Customer Reviews

Grand Canyon-Flagstaff Stage Coach Line : A History & Exploration Guide (Arizona and the Southwest)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Towns and regions are fortunate if they have a local historian who devotes years to researching and writing their history. Northern Arizona is fortunate to have Richard and Sherry Mangum, who grew up here and have a strong personal interest in and enthusiasm for the region. In this book they've brought to light a fascinating part of Grand Canyon history that barely gets mentioned in other history books. This book is more than just a history of the stage coach line between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. It's a great history of Grand Canyon pioneers, the first whites to live at the canyon and open up tourism there. It includes lively characters like John Hance and Pete Berry and Ralph Cameron. Some readers may be surprised to find that the first tourist facilities at the canyon weren't at the current south rim village but at the Grandview area, where there were several hotels and other facilities. The stage coach line may have been brief in duration but it did intoduce the world to the Grand Canyon, bringing up famous writers like John Stoddard, Charles Lummis, and Harriet Monroe, whose reports helped shape public interest in and perceptions of the Grand Canyon. The stage line also turned John Hance into a legendary character. The stage line itself quickly became famous, showing up in Baedeker guide books. It's a bit surprising, then, that it should be thoroughly forgotten. The Mangums have brought this story back to life, digging into obscure sources and puzzling out the missing links in the story. They've also assembled a gallery of seldom-seen photos, such as one with John Hance and Thomas Moran and a donkey. The book offers a portrait of Flagstaff in the 1890s, and details the building of the stage road and the way-stations along the way. For today's explorers, the book offers detailed maps of the old stage route, much of which can be followed today. The book closes with two sections on early bicycling to the canyon, and the arrival of the automobile age. This is a unique and rich contribution to Grand Canyon history.