Happy Birthday to the Grandest of All Canyon-Centric Parks!
Theodore Roosevelt was a grand man known for grand gestures, thus it should be no surprise that he loved–LOVED–the Grand Canyon. When he visited it in 1903, making him the first president to do so, his reaction was, well… grand. “The Grand Canyon fills me with awe. It is beyond comparison — beyond description; absolutely unparalleled throughout the wide world … Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.”
On February 26, 1919, Congress passed legislation that designated the Grand Canyon a national park, according it the protections that Roosevelt had so mightily envisioned.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish Grand Canyon National Park a very happy 96th birthday and to invite you to join us in working to preserve and protect all such awe-inspiring natural wonders for now and forever.
Read more on the history of the park on Politico.
Photos via NPS.
