82 ***** "O/2, Ranger!" 



not particularly interest him that there are remnants of 341 Indian 

 tribes in the United States, that there were more than 10,000 Indian 

 soldiers in the World War, that 69,892 Indian children are in schools, 

 that the total value of Indian property is $1,693,844,806, or that the 

 area of the Indian reservations in 1924 was 68,696,448 acres, or about 

 eight times that of all the national parks and national monuments to 

 gether. 



Even so, about the best place for the Dude or the Sagebrusher to see 

 the Indian in his natural state is in some of the national parks. The 

 Indians have been closely associated with the parks since their dis 

 covery. The Indian knew the monuments that are the basis for the 

 parks long before the white man. The wonders that have attracted the 

 white man were objects of worship or fear to the red man. They formed 

 the nucleus of legends told by his wise men. Many of them are the red 

 man's explanation of how the earth was created. If the Indian did not 

 live within the shadow of a monument, or what is now a national park, 

 he lived near enough so that his priests could perform ceremonies on 

 proper occasions giving due credit to the gods who were supposed to 

 live in the waterfall, on a great cliff, or within the earth beneath a vol 

 cano or a geyser basin. 



So it seems particularly appropriate that the national parks, intrusted 

 with preserving a small part of the American continent in its natural 

 state, should contain practically the only Indian tribes which are still 

 living as they did before Columbus discovered America. This all came 

 about quite naturally. The lands that are now in the national parks for 

 the most part were not suitable for settlement by the white pioneer. 

 Either they were too remote from cities or railroads, or they were too 

 rugged for development, or they were set aside in reservations at an 

 early date by the government. Since the white man did not need these 

 hunting grounds, the Indian who lived in national park territory was 

 allowed to go his way without much disturbance, except when he waged 

 war on the whites. 



The visitor is certain always of seeing Indians at Grand Canyon 

 National Park in Arizona. The Canyon cuts diagonally through the 

 heart of the Indian country of the Southwest. Immediately adjacent to 

 the park, east and southeast, is the vast Navaho reservation, really sev 

 eral reservations joined together. It includes the Hopi Indian lands. In 

 this area live 35,000 Navahoes and 2,500 Hopis. West of the Grand 

 Canyon is the Truxton Canyon agency of the Hualapai Indians. In the 

 park itself is the Havasupai reservation, home to about 180 Havasupais, 

 all that remain of this primitive nation. Between the North Rim of the 

 Grand Canyon and the Utah parks lies the extensive Kaibab reservation, 

 set aside for the Piutes. However, few Indians live on this reservation. 



