Bright Angel Pueblo Archeology Exhibits

Bright Angel Site: Exhibit panel (1)

After several years of consultation, research, planning and design, in March of 2010, exhibits were installed at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to interpret the ancestral Puebloan site that was home to an extended family 900-1000 years ago.

This archeological site is located within the inner canyon at the mouth of Bright Angel Creek, directly adjacent to Phantom Ranch. The site is just above the Phantom Ranch boat beach and just west of the black bridge.

This joint effort incorporated many park divisions, as well as consultation with the different tribes affiliated with the park and this site in particular.

Click on one of the thumbnails to download a higher resolution file (8 inches wide @ 300 dpi. 1.8 MB jpg) Then, to save the file to your computer, right-click on the large photo and select, "save picture as."

 

Clockwise, starting with upper left: panel (3), pueblo view to the east, panels (3) (4) and (5) with the Colorado River beyond, pueblo view to the west, panel (2). Click on thumbnail(s) to download.

 

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Hiking down to Phantom Ranch to see the pueblo site should not be done as a day hike.

Day trips to the bottom of the canyon and back are strongly discouraged by the National Park Service. Visitors interested in seeing the exhibits in person should consider an overnight trip into the canyon.

All hikes into the Grand Canyon must planned in advance and visitors should be prepared for long distances, elevation changes, steep and rugged terrain, and seasonal weather conditions (extreme heat in summer, icy trails in winter.)

• More information about overnight accomodations at Phantom Ranch, and how to enter the Phantom Ranch Lottery

• More information about obtaining a backcountry permit for overnight hiking and camping inside Grand Canyon

 

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Stabilization of Bright Angel Pueblo took place from June 13-17, 2002.

Treatment consisted primarily of repointing eroded mortar joints. A few rooms also needed loose capstones reset. However, this was five or fewer stones per room. Across the site fewer than 10 rocks within the rest of the walls were loose and in need of resetting. In room 3-6, the portland cement mortar used in 1969 is still generally intact so relatively little work needed to be done. Rooms 2 and 8 suffered from more extensive mortar erosion and entailed the most work with 75% or more of each wall in need of repointing. The east wall of Room 8 also had 3 large voids caused by animals burrowing in the walls.

 

Removing vegetation and cleaning out rooms was the final aspect of treatment. Vegetation was removed from all rooms. Brittlebush was the primary plant removed but grasses, cacti, and acacia were also removed. Brittlebush were also cut along the rail above the site to allow visitors to more easily see in to the rooms.

The social trail running along the cable fence on the north and east side of the site was rehabilitated and closed. The trail in the drainage was cleaned out by removing overhanging branches, removing loose stones and defining the start of the trail near the river.

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March 2010 Exhibit Installation Crew

 

Installation of the panels was completed during March, 2010 (Arizona Archeology Month) by park staff from the divisions of Interpretation and Resource Education, Facilities Management, and Science and Resource Management.  They were (from left to right) – Ian Hough, Science and Resource Management, Jennie Albrinck, Interpretation and Resource Education, Davis Reynolds and Ryne Boone, both from Facilities Management.

NPS/M. Quinn

 

Additional members of the exhibit research and design team included former Grand Canyon archeologist (currently at Navajo National Monument) Ellen Brennan, park ranger Pam Cox, Hopi cultural resources consultant Lyle J. Balehquah, designer Kim Buchheit of Buchheit Creative Services and the staff at Northern Arizona Signs of Flagstaff, Arizona.

 

The exhibit panels may be viewed and downloaded below.