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RAINBOW BRIDGE Gold and Scenery The discovery of gold brought hundreds of men into Glen Canyon after 1883. They prospected up and down the river, staked claims, and occasionally found prospects that turned out to be good diggings. Although the upper part of the canyon was the most productive of gold, the miners became intimately familiar with the canyon from the Dirty Devil to Lee's Ferry. They did not confine their activities to the main canyon but worked up the tributaries, a number of which were used as access routes to reach the river. Every stream, it is reasonable to assume, particularly those with boulder-strewn beds, was prospected from its mouth. Those heading in the laccolithic mountains - Henry Mountains, Blue or Abajo Mountains, and Navajo Mountain - were prospected high up their slopes to find the source of the placer gold in the main canyon. However, very little gold was ever found in the tributary canyons. Fewer in number than the miners, the trappers also ranged the canyon and the lateral streams. The trappers in fact may have been in the canyons in the 1830's and later. If so, they were the first to explore them even if they did not publicize the fact. The miners and the trappers may have found little gold and few animals but they were the first to appreciate the full dimension of the Glen Canyon region. They made known the canyons, discovered prehistoric remains, and viewed the fantastic scenery of the region, much of which they were the first whites to see. But they were not articulate. Few of the discoveries they made, the names they used, except those applied to mining claims which were made a matter of record, have survived. And few indeed have been the writers who have touched upon the Glen Canyon rush. Therefore, later comers to the canyon country have often imagined themselves to be the first arrivals and have left names on the land without regard for or knowledge of those given by earlier visitors. Historical site 29 - Aztec Creek Aztec Creek drains the steep and highly-dissected southwestern slopes of Navajo Mountain and enters the Colorado River at mile 68.6. It certainly became known during the Glen Canyon gold rush; the boulder strewn bed suggested prospecting and the perennial stream was a source of water. The stream was known to prehistoric peoples who camped at its mouth and it was possibly they who built the three enigmatic pillar-like 98Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 14,471,168 byte