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Show 89 rim of Bryce canyon [sic] as a public park, the state will sell a 40 acre tract there to the Union Pacific railroad on which to build its hotel and will lease the balance of the other section to the railroad," the paper reported. 256 This agreement allowed the state to keep land inside the proposed park plus a tract of350 feet along most of the canyon rim. This would allow the area the state considered scenic to stay in the public domain while permitting development on adjacent land that could accommodate tourists. I larding Creates a National Monument In 1923, President Harding set out on a tour across the United States that included Utah. Senator Smoot had proposed an itinerary that included Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon. Time constraints narrowed that list of destinations to one-Zion. However, before leaving Washington, and on Senator Smoot's recommendation, President I larding signed a proclamation creating Bryce Canyon National Monument. But the proclamation left the national monument under the direction of the Forest Service in the Agriculture Department. Six days before President Harding created the national monument, the Deseret News reported Senator Smoot's rcquest. 257 But neither local paper nor the national press reported Harding's national monument declaration. In the historical context, national monument status was not as notable a distinction as it has become since. Horace Albright, assistant director of the National Park Service, wrote that the monuments during this era were the most neglected part of the national park system, calling them the "forgotten H6 [bid. m Deserer News, "Bryce Canyon as Park Reserve is Asked of Harding," June 2, 1923, sec. 2, I |
