When the Zion Tunnel was proposed as a separate National Monument; Plus, more historical tidbits

THE Zion Mt. Carmel Canyon Tunnel was an engineering marvel for its age and was the longest non-urban tunnel in the nation when it opened at 1.1 miles.

In fact, the tunnel was proposed to be its own separate national monument. According to the Salt Lake Telegram of Dec. 30, 1929, Utah Governor George H. Dern suggested the tunnel have national monument status, though the official designation never occurred.

Governor Dern also wanted the road around and through the tunnel also renamed the Stephen T. Mather Highway, in honor of the former director of the nation’s national parks. That name designation also didn’t happen.

Although some listings on the Web put the tunnel’s construction cost as low as $503,000, that was only the cost of tunnel itself and not including the connecting roadways. The Telegram of July 4, 1930 stated the total cost of the tunnel project was $1.5 million (or more than 22.5 million in today’s dollar values).

According to the Iron County Record newspaper of Oct. 26, 1929, survey crews spent two years climbing the mountain and evaluating the best tunnel route.

When the tunnel opened on July 4, 1930, it shortened the distance from Zion to Bryce National Park by some 62 miles, from 149 miles to 88 miles. It also gave the area a better year-round route, from east to west.

At least three workers were injured during the tunnel’s construction. The Telegram of Nov. 8, 1928 reported that a premature dynamite explosion seriously injured one worker. The Washington County News of Jan. 1, 1928 stated that minor injuries happened when one worker was struck by an ice block and when another man fell 10 feet off a ledge.

-The Ogden Standard Examiner of July 21, 1927 stated that the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway and tunnel were also part of a sweeping plan to secure national park land and enhance access to them.

“Utah gives up its Bryce land,” was the Standard headline. Utah gave up ownership to 20 acres it owned at Bryce and the Union Pacific Railroad also deeded over its land holdings there, to help create Bryce as a national park.

The story also stated the Utah Governor Dern said that a Bryce name change was highly objectionable, given the current title’s fixation. Some wanted the Bryce renamed Utah National Park, because technically the area is not a canyon.

MORE HISTORY:

-How much does Mount Timpanogos weigh? “B.Y.U. graduate student fixes weight of Timpanogos at sixty billion tons” was a June 25, 1935 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram.

            Bighorn sheep just below Timpanogos Peak.                               Photo by Ray Boren

Harrison J. Merrill made the calculation as part of his thesis for a master’s degree at the school. Merrill used two pendulums, the law of gravitation and numerous mathematical formulas to make his approximation of the mountain’s total weight. BYU physics and mathematics professors all agreed with his findings.

-Mount Timpanogos was often climbed from the east side by thousands of hikers. However, it wasn’t until 1910 that the mountain was first climbed from the southwest. The Salt Lake Tribune of Aug. 7, 1910 stated that the husband-wife team of C.F. Knott and E.B. Yoams of Salt Lake City were the first climbers from the direction in the summer of 1910.

-“Coed falls 360 feet, lives” was a May 9, 1919 headline in the Salt Lake Herald Republican newspaper. Franc Jennings, a student at the University of Utah, “crashed over an ice-capped precipice in Dry Canyon, narrowly missed being dashed to death by trees at the bottom, but suffered only minor bruises,” the newspaper stated.

The story, written by Uarda McCarty, also said that Jennings was on Black Mountain when the accident occurred. A crest of snow caved in and she tumbled down into Dry Canyon. She was rendered unconscious by the fall and lay at the bottom of the canyon for 30 minutes before her companions could reach her. An eventual X-ray exam was suggested for her legs to ensure no bones were broken.

A pair of never built roads in Bryce Canyon National Park: One in the bottom and the other a loop road

BRYCE Canyon National Park had somewhat of a lackluster beginning, being in the shadows of the more highly esteemed sister park, Zion. From almost changing Bryce's name away from "Canyon" (since geologically it is NOT a canyon); to it almost became only a Utah State Park; to being administratively under Zion Park until 1956; Bryce has had some major "what ifs?"
And, here are two others to add to that list -- 1. In 1931 there was a failed proposal to create a loop road from Highway 89 through Red Canyon to Bryce and then back to Highway 89 at Long Valley Junction; 2. In 1951 there was a strong move to build a road on the floor of Bryce Canyon itself.
"Government plans new road to Bryce Canyon" was a March 28, 1931 headline in the Iron County Record newspaper of Cedar City.
This tentative road reached Rainbow Point (where the Bryce park highway ends southward today) and then would head due west to Highway 89 at the Long Valley Junction of U-14.
"The entire road would be about 27 miles long, with five miles being private lands and most of the balance in the Powell and Dixie national forests," the story stated.

