the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevadas, which miles. \ have been deepened and widened by glaciers, think of it as As the approach road to the park an excellent automo­ J the product of glacial erosion. Still others th~nk ~f the wind as bile highway has been constructed through Red Canyon I at least a contributing force. But the rocks m v1ew are not a (1932-1938)-the only feasible route-and within the park ( jumbled mass; they are,j}.orizontal beds arranged in order]~~ e..xtended for 18 miles along the edge of the Paunsaugunt ) succession;~those on one wall of a gorge correspond layer by Plateau ( Stle Fig. 1) . Many outlooks along this rim road j · layer with those on the opposite wall and would meet if ex­ afford wonderful views of nearby erosional forms and of dis- ~ tended across. There is no evidence of glaciation nor of large- GEOLOGIC AND GEOGRAPHIC SKETCHES OF ZION AND BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARKS 27

·.. Figure 4. Hindu Temples. Peculiar erosional forms near the head of Bryce Canyon illustrating "snow and rain drop" type of erosion. (Photo by Zion Picture Shop). -

scale wind L-osion. Improbable as it may seem, the alcove at year the large streams and small streams are given sufficient the head Bncc Canvon is chieflv the work of Bryce Creek yolume and speed to carry forward the newly made loose / df ' . ' and i~thyriad tributaries, the stream that now flows from it. material about as fast as formed; to tear up and take away .JJ.k-e\'vise, the similar alcoves and bowls at the head of Camb- the rock waste stranded along their courses, and also to dig bell Creek, Yellow Creek, Pasture Creek, Bridge Creek, Blac k· into solid bed-rock. Even if the most vigorous stream had . Birch Creek, and~the-·great "ainp1th-earer---dr~1~··------,...... _ by Riggs lowered its bed but a fraction of an inch each year, its life Creek wez:eAo~d by the streams that occupy-_th'e-~. These of hundreds of thousands of years is amply sufficient for the ..·· stre::uns-·ire- the direct cause of the depth of the alcoves,· \ and, work it has accomplished. Flo~ving on very steep gradients, the,; in coo~eration· with other agencies of their width~/I'heJ fresh, tributaries of the Paria_ furnish a large part of the load of the, . sharp, ~ligular..:e:ofiles of mesas, ridg~~_,_.aml,.cany~n walls, and master streams which carry to the Colorado each year many'\ the extensive are;sor-o-are rock-;;e maintained by the rapid tons of rock waste. Thus during their long life, each stream down-cutting and prompt removal of the resulting debris; that heads in the park has been busy with two tasks--cutting the deepest canyons are those carved by the most vigorous gorges and transporting the rock waste supplied to it. _;_' ' streams at \vork for the longest time. In down-cutting, the In widening their channels and in producing the re- streams derive their working power chiefly from the fragments markable architectural features of the park, the streams have of rock which they transport. Dragged along downstream, played but a minor role. At no time were the streams as wide every grain of sand and lime-that \vas once part of the cu- as the present canyons, probably never w:der than at present. bic miles of sandstone and limestone removed in excavating They have cut vertically downward and in so doing have the alcoves-has aided in cutting away rock. Each day that retained the meanders and straight stretc;b..es.-t,h-a-t--mark.e_d the streams are running, even when they seem clear, some their original courses on higher--gl'O:t!n~-Each--of -~}:le presefi-:t:: scouring material is carried along, and because the tributaries alcoves and valleys was once (a/ series of\:·~--~-~ deep, na)'l'o'v trenches · run on bare rock and thus are unimpeded by soi~a- -like the '·transepts" in the witl--ar/fh~'head--6f \yiUis C!(':ek. , tion, t y quickly carry se Jmelit-..J.ad.eu._~~LJlo-ill~=---ilf!&.~-r--~Thus, in forming canyons, down-cutting precede~ wrd~ning \J stream. Though relatively small and few of them perennial, and also is much more rapid; many canyons hundreds of . the streams in the alcoves have steep gradients and are there- feet deep are less than 50 feet wide. (See Fig. 3, 10) \ fore powerful agents of erosion, especially in times of flood As the streaws sink their runways deeper into solid rock, ~~'lvrhey are supplied with large amounts of disintegrated they expose larger and larger expanses of wall to the destruc- rock material swept from the ledges by torrential rains. In tive work of atmospheric agencies (weathering). Frost in this region, floods follow every shower and many times each cracks, plant roots in the soil, rain that beats against the 28 HERBERT E. GREGORY

,_ ___, . ... - i·.: .. - ~ .. ,_,.: __ d: --~-·-'-·~·,;,.:..::.::i~::c:.:_:__:afl~~s!~fl:.;.J~Lij).,__:.o~~-.. ~'..,;:::,_"'~~=-~- ~-~~-._..,.,--'. ~-

Figure 5. Alternate hard and soft layers are responsible for this banded and ribbed design which is so characteristic of Bryce Canyon rocl{s. (Photo by Zion Picture Shop l.

