Existing comment:
Brighty of Grand Canyon:
Burros called the Grand Canyon home long before Congress established it as a park in 1919. Miners brought in the sure-footed animals to haul supplies in and out of canyon camps. Alas, few fortunes were made. The animals were abandoned. The new gold rush was tourism.
Opened in 1917, the "Wylie Way" lodge was the first tourist accommodation on the North Rim. William Wylie's daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Thomas McKee operated the camp. Their son, Bobby, befriended an abandoned burro nicknamed Brighty, the hermit of Bright Angel Creek.
Bobby and Brighty worked well together hauling water from a spring about half a mile below the rim. Each day Bright's pay was a strack of flapjack pancakes. When not working, the wild burro allowed boys and girls to ride on his back. His charisma was immortalized in "Brighty of the Grand Canyon," a children's book by Marguerite Henry.
Although he captured visitors' hearts and imaginations, Brighty and other wild burros competed with native species for food and water. The National Park Service decided to remove burros from Grand Canyon. By 1981, most had been captured and placed in adoption centers.
Many believe rubbing Brighty's nose brings good luck to those who admire the wild and engaging burro of Grand Canyon. |