                      Today's end of the road southward in Bryce Canyon.

The story also stated, "The new road would make it possible to visit Bryce via the present route through Red Canyon and then return over an entirely different route, eliminating all retracing. Most of the route would be at 8,000 ft. elevation and would add much to the pleasantness of the trip in hot summer months."

                   The parking lot turnaround at the end of 18 miles of road in Bryce Canyon.

Why didn't this road ever get built? Constructing the loop highway was contingent upon the State of Utah being able to cooperate and create five miles of road through the private lands. This apparently didn't happen, likely because of property acquisition issues. 
Yes, the more recent proposal in 1951 was to build a paved road below the rim.

The rugged terrain looking west from today's south end of the road in Bryce Canyon. But if a 1930s proposal had happened, Bryce Canyon National Park would have had a loop road and a highway would have descended below in this picture and connected with Long Valley Junction.

"Civic clubs will support move for road on floor of Bryce Canyon": was an August 30, 1951 headline in the Richfield Reaper newspaper of Utah.
Bryce Canyon put Panguitch, Utah on the national map, as the entrance, the last town before the now popular national park. So, the Associated Civics Clubs of Southern and Eastern Utah, along with the Panguitch Lions Club, held a meeting in town to discuss the idea of a road at the bottom of Bryce.
"The Club agreed to support a suggestion by State Representative John Johnson of Tropic to the effect that a road can be built on the floor of Bryce Canyon so that visitors can view the real scenic attractions of the area," the Richfield newspaper story stated.
It continued, "The main beauty of Bryce Canyon cannot be seen from the rim of the canyon."

                                                 Hikers on the Navajo Trail in Bryce.

                                    Imagine a paved road through the middle of this?

So, there you have it. Of course, the road was never built, but it leaves little to the imagination to envision a road going through the bottom of Bryce. Many, many natural features would have had to have been demolished to make room for such a road. Hiking would also not be a big activity as it is today in Bryce with such a road. Why hike, when you can drive down?

-In 1920, Bryce was just picking up steam with tourists. "Volunteers repair Bryce Canyon road" was a May 6 headline that year in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper. A "road day club" had just been formed in Panguitch, with up to 47 men volunteering their time to smooth out the dirt road from Panguitch through Red Canyon and onto Bryce so that automobiles had better access.

                                                        The iconic tunnel in Red Rock Canyon.

-Initially, for more than a decade, the road to Bryce Canyon ended at the northwest rim of the amphitheater, probably near today's Sunrise Point. Walking or horse travel was the only way further south.
However, the Salt Lake Tribune of Dec. 6, 1929, reported that the National Park Service had allocated $13,700 to survey and begin to construct a road eight or more miles long southward along the rim of Bryce in the summer of 1930.
This road was "to afford visitors opportunity to view the canyon from many vantage points, instead of the one point now reached by the main highway," the Tribune story stated.
(At the time time, the Park Service allocated $280,000 to improve roads along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, particularly from the Bright Angel Camp to Point Imperial and Cape Royal.)

                       There are some small cliffs along the Navajo Trail in Bryce.

-Finally, while Zion has been host to a lot more accidents than Zion, given its sheer cliffs and towering rocks, Bryce Canyon has also not been immune to accident from falls.
Some examples:
1. "Fall from Bryce Canyon cliff seriously injures Cedar girl" was a June 23, 1932 headline in the Beaver County News. The girl slipped off a cliff near Point Supreme and suffered three breaks in her pelvis bone and a broken arm. It took rescuers several hours to reach her.
2. "Girl has close call in Utah park accident" was a July 13, 1946 headline in the Logan Herald-Journal. The 14-year-old-girl from Buffalo, N.Y. slipped off a sandstone cliff in Bryce and went down 100 feet "before she clutched the edge of a projecting chunk of sandstone -- one of the many spires which have made the canyon famous," the story reported. She was rescued with ropes by a park ranger. The girl's physician father treated her many cuts and bruises, but nothing was broken.
3. The Ogden Standard-Examiner of April 22, 1954, reported that a 61-year-old woman tourist from Illinois died in a fall at the park on April 21 that year. She stepped over a log barrier at the Far View Scenic Point, lost her balance and plunged 90 feet to her death down a cliff. She died instantly.
4. A man died in cliff fall in Bryce in September of 2003.