cliffs, wind that sweeps the surface, acids in the air, and cemented with lime is a considerable constituent, decomposi­ water in the ground decompose and break up the solid rock, tion extends inward, forming niches, recesses, and caves. Some causing grains, fragments, and even large blocks to fall to the narrow walls are completely perforated and stand as the stream which carries them to the mouth of their canyon and frames of windows and natural bridges. In the thick beds of on to the Paria and the Colorado and eventually to the sea. sandstone, the weak cement that holds together the rounded Within the alcoves and on the lands below them, weathering, grains of quartz is readily dissolved by rain that wets the like down-cutting, is rapid for the climate, and the composi­ walls and by water that seeps through the rock, loosening the tion of the rocks are favorable. Snow to the depth of a foot tiny particles and permitting them to fall or to be swept from or more lies over the ground for several months, and the cliffs and ridges by passing showers or wind. The rock slow melting permits the water to seep into cracks and dis­ thus disintegrated bit by bit may stand in cliffs or broad solve the cement that holds the rock grains together. The flat surfaces with a series of broad benchlike steps whose \.,__g_uarrying action of frost is particularly noticeable not only height of 30 to 200 feet is a measure of the thickness of in­ at the beginning and the end of the cold season but also at dividual beds. The thin-bedded sandstones and the rocks com­ night and morning. Alternate freezing and thawing crowds posed chiefly of clay (the shales) weather more rapidly, par­ wedges of ice into rock cracks for as many as 275 days a ticularly where they include coal (Cretaceous rocks of Faria year. Valley), and therefore form slopes on which each bed is Though weathering is universal, its destructive activity is repre~~nted by a step a few inches or a few feet high. The not everywhere the same. The rate and manner of weathering rocks most slowly and unevenly weathered are the sandstones vary with the composition of the rocks and therefore and shales that are tightly held together by iron. They form weathered rocks of different kinds assume different architect­ the brown knobs seen here and there on the flat lands and L!ral forms. Because the pink limestone which forms the rim of as caps of buttes and pillars. Paunsaugunt Plateau is a compact mass in which the cement The topographic features that give the Bryce Canyon and the body of the rock are chiefly calcium carbonate, it National Park region its eminence among areas of superb is decomposed largely by acids carried in the air and in rain scenery have been produced by erosion, chiefly by streams­ water. The result is a cliff, a steep slope, or a pinnacle with­ the same streams that now run over the flat lands and down out prominent benches. (See Fig. 5). The generally smooth the deep gorges. Ever since the lands in the park attained their surface of this rock is bare and hard or is coated with fine present positions, the streams have been gnawing at the rocks. debris-the residue of chemical reaction which incidentally In some places their work is nearly finished, in other places, has produced much of the striking color. Where quartz sand vigorously in progress, and still other places, barely begun. As GECLOGIC AND GEoGRAPHIC SKETCHES oF ZioN AND BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARKS 29

a result, the landscape consists of three unlike parts; a vertical as flat caps; some form domes, others extend upward as wall (or rim), a nearly flat highland above it and a rugged spires and minarets. Some of the larger towers are bordered lowland. The wall is the Pink Cliffs, the beautifully carved by sheer walls but commonly they are horizontally grooved and beautifully painted rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The and decorated with bosses and statues. (See Fig. 4, 5, 10) highland is the top of the plateau, and the lowland is the huge Like the form, the color of the Pink Cliffs range widely. ampitheater cut at the base of the plateau at the head of Paria The top beds are white, gray, or cream colored; those below Valley and bordered by much-broken slopes that extend up­ are dominantly red of various shades, grading into delicate ward to the base of the pink wall. (See Fig. 6). pink and orange, more rarely into yellow, pale lemon, purple, or brown. Intergrading and strongly contrasted