Claim #AZAZAA-016017–01
Coconino County, Arizona
Ralph H. Cameron: senator, prospector, and challenger to the Grand Canyon National Park
The creation of National Parks are often met with some resistance from local interests, but few saw a more bitter battle than between Ralph H. Cameron and the federal government over the creation of the Grand Canyon National Park. Cameron had mining claims on prime land along the rim which predated the designation of the Grand Canyon as a National Monument. The land was exploited as tourist stops where visitors would pay fees to use the path (now part of the Bright Angel Trail) on his claim from the rim to the canyon floor and other services he built on his claim.
His mining claims were eventually enveloped as part of the National Park area—now only a side note in the changing topography and designations of land in the USA.