‘The majesty of the universe is right here in our backyard’: Bryce Canyon celebrates 100 years

Written by Stephanie DeGraw
June 9, 2023

ST. GEORGE — A melodic duet of Native American women singing and drumming echoed across the rim of Bryce Canyon National Park on Thursday as the park celebrated 100 years. 

(L-R): Thalia Guerro of Cedar City and Corrina Bow, chairwoman for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, share their culture during Bryce Canyon’s 100-year celebration, Bryce, Utah, June 8, 2023 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

The duet was performed by Thalia Guerro of Cedar City and Corrina Bow, chairwoman for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.

The festivities for the 100-year celebration featured cake and concerts, with performances by Bryce Canyon Wranglers and the Piano Guys, who played along the Ruby’s Inn section of the canyon rim.

The Southern Paiutes call the Bryce Canyon area their homeland. According to historical documentation, the Southern Paiutes first occupied this land around 1200 A.D. Twenty other affiliated tribes also hold Bryce Canyon National Park sacred.

The earliest known human interaction with Bryce Canyon goes back to the Fremont culture at about 200 A.D., according to the National Park Service. 

At Thursday’s ceremony to honor the occasion, locals, dignitaries, park employees, tourists and Native Americans gathered between Sunset and Sunrise points. Gov. Spencer Cox, National Park Service Regional Director Kate Hammond and artist Roland Lee were among those who spoke during the event.

Cox expressed his deep love of the park that he developed as a young boy. His first time visiting was when he was 6 years old.

“We were very poor growing up and didn’t get an opportunity to go on vacations very often,” Cox said. “But my parents — when I was young — saved up their money and took us down here, and it was the first hotel I’d ever been to with a swimming pool. And that was actually more exciting than the park.” 

But as Cox grew older, he soon cherished Bryce Canyon National Park. It gave him a place where he felt he could renew his spirit, which he said was especially important to him during the COVID-19 pandemic and when he ran for office.

“Bryce is a place where I was able to leave the cares of the world and come and see that the majesty of the universe is right here in our backyard,” Cox said.

(L-R): National Park Service Gail Pollock, president and CEO of the Bryce Canyon Association, and artist Roland Lee stand by Roland’s painting commissioned by the Bryce Canyon Association, Bryce, Utah, June 8, 2023 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News

Another speaker, Gail Pollock, president and CEO of the Bryce Canyon Association, said as the park’s official nonprofit philanthropic partner, the association works to ensure Bryce Canyon remains a national treasure to be enjoyed now and for future generations.

“We commissioned the painting, an original by Roland Lee, and have donated that to the National Park Service to begin the next 100 years of artwork for Bryce Canyon,” Pollock told St. George News. 

Bryce Canyon is reportedly home to the world’s greatest concentration of irregular rock formations. The colorful hoodoos have been shaped by the forces of ice, wind and rain over many decades. Bryce’s evolving landscape creates a place where human and geologic timescales feel intimately intertwined. 

Early settlers grazed cattle and sheep despite the Bryce badlands, unpredictable weather and vanishing grasses, records state. Pioneers’ livelihood and survival depended on their overcoming these and other obstacles. Ebenezer Bryce, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who came to the region in the 1870s and settled with his family, reportedly described this canyon as a “hell of a place to lose a cow.”

According to the park’s website, Warren G. Harding, the 29th president of the United States, commissioned the U.S. Forest Service to preserve the “unusual scenic beauty, scientific interest and importance” of Bryce Canyon as a national monument on June 8, 1923. 

Congress passed a bill to establish Bryce Canyon as a national park in 1924, and all land within the national monument became the property of the United States. Bryce Canyon officially became a national park on Feb. 25, 1928. 

Bryce Canyon now protects and provides a home to more than 100 species of birds, 1,000 species of plants and other diverse wildlife including the Utah prairie dog, mule deer and mountain lion.

Since its establishment 100 years ago, the park has welcomed over 60 million visitors from around the world, and over 2 million more visitors are expected in its centennial year.

More information is available on the park’s website and at brycecanyon.org

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie DeGraw is an award-winning journalist. For 25 years, she engaged in journalism, broadcasting and public relations. DeGraw worked for the Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press and The City Journals. She was a reporter for a CBS television station in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Broadcasting.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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