The Grand Canyon is 1,904 square miles in area, about 50 square miles fewer than Delaware. It is 18 miles wide in spots and 1 mile deep with 277 river miles running through it. Park visitation (about 5,000,000 annually) is 90% South Rim since the South Rim is open year around as opposed to the North Rim which operates only from May to October. From the South Rim, the North Rim is 10 miles away, or 220 miles by car.

Early visitors enjoyed peering into the abyss, as this lady was doing at Moran Point in 1902.

or these ladies riding mules by Grandview Point in 1915.

Only feet from the South Rim lies the iconic El Tovar hotel built by the Santa Fe Railway in 1905. It has 100 rooms and was designed to attract the railroad’s more well-healed customers.

Directly across from the El Tovar is Hopi House, which also opened in 1905. Hopi craftsmen would demonstrate their skills in making jewelry, rugs, pottery, and blankets which could then be purchased. It’s a smart place to shop, as can be seen by the satisfied customer with the headdress in this 1931 photo. Click to enlarge.

In 1914 Mr. L. Wing and a friend took their 22 horsepower Metz car to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, having first departed Los Angeles and crossing deserts south of Death Valley. They had few roads to follow,  no GPS or cell phones, and still had to cross three mountain ranges as well. After 587 grueling miles, they first went to the El Tovar Hotel and scouted possible routes to the bottom, but to no avail. They found a gorge at Peach Springs and made the 42 miles trip down to the river and back the next day.

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Long ago the mules in Grand Canyon did more than just ferry tourists down to the Colorado River and back. This 1922 picture shows them at Plateau Point meeting the only plane ever to land in the Park.

Sometimes they competed with the Kolb Brothers by taking pictures of each other as seen in these 1915 and 1920 photos. Click to enlarge

In 1906 Teddy Roosevelt gave initial protection to the Grand Canyon when it was designated a National Monument. In 1919 it bcaame a National Park due in no small part to photographers Emery and Elsworth Kolb. They scoured the back country looking for the perfect photos to entice people to come and visit. Here are three examples showing their efforts taken in 1911, 13 and 15. They were not only intrepid explorers and photographers, they were also not above instilling a little humor in their pictures. Case in point is this 1910 photo showing two tourists working their way back up Bright Angel Trail (click to enlarge).

The Kolb brothers built their studio in 1904 and operated it at the head of Bright Angel Trail for 75 years. Everyday they would take tourist photos, run down 5 miles to Indian Gardens where there was water for developing, then run back up in time to meet the customers at the end of the ride. They expanded in 1915 and began showing a 1/2 hour movie of their 1911 101 day trip down the Colorado River. It was shown every day from 1915 to 1976 making it the longest, continuously running movie in American history. It is currently available for viewing  on line. The photos are from 1904 and 1912 showing the studio which today is a gallery and bookstore.