interbanding are common, and in places one color is thinly overlaid by The Pink Cliffs rank first among the great ;a:ns-that_give another. The color changes tone with passing clouds, with the scenery of southern Utah its unique expression. It is the-- the direction of illumination at sunrise, sunset, and noonday, longest, the most continuous, and the most prominent of all ; and when wet by infrequent showers. Days of wandering in .. the plateau escarpments and the most extensively and in>// the canyons and along their rims give the impression that in t1-k?:.!ely carved,-Au.h~_!:i!Il._E?..ck of the Higl:t plateaus, if'e~­ the morning when sunlight strikes directly against the walls tends--;;:l~ost continuously from Ced_a_r--Cii:y~astward to Paria the mass tone is orange and yellow, at noon grades into pink, River and northward beyond the Fremont River, a distance and in the shadows of sunset is an inspiring display of deli­ of over 150 miles, and within the plateau area borders the cate reflected lights. In moonlight, the coloring of the weird Sevier River nearly 50 miles. As the top step in the series that "ruined cities" is facinating. includes the Chocolate Cliffs (Moenkopi), the Vermilion Bryce Canyon (and the other rim canyons) is an out­ Cliffs (Chinle), the White Cliffs (Navajo), and the Gray standing illustration of local erosion. It might naturally be Cliffs (Cretaceous series), the Pink Cliffs are perched high supposed that the great alcove had been carved by waters in the air, on the sky line as seen from most view-points in pouring down from the plateau above. But the plateau streams northern Arizona and southern Utah. Everywhere they are contribute nothing; from the very rim they flow in an oppo­ bold and impressive, and their grandeur is enhanced by their site direction. The sculpturing agents are the snow and rain strong color and their amazing display of architectural form. that fall directly into the canyon, and the transporting agents In the words of Dutton, "the glory of all rock work." are tiny intermit --rr--strepms less than 5 miles long. In fact, The distinctive feature of Bryce Canyon National Park all of the park below the p~teau rim has been caryed b~r ts the system of c.anyons cut into the rim of the Pink Cliffs forces near at hano~-- and which may be seen in operation that abruptly terminate the Paunsaugunt Plateau; groups of every-~·-- day. canyons that combine to form alcoves, large, isolated canyons, THE P.~RIA AMPHITHEATER and narrow slits-each with its peculiar sculpture, alignment, Below the Pink Cliffs lies the Paria amphitheater. (See and form. Of the alcoves in the "rim rock," the best known Fig. 3, 4, 7). As seen from the rim of the plateau at Bryce and most accessible is at the head of Bryce Canyon, but the heads of Black Birch, Aqua, Bridge, Sheep, Yellow, and Willis Canyons are no less attractive. As viewed from points along the park rim road, each of the score of tributaries to Paria River rises· in an amphitheater a few hundred feet deep and wide. Some of the great recesses resemble bowls in which for a short space the side has been broken down to permit the es­ cape of its contents. None of these bowls is flat-floored or bordered by sheer walls. From their bottoms rise spires and ridges, and many of them are fillerl to the brim with literally thousands of towers, needles, cathedrals, high and narrow mesas, and myriads of fantastic figures that stand alone or are grouped about buttresses of the enclosing walls, which -themselves are decorated with windows and niches of many shapes. Every erosional feature possible to make in rocks of this kind seems to be represented by innumerable examples. In the forest-like array of erosional forms, individual components at first go unnoticed; they seem to be lost in the amazing landscapes. Yet their wealth in numbers is matched by richness of architectural form. Some pinnacles are ribbed and fluted so symmetrically as to seem to be the work of pow­ erful lathes; some are rounded like huge stalagmites, others Figure 6. The alcove at the head of Bryce Canyon. are nearly square; some rise from the canyon floor but most This shows the sharp boundary line bt!tween the even sur­ have been carved in the sides or at the top of the walls; some face of the Paunsaugunt Plateau (background) and the "under the rim" area in process of erosion by tributaries are isolated, others are grouped in companies; some terminate to th.a Paria River. 30 HERBERT E. GREGORY

