38°36′26″N109°31′52″W / 38.60722°N 109.53111°W /38.60722; -109.53111
| Grandstaff Canyon | |
|---|---|
 A typical scene in Grandstaff Canyon | |
  Grandstaff Canyon Location within Utah Show map of Utah Grandstaff Canyon Location within the United States Show map of the United States Grandstaff Canyon Location within North America Show map of North America | |
| Floor elevation | Approx. 4,309 feet (1,300 m) |
| Geography | |
| Location | Grand County |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 38°36′N109°30′W / 38.6°N 109.5°W /38.6; -109.5 |
| Rivers | Colorado River |
Grandstaff Canyon (calledNigger Bill Canyon from the late 19th century until the 1960s, andNegro Bill Canyon until 2017) is acanyon in southernGrand County,Utah, United States. It is part of theColorado River watershed. Its stream flows directly into the main channel of the Colorado River within Moab Canyon.
Description
editA trailhead which gives hiking access into the canyon is located directly adjacent toUtah State Route 128 (SR‑128).[1] The trailhead is located about three miles (4.8 km) east of the junction of SR‑128 andU.S. Route 191. TheMorning Glory Natural Bridge[2] is located in the canyon[3] about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from the trailhead and has a length of 943 feet (287 m).
Naming history
editGrandstaff Canyon was named after William Grandstaff, a mixed-racecowboy, whoprospected and ran cattle in the desert canyon in the late 1870s with aCanadian trapper named Frenchie. They took joint possession of the abandonedElk Mountain Mission fort nearMoab after 1877, and each controlled part of the Spanish Valley. Grandstaff fled the area in 1881 after being charged withbootlegging whiskey to theIndians.[4]
The canyon was called Nigger Bill Canyon until the 1960s, when the revised name Negro Bill Canyon was adopted.[5] In the wake of the 2015Charleston church shooting, local councilwoman Mary McGann called for the renaming of the canyon to the more formal Grandstaff Canyon. Although the local NAACP chapter was behind its renaming in the 1960s, they opposed the further change to Grandstaff Canyon.Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake City NAACP chapter, insisted that "Negro is an acceptable word" and feared that "If the name changes, it's going to lose its history".[5] However, in 2017 theU.S. Board on Geographic Names voted to have it renamed to Grandstaff Canyon.[6][7]
See also
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References
edit- ^Matson, Mike (April 2009).Moon Utah Camping: The Complete Guide to Tent and RV Camping. Avalon Travel Publishing. p. 250.ISBN 978-1-59880-195-8 – viaGoogle Books.
- ^"Feature Detail Report for: Morning Glory Arch".United States Geological Survey. February 25, 1989. RetrievedNovember 28, 2017.
- ^"Zoom Earth satellite imagery".zoom.earth. Neave Interactive. RetrievedNovember 28, 2017.
- ^Van Cott, John W. (1990).Utah Place Names. Salt Lake City:University of Utah Press. pp. 271–272.ISBN 0-87480-345-4.
- ^abMcCombs, Brady (November 26, 2012)."Push on to rename 'Negro Bill Canyon' in Utah".Salt Lake Tribune.Associated Press. RetrievedMarch 29, 2015.
- ^"Utah's 'Negro Bill Canyon' renamed after years of debate".Houston Chronicle. October 12, 2017. Archived fromthe original on October 13, 2017. RetrievedOctober 13, 2017.
- ^Burr, Thomas (October 12, 2017)."Utah's Negro Bill Canyon renamed Grandstaff Canyon by federal board".Salt Lake Tribune. RetrievedOctober 13, 2017.
External links
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