The Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads carved the Southwest into a tourist circuit that endures to this day, building grand lodges and promoting the canyon country's cathedral.
NPS Director Stephen Mather explicitly allied with the railroads, believing that political support for the fledgling Park Service required massive visitation numbers. His 'tourist circle' linking Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon endures Grand Circle road trip.
As the railroads expanded their reach into the arid American Southwest, they engineered the concept of the Grand Circle tour to promote their respective regional monopolies and generate passenger traffic through some of the continent's most forbidding terrain.
The Grand Canyon had already been protected national monument by Theodore Roosevelt's bold 1908 Antiquities Act proclamation, one of his most consequential uses of executive power. It was elevated to Grand Canyon National Park on February 26, 1919, a decade after Roosevelt left office. The Santa Fe Railway was the primary corporate promoter of the canyon, constructing the luxurious El Tovar Hotel directly on the South Rim to ensure wealthy travelers had suitable accommodations.
Meanwhile, the spectacular canyon country of southern Utah became the exclusive domain of the Union Pacific Railroad. The founding of Zion National Park on November 19, 1919, and Bryce Canyon National Park on February 25, 1928, was aggressively driven by corporate investment.
The story of Bryce Canyon began when Forest Service Supervisor J.W. Humphrey was transferred to the area in 1915. Upon viewing the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau at Sunset Point, Humphrey was stunned by the indescribable beauty of the limestone hoodoos. He immediately sent photographs and motion pictures to officials in Washington and, crucially, to executives of the Union Pacific Railroad.
By 1919, tourists were already traveling from Salt Lake City to view the canyon, supported by local entrepreneurs Ruby and Minnie Syrett, who erected tents and a lodge called Tourist's Rest. Recognizing the profit potential, the Union Pacific purchased the land, buildings, and vital water rights from the Syretts in 1923. Operating through its subsidiary, the Utah Parks Company, the railroad hired renowned Los Angeles architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood to design the grand Bryce Canyon Lodge. Underwood's rustic main building was finished in 1925, surrounded by dozens of standard and deluxe cabins to house the influx of rail passengers.
This corporate development aligned perfectly with the vision of the first NPS Director, Stephen T. Mather. Mather explicitly allied with the railroads, believing that political support for the fledgling Park Service required massive visitation numbers. He envisioned and heavily promoted a tourist circle linking Zion, Bryce, Cedar Breaks, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This itinerary, initially serviced by Union Pacific buses in the 1920s, evolved into the legendary Grand Circle road trip, a concept that endures to this day cornerstone of Southwestern tourism marketing.
Upon viewing the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau at Sunset Point, Forest Supervisor Humphrey was stunned by the 'indescribable beauty' of the limestone hoodoos. He immediately sent photographs to Union Pacific executives.
The Grand Circle Parks: Corporate Southwest (1919–1928)
Park | Established | Principal Advocate | Defining Conflict
Grand Canyon | February 26, 1919 | Santa Fe Railway, Theodore Roosevelt | Protection from unregulated mining claims and chaotic rim development
Zion | November 19, 1919 | Union Pacific Railroad, Stephen Mather | Integration into the corporate Grand Circle routing infrastructure
Bryce Canyon | February 25, 1928 | Union Pacific Railroad, J.W. Humphrey | Corporate buyout of local tourist camps for large-scale railroad lodging