COLORADO PLATEAU, GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO RIVER Part 2
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: “The rock layers on the granite are 300 feet in thickness and the Tower of Set is 2,000 feet above the edge of the Granite Gorge.” View of canyon. “Temples as large as mountains have been carved from the many colored rock layers. Zoroaster Temple from the rim.” Natural rock formations. “Mesa-like masses have been left more than 1,000 feet high as the rocks were worn away.” View of huge butte. “Isis Temple is three thousand feet high and stands on platform north of the Granite Gorge.” View of temple in background. “‘The Colorado Canyon. It is beyond comparison -- beyond description; absolutely unparalleled throughout the wide world.’ Theodore Roosevelt.” “Grand Canyon is one of the world’s wonders. It inspires the artist and the writer. The Indians worshipped it. We marvel at this glimpse of the earth’s history.” Views of the canyon. “The End.” “Ford Educational Library.” “The tiny white line is the trail nearly 2,000 feet below.” Looking down into the canyon. “It is a half-day’s ride to the bottom of this great canyon. The river flows with great velocity. How wide is it?” Horse and rider going down trail - river. “The rushing water is colored deep brown from the mud it carries. It is not fit to drink. There are no fish here. Note the large boulders. The river uses them to cut its bed.” Rushing river. “The Colorado River is in a deep granite gorge whose nearly vertical walls are 1,500 feet high.” View of walls, across and down into canyon. “For ages the rocks have been attacked by winds, frost, rain and temperature changes. Wonderful fantastic forms have been made. Thor’s Hammer and the Cheops Pyramid are masterpieces of erosion.” View of formations. “The rocks are in great layers of red, green, brown, and white. The red layer is nearly 1,000 feet thick. Each layer a time longer than the Coal Age.” Riders on the trail. “These rocks were ages ago, sediment in the ocean bottom. Can you prove it?” “These rock layers are 8,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea. The Colorado River slowly cut its deep canyon as the land was elevated.” “From the canyon’s edge far below to the river, it is, almost one mile. Follow cliffs and slopes down to the small silver thread of the river. Niagara Falls, 160 feet is lost in this great depth.” View down into canyon. “The high cliffs are of hard rock, the slopes are of soft rock. Why are the trails so winding and so difficult?” Riders going down trail. “The Cork Screw is a steep part of the Bright Angel Trail.” View from above of winding trail. “Ford Educational Library.” “This is America’s most wonderful canyon.” Map of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico showing Colorado River. “This diagram shows how the Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon.” Diagram of rock layers in Grand Canyon area and how the river cut through. “The Colorado River cut these deep chasms. The clean air enables us to see across the canyon. How far is it? Why does the river have this great cutting power?” Tourist near edge - canyon. “Great layers of sedimentary rock on a granite base form the Colorado Plateau. The rock layers are pages in the long history of the earth.” View of layers - tourist above throws stick over edge. [1919]
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