JOHN MUIR AND GIFFORD PINCHOT:
LOVING THE GRAND CANYON AND LETTING THE PUBLIC IN ON IT
One strange aspect of the Powell-Harrison alliance to advance the idea of a Grand Canyon National Park (1882-1893) is how little public notice or activity there was. No speeches, no articles, no letter campaign. Whether this is due to a lack of historical research or whether the two just had many other issues on their minds, I wish I knew.
If this existence out of the public eye seems true for the 1880’s, it certainly changed in the next decade, the 1890’s, featuring our second odd couple: John Muir and Gifford Pinchot. Visitation was starting to grow, and the railroad was coming, thus increasing the potential for public interest hugely, but these two epitomize pushing the Park idea and effort into public view. And without seeming to take account of the Powell-Harrison effort.