Point, this great depression formed by the headwater tribu­ streams. The grandeur of this vast amphitheater is best appre­ taries of Paria River appears as a broad, semi-circular valley ciated while standing on its floor, easily reached by the trails bordered on the north and west by broken slopes that termin­ that pass through Bryce ~anyon alcove, or by automobile ate in cliffs, on the south and east by low ridges and terraces road from the Park headquarters past the Triangle, down the tha~ f orrn the borders of the flat land immediately along the "breaks of the Paria" and on through Tropic to Cannonville. From this view-point, the flat land is but a band of gravel cut into deep, narrow gu!lics; the ridges, inconspicuous from , r abovt:, are mesas and headlands faced by cliffs hundreds of )k/ feet high, and the drainage system that from the rim of the/\\ plateau seems to consist of a main channel and a few orderly ' disposed branches is in reality a plexus of waterways-scores ::Jf ephemeral streams, hundreds of tributaries-all ·within canyons that combine in cutting the land into strips between angular grcows .50 to 200 feet deep. Cannonville is rimmed by brilliantly colored, beautifully banded red and white rocks. Northward along the Paria and its chief branch, Henrieville Creek, the land rises in steps cut into soft drab shale and hard yellowish thick-bedded sandstone to the base of an un­ scalable wall wh~~c to[~s more than 4,000 feet above the floor of the arena at c;-n\onville. The hi£hcst tier in the I l v amphitheater is\ Table elifj~, the grandest of plateau head- lands. Its surrou\ding \;-ylfs are fully 1,000 feet high and rise sheer from their ~except where supported by steep but­ tresses, indented bv niches, or broken into decorative columns. A~._thc. headland t~wers hi~h ::.tbove the surrounding !Z't;;~t-r)'\ it also· projects far out from the main mass of the .Aquari1ts Plateau, and is painted in tones of pink, red, and whits/it is visible from such distant view-points as tl:le Henrv Moun- -. / ' tains~ the Kaibab Plateau, , Tushar Plat- eau, and from Na,·ajo 1vfountain south of Glen Canyon. Though built on an enormous scale, the Paria Amphi­ theater has ·been constructed by simple methods. Like the alcoves in the rim of the Pink Cliffs and the innumerable canyons that score the face of the Utah Plateaus, this master­ piece of sculpture is a product of erosion, the work of streams still in existence. During the course of millions of years, the steep headwaters of the Paria have quarried the rocks at the base of the highlands to form a depression nearly 12 miles wide and nearlv a mile deep. ~./ THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU In strong contrast to the intricately dissected, brightly colored, nearly bare lands "under the rim" in Bryce Canyon Figur2 7. Generalized di::cgr::cr;1s illustrating the effect National Park, the surface back from the rim is nearly flat, of faulting and representing stages in the development of dull-colored, forested, and without consp:cuous Cliffs and can­ the Paria amphitheater and the canyons, cliffs, and gorges of Bryce Ca:~yon National Park (a), a short tlmo after yons, even sharp-cut gullies or terraced hills; truly remarkable mcvemc::t along the Paunsaugunt fault had raised the features in a region of rugged topography. (See Fig. 2 and rocks on the east s~cle al;out 2 000 feet above those on the west; the drainage was northward. (b), the Paria River J. 6). In place of the short, swift streams that carry water in eroding headwards has begun the removal of the rocks , through defiles from the lo\ver lands to the Paria, the plateau on both sides of the fault, but more on the higher east side 1 where the streams have steeper descent and therefore are G~., top is drained by the slow-moving Sevier River that wanders more powerful. (c), the Paria and its tributaries have \j across the surface in a broad, shallow valley between in­ broken up and carried to the Colorado River large portions fc· of the limestones, sandstones, and shales of the Tertiary, ~ conspicuous cliffs and rugged ridges. The divide between the Cretaceous, and Jurassic formations down to the massive ·· ~' two drainage systems is very narrow. From one edge of a Navajo sandstone. At their heads the tributary streams are ,. )' eating into the hard Wasatch limestone which form> the \, belt 5 feet wide along the plateau rim, rain-water goes to surface of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and Table Cliffs. Not ~ the Colorado and on to the Pacific Ocean; from the other much more headward erosion is needed for the Paria to \' capture the waters of the upper East F<:>rk_of Sevier River.'