Grand Canyon National Park/LEON.bin/data/dcx002.doc

Text File | 1995-10-02 | 3KB | 36 lines

The mighty Colorado has been carving out the Grand Canyon, which was once a level plain, for
millions of years, at the same time sculpting and shaping the canyon into what it is today.  The
Colorado on average carries about 400,000 tons of silt that it scours from the canyon with it
every day, exposing more and more rock daily.  This process will continue as long as the river
flows, carving its way down to older and older rock.  The rock at the base of the canyon now is
two billion years old, and in time rock even more ancient will be uncovered.

This swift and powerful river was given its current name by the Spanish conquistadors during
their occupation of the Southwest, who called it Rio Colorado because of its reddish color and
muddy consistency.  They were the first Europeans to see this raging waterway, but at the time
they discovered it from the rim of the canyon, they could not find a way down the canyon for a
closer look.  They gave up trying after four days.

The Spanish were not the first people to see the river.  Several ancient cultures lived in and passed
through the area over the course of history.  Overwhelmed by the force and size of the river, these
people believed that their gods had created the Colorado for a specific reason.  The Paiute Indians
were convinced that their god, Tavwoats, had created the river as a way to the next world, but
made it sufficiently turbulent so that they could not reach it.  The Hualapai and the Havasupai
believed the river was a runoff from a god-created flood, which was unleashed due to the actions
of man.  Although today these accounts are just mythology to us, it is easy to see just by looking
at the river how primitive man might have come to these conclusions.

The Colorado River flows across over 1,450 miles of landscape in the southwest, and almost one
hundred and seveny-eight miles of the Grand Canyon National Park, emptying into the Gulf of
California.  One of the main functions of the river is to drain the Colorado Plateau.  This immense
river also feeds many creeks that branch from it, such as Crystal Creek, Bright Angel Creek, Clear
Creek, and Shinumo Creek.  These creeks flow through the gorges and smaller canyons that
stretch towards the North Rim.  Havasu Creek stems from the Colorado and runs south out of the
park's boundaries, giving birth to magnificent Mooney, Havasu, Navajo, and Supai Falls along the
way.

Although scientists are still debating whether or not the Colorado River was the sole factor in the
creation of the Grand Canyon, its effect on it is undeniable, and the river still remains the most
powerful force in the canyon today.   This force is evident as the river rages past the towering
walls of the canyon, continuously exerting its creative pressure on the rock, a colorful stripe
standing out from the noble rock in which it lies.