Early Grand Canyon Mule Riders Photo courtesy Cline Library, Northern Arizona University - Kolb Collection |
Grand Canyon Mule Trail Rides
According to Ron Clayton, manager of the Grand
Canyon Mule Operation, "This is not a pony ride at Disneyland." He
prepares those who want to take the trip for a tough, hard trip,
and an exhilarating experience. Riders have a choice of two
separate trips leaving the South Rim of the Canyon: the first is a
one-day ride down Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point where the
mule riders can look out over the Colorado River. The second is an
overnight ride that ends at Phantom Ranch, where riders can spend
one or two nights exploring the bottom of the Canyon. Mules are
well-suited for traversing the Grand Canyon. They are three times
as strong as a horse, more sure-footed, intelligent, and trainable.
Their supposed stubborn nature is due to their strong sense of
self-preservation.
One of the first sights that current day mule riders
see is the Kolb Studio, built in 1904 by brothers Emery and
Ellsworth Kolb, who took the first photos of early-day riders. They
operated their photography business for 70 years, and shot photos
of almost 70,000 mule trains. Once past Kolb Studio, the mule train
begins its first series of descending switchbacks. Once into the
wilderness, the riders go to Jacob's Ladder, 20 switchbacks that
end on the Plateau level. When the single-day riders reach Plateau
Point, they return back Bright Angel Trail to their starting point,
while the overnighters continue on to Phantom Ranch. Only the mule
trains descending all the way to Phantom Ranch experience the
"Devil's Corkscrew," a series of switchbacks that descends to the
River Trail. The two-mile River Trail was constructed in the early
1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Franklin
Roosevelt's New Deal work program. Due to the difficult conditions,
80 CCC workers took two years to complete it. At the end of the
River Trail is the Black Bridge, a rigid suspension bridge crossing
the Colorado River. Built in 1928, it required the labor of some 40
Havasupai Indians who carried 2300-pound cables from the South Rim
to the river. After crossing the Colorado River, it's an easy ride
to the Phantom Ranch, a hunting camp on the floor of the Canyon
built in the first decade of the 20th century. The entire trip to
the Canyon floor takes about six hours. The next morning, the mule
train saddles up and heads across the bridge and up the South
Kaibab Trail.
Through the years, more than 600,000 have ridden
mules in the Grand Canyon, but not all on the trails used today.
The first of many entrepreneurs to offer mule rides in the canyon
was Captain John Hance, the first white settler at the Grand
Canyon, who began his business in 1887. Today, Ron Clayton offers
the service to Grand Canyon visitors. Clayton's pioneering efforts
in offering mule rides to the disabled -- including quadriplegics,
blind people, and double amputees -- has earned him the 1998
"Horseman of Distinction" award from the North American Horsemen's
Association.
Project documentation consists of 25 pages of text
and six historic black and white photographs of early Grand Canyon
mule riders.
Originally submitted by: Bob Stump, Representative (3rd District).
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