\..\. edge it follows a long route (Sevier River) through central N, Navajo sandstone; UJ, upper Jurass1c llmestones, sand- ~ stones, shales, and gypsum; D. Dakota conglomerate; T, Utah only to disappear in the desert flats of the Great Basin. Tropic shale, including coal; WS, Wahweap and Straight It is interesting to note that none of the valleys in which water Cliffs, sandstones and shales; K, Kaiporawits formation; W, Wasatch formation--eroded to form the Pink Cliffs. flows northward is complete. They begin in broad swales GEOLOGIC AND GEoGRAPHIC SKETCHES oF ZroN AND BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARKs 31

::passes) that are abruptly cut off along the southern plateau initiated by this fault remains as the Sunset Cliffs, now rim. The more vigorous tributaries to the Paria have cut broken into sections by canyons and much decreased in .Jff the heads of slower-moving, north-flowing tributaries of height by the removal of rocks at their tops. The cliff that the . Sevier. long ago marked the eastern border of the Paunsaugunt In a sense the surface of the Paunsaugunt Palteau is mon­ Plateau as a w~that rose some 2.000 feet above its surface :>tonous, but it is full of meaning. It is the present-day chapter has been al'inost en tit-ely destroyed. , (See Fig. 7c) . A remnant in a history of erosion that spans more than a million years. stands at\.. Table yEffs. the ;;uther_:: salient o~quarius .\bove the surface once stood mesas and buttes overlooking ~.bJt'-sm:rfheast\~ard a ng 1ts ancient trend nothing aorcres in which snovv-fed streams ran swiftly. As erosion pro­ remains of its former grandeur. In the rugged landscape along ~rc~ed, the land was lowered, the inequalities were removed, the southern border of the park the position of the Paunsau­ ~nd the drainage channels became less steep until finally the gunt fault is shown only by a break in the continuity of the main streams were unable to cut deeper grooves and were strata; beds of sandstone abut against beds of limestone or 'Jarely able to carry away the small amount of rock debris of shale. The effect of faulting is clearly revealed at view­ brought in by their tributaries. Most of the weathered rock points on the eastern rim of the plateau. Thus at Sunset now remains where it is formed, unlike the bare rock in much Point, the bed of rock on which the observer stands 8,000 :)f the surrounding region, the surface is mantled with soil. feet above sea level on the western side of the fault is the In geological parlance, the surface of the Paunsaugunt Plateau has attained "old age" and its bordering lands are ·youthful." (See Fig. 8) UPLIFT AND EROSION This explanatory description of the features of Bryce Can­ von National Park and of the processes active in making them :eaves unanswered the questions, 'How did Bryce Canyon originate? Why has this particular region so many great al­ coves, lofty mesas, plateaus, and vertical cliffs?" The complete ::mswer involves a knowledge of a long train of events in earth history and of forces and processes as yet not fully understood. In brief the answer is: The rise of the land with respect to sea level; the development of the park landscape was made possible by movements within the earth's crust. At a time long past, estimated as 13,000,000 years ago, all of southern Utah and adjoining regions began to rise and continued its .tpw·ard movement slowly and intermittently until the lands once ncar sea level attained altitudes exceeding 10,000 feet. During this great uplift that brought the former low-lying Jlains of the Brvcc Canyon region to a position nearly two miles above sea level, the beds of rock were broken into earth blocks many miles in length and width. In its regional rela­ ions, Bryce Can von National Park .{s the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau-an enormous mass of sedimentary rock -one of the nine great blocks that constitute the High Plateaus of Utah. It is separated from its neighbors, Aquarius 0 lateau on the east :ii:t-d fVh~b.gunt Plateau o_IUhG-West, by ;Teat cracks (faults) that extend scores of miles-~nd~:Qg which thf' rocks on one side have been raised or on the oth~ ,ide fowered a few hundred to more than 2,000 feet. In consec}l.!_~nce of this faulting. the plateau is bordered by ~/ ,)[ commi:mding height which, though or_igjp_g_Lly.