García López de Cárdenas, a Spanish explorer, was the first European to see the Grand Canyon, in 1540. He stumbled across it in his search for fabled cities thought to be filled with treasure and riches -- the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. His journey was considered a failure because he never found the gold he sought.

Native Americans, called the Anasazi, lived along the Grand Canyon long before Europeans ever set eyes on it. The Anasazi, who are thought to be the ancestors of the present-day Hopi, lived in caves and pit houses along the edges of the canyon in pueblos (towns). The Hopi believe the Grand Canyon is a Sipapu, a place from which all people emerged from another world into this one.

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