A Rough Ride to the Grand Canyon

Well, this place definitely did not meet Fred Harvey standards, but it did offer the stagecoach passengers some kind of a meal on their sixty-mile journey from Williams to the Grand Canyon.

Finally! The first AT&SF Railway train arrived at the Grand Canyon from Williams in 1901. The passengers look extremely pleased to be there having avoided the stagecoach ride. 

El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon opened in 1905 with Fred Harvey as concessionaire. It was a short walk for passengers from the train station to the hotel. Transportation along the Canyon rim was still horse and buggy at this time.

By 1915 automobiles and motorized coaches were making an appearance at the Grand Canyon. Fred Harvey was pleased to offer guests at El Tovar Hotel with a more comfortable way to see the Grand Canyon. Transportation manager Hunter Clarkson was busy coordinating the traffic west along the canyon rim to Hermit's Rest and east along the rim to Desert View. This experience eventually led him to suggest the Indian Detours to Fred Harvey in 1925, with a start date in 1926.