-s.tFaignflines •x broad curv&s, have fh!'ougn .. the lapse of millions of years 1ost their simple structure. In place of an original simple ·~scarpment directly detennined by a fault, the boundary walls of Paunsaugunt Plateau stand some distance back of the fault line and are sinuous and crenulated to a remarkable Jegree. (See Fig. 7). The western border of the Paunsaugunt 0lock is the great earth fracture known as the Sevier fault that crosses the Panguitch-Bryce highway at the mouth of Figure 8. View from Inspiration Point towards Sun­ Red Canyon and extends southward through Alton, Glen­ set Point. Typical erosion in the Wasatch (Pink Cliffs) formation. Note in order the plateau, rim, pinnacles, and dale, Mt. Carmel, and on into Arizona. The original wall spires. (Photo by Zion Picture Shop). 32 HERBERT E. GREGORY same bed that forms the cap of Table Cliffs at 10,000 feet the south and east faces of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and at on the east side of the fault. (See Fig. 7). present the erosion by Bryce Creek, Yellow Creek, Willis The uplift of the ancient lowlands of southern Utah and Creek, and many similary placed streams are taking into their breaking them into blocks is the first great event in the mak­ drainage areas channels that formerly carried waters north­ ing of the plateau landscape. The second event is the erosion ward to Sevier River. of the blocks into their present scenic forms. This regional In the Bryce Canyon region, the whole bewildering land­ uplift introduced a long period of time during which the scape is but the slow work of familiar agents-streams, rain, conditions have been favorable for erosion. On the original ai1d frosts - continued for long periods of time. It is the lowlands before it was broken into blocks. streams did little like those along the road from Red Canyo~ to the park head­ product of erosion, the commonplace term which here seems quarters. In consequence of the uplift which steepened their to have a new meaning. As erosion has been continuous ever paths, the streams became powerful agents of erosion. Their since the plateau lands were raised above sea level, the accelerated speed permitted them to cut trenches in solid present erosion forms merely mark the present stage of a rock, and as the land rose progressively higher, to develop !eng train of geologic events. Formerly the layers of limestone their trenches into the present profound canyons and to re­ that make the Pink Cliffs at Bryce Canyon extended east­ duce the inter-stream larfds to mesas and long flat-topped ward farther than the eye can reach, and a thousand cubic ridges. Though the plateau blocks were raised, their tops re­ miles of rock have been worn away in forming the lower mained comparatively level. (See Fig. 2). Hence the streams work. They flower in broad shallow valleys of gentle gradient on the surface of the newly made plateaus were little affected lands, and still the region is geologically young. Though the by the uplift, but those on its precipitous edges flowed in -work accomplished by the Paria and its tributaries is channels steeply inclined. The Sevier River on top of the enormous, these streams have not completed their ultimate plateau has for long stretches a gradient of less than 15 feet task of \vearing down the Paunsaugunt Plateau to near sea a mile and has cut its bed but slightly. In contrast, the tri­ level. The bed of the streams might be sunk 1,000 feet butaries to the Paria after thousands of years of activity deeper and still have slopes sufficient to carry silt-laden water. descend 1,000 to 1,500 feet a mile, and have cut deeply into They have been at work only for the few million years that make up the last chapter in a billion years of geologic history. In rock erosion, as in carving by human hands, time is AGl OF a factor in producing form. Progressively on the untrimmed ROCKS FORMATION e,-y<..e C.a~"'~yon Park block, new grooves and chipped surfaces appear. But un­ Wasatch EOCENe P•nk ct,ffs like the human sculptor who finally completes his work, erosion though at times rapid and at other times slow knows no stopping place: In unnoticed ways, it daily modifies the