  -Another milestone in Bryce National Park happened in November of 1936 when it began staying open in winter, to Inspiration Point. Years later, that led to snowmobiling and cross country skiing there.

-Originally published in the Deseret News on June 24, 2020.

Bryce Canyon 'stirs Ogdenites' in 1920

THE Ogden Standard-Examiner of July 14, 1920 published the account of an Ogden family visiting South Utah and the majesty of Bruce Canyon was at the top of their list.
According to the Standard-Examiner, the Joseph Chez family agreed with a fellow tourist they met that Bryce was as spectacular as the famed Alps in Switzerland. They described Bryce "as an awe inspiring spectacle."
The only drawback to Bryce at the time, was that it could pretty much only be viewed from the rim above, as the only trail downward was very sketchy.
There was "a steep and somewhat uncertain trail into its depths," the Chez family reported to the Standard.

When a new name was sought for Bryce Canyon in the 1920s, like 'Utah National Park'

         Bryce Canyon National Park could have been renamed "Utah National Park."

By Lynn Arave
BRYCE Canyon WASN'T always accepted as the name to a scenic wonderland of Southern Utah. In 1920 -- even before Bryce was a national monument -- there was a strong movement to rename the area something different to better conform to geology and geography.
"New name wanted for Bryce Canyon" was a June 8, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald newspaper.
A state-wide contest was held by the Utah State Automobile Association to find a more suitable title for Bryce, because it wasn't really a "canyon," but an "amphitheater."
At that time, the early 20th Century, Bryce was also sometimes referred to as "Temple of the Gods," since that it is what the place was referred to on official federal maps.
Others referred to it as "Bryce's Canyon."
Since Colorado boasted a place named "Garden of the Gods," the "Temple of the Gods name was not considered confusing and not suitable.

The winner to the contest to rename Bryce, with the chosen name, would earn an all-expense paid trip to Bryce and Zion National Park.
"Bryce Canyon to be renamed" was a June 8, 1920 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner newspaper, as all major Utah papers carried the news of a big contest.
Apparently, many early visitors to Bryce had been complaining that Bryce CANYON was not an accurate title for the scenic marvel and that a new title was needed before Bryce gained world-wide fame in coming years.
Bryce Canyon was named for Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon Pioneer who homesteaded in the area in 1874. He also reportedly proclaimed it was a helluva place to lose a cow.
Bryce became a national monument in 1923 and a national park in 1928.
The renaming contest, however, did not go smoothly.
"Garfield Count protests renaming of Bryce Canyon" was a June 12, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald.
That story reported that the Utah State Automobile Association agreed that Garfield County, home to Bryce Canyon, should have a strong say in the renaming process, but that the new name contest would continue.
"We are not trying to dictate the name of anything and we would not attempt to foist an undesirable name upon any section of the state," W. D. Rishel, manager of the Utah State Automobile Association, stated in the Herald story.
He continued, "Our efforts in securing a more suitable title were solicited by hundreds of visitors, who declared that Utah is hiding the most singular scenic attraction in the world under the most commonplace title."
When the renaming contest had run its course a few weeks later, it was concluded that the judges could not find a more suitable title, despite hundreds of suggested names by the public.
"Bryce name to stand" was a July 8, 1920 headline in the Salt Lake Herald.
"No better title that the present name of Bryce Canyon was found by the board of judges ..." the story concluded.

-Jump forward eight years, to 1927, and the leading new name for Bryce Canyon National Park was Utah National Park.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner of July 21, 1927 states that Utah Governor George H. Dern said that the Utah National Park name was "highly objectionable," because "much money had been expended in bringing the name of Bryce to the attention of travelers." 

(-Originally published in the Deseret News on May 13, 2019.)