By Davy Crockett


In 1906, David Dexter Rust (1874-1963) established a permanent camp near the confluence of Bright Angel Creek and the Colorado River that they name Rust Camp. They dug irrigation ditches and planted cottonwood trees by transplanting branches cut from trees found in nearby Phantom Creek. The camp was visited mostly by hunters going to and from the North Rim. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) visited the camp in 1913 for a few hours and it was renamed to Roosevelt Camp. By 1917, the government revoked the permit for the camp, and it became deserted. As the Grand Canyon National Park was established in 1919, funds became available to develop the park and its trails. Phantom Ranch, a Grand Canyon jewel was ready to be built.



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In 1921, The Fred Harvey Company started major construction near Rust/Roosevelt to establish a tourist destination at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Designs were under the direction of Mary Jane Colter (1869-1958) and the structures were architected by others. Initially, the ranch was referred to as “Roosevelt Chalet.”

Early in 1922, progress was reported, “The Fred Harvey Co. have had a force of 15-20 men constructing Roosevelt Chalet near the mouth of Bright Angel Creek. Substantial stone cottages and a central mess hall and social center are well underway. No expense is being spared to make the camp one of the great attractions for Grand Canyon visitors, especially those who wish to make the mule-back trip from rim to rim via the new Kaibab suspension bridge.” The new bridge was being used daily by park rangers and Fred Harvey pack trains. Soon Colter insisted that the ranch be named after the side creek nearby, named Phantom Creek.

Phantom Ranch was initially advertised to be a sort of halfway house for South Rim sightseers who wanted to make a three-day trip to Ribbon Falls and back without camping out or make a seven-day trip to the North Rim and back. Phantom Ranch was initially advertised to be a sort of halfway house for South Rim sightseers who wanted to make a three-day trip to Ribbon Falls and back or make a seven-day trip to the North Rim and back. “For tourists making rim the rim trip, it is a natural stopover and resting place. It is reported visitors are coming in increasing numbers to the North Rim from Utah points. The longer trips can be taken either in hiking or horseback parties. In each instance, there are government guides with each party and these men, besides knowing every inch of the country, are entertaining with their short talks on the points of interest that are encountered.

Phantom Ranch opened on June 15, 1922, with four cabins, a lodge with a kitchen, and a dining hall. The ranch was designed to be self-sufficient, with an orchard of peach, plum, and apricot trees. Also included was a chicken shed and yard, a blacksmith shop, a water reservoir, and a barn. Additional cottonwood trees were planted.  The cabins had two beds, a fireplace, baths, showers, running water, and eventually telephones connected to El Tovar Hotel on the South Rim and electricity. The first telephone line from Phantom Ranch to the South Rim was completed in 1922 and worked well. Phone stations were also at Pipe Creek and Indian Garden. It was boasted, “It is the deepest down of any canyon ranch in the world. Nothing is like it anywhere else.”

More improvements to Phantom Ranch were wanted, but Ralph Cameron (1863-1953), who built the Bright Angel Trail and had fought for control of the trail and mines for years, became an enemy of the National Park. In 1922, as a U.S. Senator for Arizona, he fought hard and succeeded in denying $90,000 of funds for Park improvements. He said the expenditure of the funds would be “worse than useless to gratify the ...