~ 0"' form of canyons and cliffs and, continuing its task, re­ '"u Wahweap- arranges the elements of a landscape until their individuality ...<: 5-lra igh! C l ,f fs is lost. The resulting new landscape likewise eventually gives "'0: u place to another. In the Bryce Canyon region the ancient Tropic landscapes bear little resemblance to the present surface forms, ':! )+ _ _QOJ:a!J:k'..Co;U_\ ~a --=====:5~~~ and future landscapes are likely to differ even more widely. of> of> <: .,0: ..,* ______:::s::::;.~:=.o, STORY OF THE ROCKS u -~ O" Bryce Canyon National Park is not only a region of N"' Navajo Sands\ one o ~ Whd~ Cliffs facinating landscapes-masses of rock wonderfully carved - lf)cr and painted. It is a book whose illuminated pages reveal much w" L.., of geologic history. Just as Grand Canyon is the best-known Ka enta aod Won')ale record of ancient geologic history (Paleozoic), and Zion Can­ yon records most clearly the events of medieval time (Meso­ zoic), the cliffs and canyon walls of Bryce Canyon National u Park reveal much of modern- geologie, .. history (Cenozoic) . "' The story of Bryce where that of Zion Zion "'<( b~gins e~SJ:!.d Moenkopi: Belled Cliffs in turn, where Grand Canyon ends. In the 16,000 f'e'e.~. of sedimentary rock t.,"

Figure 10. Parallel canyons and remarkable erosional forms in the Silent City as viewed from near In- spiration Point. (Photo by Zion Picture Shop). 1 of these rocks shows that the region comprising the park has low-lying plains, and the inland basins which served as witnessed many changes in landscape and climate. At times it resting places for stream-borne materials were uplifted and was covered by the ocean, at other times it was a seashore with erosion replaced deposition; the consolidated rocks laid down bays and estu~ri:].)U:

white; by sheets of gray sandstone, and by irregular masses of into loose sand, forming slopes nearly free of broken blocks gravel tightly cemented with lime. Generally the- top of the and cobbles. Mingled with the rounded quartz grains are formation, as exposed in Boat Mountain and Whitemans feldspar, mica, and also much iron which together with cal­ Bench, is more sandstone and conglomerate than limestone, cite serves as cement and which gives to the rock its yellow­ and the bottom is an assemblage of pebbles and boulders of brown tones, in places nearly black. Some of the sandstone quartz, quartzite, limestone, sandstone and igneous rocks. ledges consist of evenly laid beds of uniform composition with The hard cobbles from this remarkable basal conglomerate are thicknesses of 20 to 50 feet, but generally a section of the hill­ strewn over the lower slopes in the park and in flood seasons side includes not only dark sandstone but also white sand­ are carried along the tributaries of the Paria, even to the stone, blue-gray clay shale, and lime shales. As the material Colorado. Embedded in the limestones are land shells of was laid down by streams as sand bars, river flats, and local three kinds and in the shales are impressions of leaves. The delta, few of the beds are continuous for long distances and style of bedding and the fossils make it possible to know the most of them are very irregular in form. They contain plas­ geography in the long-ago time when the rock that make ters of impure limestone, sand balls of various sizes, and I up the Wasatch were laid down as limy ooze, silt, sands, and masses of ironstone that on weathering remain as knobs on steep slopes or as the caps of towers and buttes. In the firm l!' grave~. The finest material must have been deposited in lakes and ponds or in other bodies of quiet water, the coarser limestone and the yellow-tan weakly cemented sandstone are \ debris along streams. The beds that in ancient times probably embedded the fossil bones of dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and \"bverlaid the Wasatch have been entirely removed by erosion fresh-water shells, also fossil wood and leaves. The Kaiparo­ and the thickness of the formation itself has be.en reduced by wits formation is well exposed along the "under the Cliffs" this process, in some places considerably. Thus at Bryce Can­ trail from Rainbow Point eastward. yon the formation, once probably 2,000 feet in thickness, has WAHWEAP AND STRAIGHT CLIFFS :-The Kaiparowits \ been reduced to 1,300 feet, at places along the rim to 1,000 formation is underlaid in turn by the Wahweap and the \ feet or less, and even more in the gaps (passes) where deep Straight Cliff formation which east of the Paria River have '~alleys have been formed. distinguishable characteristics, but within Bryce Canyon The \Yasatch is not only the youngest series of sedimen­ National Park intergrade to such an extent that their bound- tary beds in the Bryce region and the strongest cliff