Indian tribes have lived in the canyon since time immemorial. The evidence is rock paintings in the caves, the age of which is estimated at 3-4 thousand years. “White people” learned about the existence of the canyon in the XVI century, after in September 1540, a detachment of Spanish Captain de Gardenas in search of gold went to its southern side.
The canyon appeared to the Spaniards as an ordinary large ravine with a stream at the bottom – its enormous size is really difficult to estimate by eye, especially in good visibility – and they decided to go down. The soldiers with their Indian guides had barely traveled only a third of the way to the bottom of the huge gully. When the squad ran out of water, the travelers had the good sense to turn back.
The layers of sedimentary rock on the canyon walls are mostly reddish colored, but black, yellow, and blue coloring is found in places. The upper limestone layers have been subjected to severe erosion, so the canyon is wide and riddled with gullies in the upper part. In the lower layers, composed of gneiss and granite, the river has chewed a very narrow and deep crevice
The sedimentary rock layers on the canyon walls are mostly reddish colored, but black, yellow, and blue coloration is also found in places. The upper limestone layers have been subjected to severe erosion, so the canyon is wide and riddled with gullies in the upper part. In the lower layers, composed of gneiss and granite, the river has gnawed a very narrow and deep crevice through it
The next time the Spanish found themselves in these parts was 200 years later: in 1776, a group of priests accompanied by soldiers were looking for a way from Santa Fe to California. Depressed by the desolation of this vast territory, the holy fathers wrote in their notes that they were apparently the last people to visit this godforsaken and unneeded place.
But the prediction of the priests did not come true. In 1858, the first geologists and prospectors appeared here and discovered in the canyon deposits of zinc, lead and, most importantly, rich copper ores. Since copper prices were high at the time, copper ore was mined and hauled up the canyon by mule up steep trails. When copper became cheaper, mining in such an inaccessible place stopped.
The first scientific expedition, which surveyed and described the canyon, took place in 1869. A group of nine naturalists was led by the famous explorer Major D. Powell: they managed to sail through the Grand Canyon on four boats for the first time on the Colorado River.
At the end of the XIX century the first excursions for nature lovers were organized – the era of tourism began.
In 1903 President T. Roosevelt, who liked to hunt in the canyon, ordered to organize protection of this territory: on his initiative a national park was organized.
In 1921 a suspension bridge was built across the Colorado River in the most visited part of the canyon. Half a century later commercial rafting on the river began, today this route is traveled by about 15 thousand people annually.
Already in our century in the area of the canyon began active uranium mining, but in early 2012, a moratorium on this activity was declared for twenty years to prevent pollution of the protected area. There is still an active debate about this decision.