RAINBOW BRIDGE
NATIONAL MONUMENT
UTAH
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Arthur E. Demaray, Director
RAINBOW BRIDGE
NATIONAL MONUMENT
Remote in spectacular red canyoncountry stands majestically beautifulRainbow Bridge, the most stupendousof its kind and one of thegreat wonders of the world.
The inspiration gained by a visit to RainbowBridge National Monument is supreme.The majestic beauty of the bridge affectspeople in many ways. The delicate balance,graceful sweep, symmetry, beautiful toningof color, and superb setting of this rainbow-shapedstone arch suggest Divine guidanceduring its creation. The aborigines musthave sensed this, for they built altars here.
Rainbow Bridge stands in the semidesertcountry of southeastern Utah. It nestlesamong canyons carved by streams that windtheir way from the northern side of NavajoMountain toward the Colorado River. Itspans Rainbow Bridge Canyon and the tinystreamlet in its bottom.
Rainbow Bridge is greater than any otherknown natural bridge in size, in color, andin its almost perfect symmetry. With a 278-footspan, the bridge gracefully arches to aheight of 309 feet—large enough to straddleour capitol building in Washington, D. C.Thicker at the top than a three-story building(42 feet), it is wide enough (33 feet) toaccommodate the average highway.
Rainbow Bridge stands in one of the mostremote and inaccessible areas in the UnitedStates. So rugged is the surrounding RainbowPlateau that few of the Navajo andPaiute Indians who live nearby have ever seenthe bridge.
HISTORY OF DISCOVERY
While leading an archeological expeditionthrough southeastern Utah and northern Arizonaduring the summer of 1908, Dr. ByronCummings, then Dean of Arts and Sciences,University of Utah, became interested inrumors of a great stone arch somewhere inthe vicinity of Navajo Mountain. Mr. andMrs. John Wetherill, of Oljato, Utah, relatedto him rumors of the arch which were prevalentamong the Indians. Mrs. Wetherill laterlearned from Nasja, a Paiute Indian fromPaiute Canyon, that his son, Nasja-begay, hadactually seen the great stone arch and couldreturn to it.
During July 1909, Dr. Cummings formulatedplans to set out in search of the bridge.There were delays in obtaining the necessaryguides. In the meantime, Dr. Cummingsreceived word that W. B. Douglass, a Governmentsurveyor, was en route to the areaalso to look for the arch. Subsequently, theCummings-Douglass parties met and joinedin the search for the Nonnozoshi, which wasthe Navajo word for the great stone arch.
The journey lasted several days. Theparty crossed canyons and “slick rock” surfaceswhere the horses slipped and skidded.Frequently, it was necessary to retrace portionsof the course, because forward progresswas blocked by “rimrock” ledges which thehorses were unable to cross. There weremore canyons, some wi