maker, ,;lries in many places are obscure. In these formations that to­ but it is also the most prominent because of its coloring. In gether have an average thickness of about 800 feet, the most fact "Wasatch" and "Pink Cliffs" are nearly synonymous conspicuous features are the beds of buff sandstone 30 to 1.50 terms. The color of the fresh (unweathered) limestone is pale feet thick and continuous for miles, and which weather as pink; of the sandstone and grits,- nearly white. The rocks nearly vertical walls. Along the edge of the park, layer on thus record the amount of iron-the chief coloring matter­ layer of thick sandstone separated by thin beds of the same in the sands and silts from which the present beds have been composition stand on the general slope as huge steps that formed. Weathering has caused the iron to change its chemical combine to make unscalable walls. As shown by fossils in state and to be more widely distributed; the various tones of the Straight Cliff sandstone, the sediments were deposited red, pink, yellow, and tan record the kind and stage of oxida­ in a sea and in lagoons of brackish water. tion. The reddest, densest, and most completely calcareous TRoPIC:-In downward succession the sandstones of the rocks contain the most iron; such sandy porous white rocks as Straight Cliffs give way to clayey shales, designated as the form the mesa tops and many knobs on canyon "'ails are Tropic formatoin, an unmistakable assemblage of dark, drab, nearly free of iron, and doubtless part of the iron once present thin, fossiliferous marine beds that have a thickness of 600 has been removed by leaching. to 1400 feet. This formation contains the coal mined at KAIPAROWITS: -Next below the red and pink rocks of the Tropic and Henrieville. Wasatch are the dark-colored sandstones and shales of the DAKOTA:-Without any sharp separation, the Tropic Kaiparowits formation deposited by streams in late Cre­ shale is underlaid by beds of conglomerate sandstone rarely taceous time. As exposed in the park, the Kaiparowits has more than 50 feet thick, known as the Dakota formation. a maximum thickness exceeding 1,000 feet and a minimum Thus as units in the stratigraphic series exposed in Bryce of less than .500 feet-a great range in thickness that repre­ Canyon National Park, the Wasatch fonnation is the highest sents the degree to which the top beds were eroded before (youngest) and the Dakota is the lowest (oldest). (See Fig. the overlying formation was deposited. 7 and Fig. 9). Sedimentary beds that once overlay the As a whole the formation is readilv distinrruished. Even Wasatch have been removed by erosion. Lava (basalt) rests in distant views it appears as a dark-;rav or "'yeiiow-brown 0 ' ' on them at Red Canyon and north of the park igneous rocks band below pink rocks and above light-gray rocks. On the are widespread. The more recent deposits-the sands and east face of the Paunsaugunt Plateau it appears as a slope gravels along the streamways and the jumbled materials about broken here and there by irregularly placed benches, ter­ the base of cliffs-have not as yet been converted into solid minated downward by terraces of sandstone and upward by rock. Southward from the park formations older than the vertical cliffs of limestone. Dakota are prominently displayed in the White Cliffs and In composition the Kaiparowits is dominantly quartz the Vermilion Cliffs, visible from the rim of the Paunsaugunt sandstone, much of it so poorly consolidated as to weather Plateau. (See Fig. 2) . GEOLOGIC AND GEOGRAPHIC SKETCHES OF ZION AND BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARKS 35

ROAD DISTANCES To points Outside the Park To Salt Lake City 270 Mi. To Los Angeles 573 Mi. To Cedar City 85 Mi. To Panguitch 26 Mt. To Cedar Breaks 67 Mi. To 89 Mi. To Grand Canyon (North Rim) 161 Mt. To Grand Canyon (South Rim) 305 Mr. To Points Within the Park Checking Station to; Fairyland 1.2 Mi. Headquarters 1.6 Mi. Bryce Canyon Lodge 1.8 Mi. Sunset Point 2.4 Mi. Inspiration Point 3.0 Mi. Bryce Point 4.7 Mi. Paria View 4.4 Mi. Natural Bridg~ 12.5 Mi. Rainbow Point 18.2 Mi. 1 TRAIL DISTANCES I Sunset Point to; Navajo- Comanche Loop & return Inspiration Point Sunrise Point (Rim Trail) Bryce Point (Via Peek-a-boo Trail) Campbell Canyon-Fairyland Loop & return

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Scale in Miles LEGEND Park Boundary Poor Road Main Road =Other Road Ranger Station ---- Foot Trail

Note: All Distances given are from Park Headquarters