History
In 1904, the National Geographic Magazine publicized the bridges and the area was designated a National Monument April 16, 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is Utah's first National Monument.
The Monument was nearly inaccessible for many decades (a three-day horseback ride from Blanding, Utah, the nearest settlement), as reflected by the visitor log kept by the Monument's superintendents. The park received little visitation until after the Uranium boom of the 1950s, which resulted in the creation of new roads in the area, including modern day Highway 95, which was paved in 1976.
Read more about this topic: Natural Bridges National Monument
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The principal office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I assure you that in our next class we will concern ourselves solely with the history of Egypt, and not with the more lurid and non-curricular subject of living mummies.”
—Griffin Jay, and Reginald LeBorg. Prof. Norman (Frank Reicher)