The Legend of Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Real-life burro
The 1922 Sunset Magazine article featuring a real-life burro named Brighty began a legend. Brighty wandered the Grand Canyon, and his tale gained further popularity through Marguerite Henry's children's book, "Brighty of the Grand Canyon," which was also adapted into a movie.
Brighty is celebrated for his independent nature and the adventures he had in the Grand Canyon, engaging with both tourists and residents.
Who Was Brighty and How Did He Get His Name?
Brighty the mule lived from about 1882 to 1922, was first seen in the Grand Canyon near an abandoned miner’s tent. Tourists first met Brighty along the North Rim probably between 1917 and 1922.
The burro enjoyed the occasional company of humans, particularly when it involved pancakes. During the summers, he would stay on the cooler North Rim, spending time with the game warden, "Uncle" Jimmy Owens, or with the McKee family, who ran the first tourist establishment, Wiley Way Camp on the North Rim, established in 1917.
Brighty came and went as he pleased, carrying water for the McKees' young son, yet he scraped off any load he found beneath his dignity. For example, should a hunter ensnare Brighty to carry his equipment, the clever animal would slip away, brushing the pack against trees until the bindings gave way and the load tumbled to the ground. Nonetheless, he remained gentle; the children at Wiley's Way could spend hours riding on his back.
Originally, the burro was named “Bright Angel” after a creek that flows into the Grand Canyon from the North Rim.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon - The Book
In the early 1950s, Marguerite Henry, successful author of horse stories such as Misty of Chincoteague, stumbled on a 1922 Sunset Magazine article written by Thomas McKee, entitled “Brighty, Free Citizen: How the Sagacious Hermit Donkey of the Grand Canyon Maintained His Liberty for Thirty Years.” As I mentioned previously, McKee and his family ran the Wylie Way Camp at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Henry wanted to know more about this burro, so she traveled from her home in Illinois to the Grand Canyon. While there, she interviewed park rangers and wranglers about Brighty and rode a mule down into the Canyon.
The following is the official synopsis of the book: Long ago, a lone little burro roamed the high cliffs of the Grand Canyon and touched the hearts of all who knew him: an old miner, a big-game hunter, and even President Teddy Roosevelt. Named Brighty by the prospector who befriended him, he remained a free spirit. But when a ruthless claim-jumper murdered the prospector, Brighty risked everything to bring the killer to justice.
I didn’t read this book when I was young, but I just did. Henry did a great job incorporating what Brighty did in real life.
Brighty Goes to Hollywood - The Movie
In the early 1960s, a woman named Betty Booth bought a book for her kids, but it was her husband, Steve Booth, a newspaperman and TV producer, raised money to produce independently a movie based on the book. Parts of the film were shot at the Colorado River in Utah and at the Grand Canyon.
In 1966, Booth commissioned sculptor Peter Jensen to create a life-size, 600-pound statue of Brighty as a promotional piece for the movie. By the end of 1967, Booth donated the statue to the park and was initially on display at the South Rim Visitor Center.
Did Brighty Really Hunt with Teddy Roosevelt?
Legend and Henry’s book say that Brighty accompanied the former president on a lion hunt. In the summer of 1913, Theodore Roosevelt, along with his two sons, embarked on a cougar (mountain lion) hunting expedition in the Kaibab Forest on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. They were guided by “Uncle” Jim Owen, a seasoned hunter and game warden who had extensive experience in the area. In some versions of the story, Brighty accompanied Roosevelt and the hunting party. One photo even identifies Brighty as “the last burro on the right.” But there are doubts about its accuracy, because while Roosevelt later referred to burros Ted and Possum by name, he never talked about Brighty — although Roosevelt did mention that three burros worked the hunt.
Why Were There Burros at the Grand Canyon in the First Place?
Donkeys (burro is Spanish for donkey) are believed to have been first domesticated about 5,000 years ago in Egypt or the Middle East. Introduced to America by the Spaniards in the 1500s, burros became the pack animal of choice for miners.
By the late 1800s, prospectors used burros as pack animals while searching for gold and other minerals. Resilient and surefooted, burros were able to survive on scant forage and minimal quantities of water. When the prospectors left or abandoned their search, many burros were left behind and became feral.
Burros are not to be confused with mules that are currently used for visitor treks into the Canyon or for transporting supplies below the rim. Mules are used because they are more efficient than horses and have a smoother gait. They are hybrids: a cross between a male burro and female horse. In most cases, they are infertile and therefore unable to reproduce.
Eliminating the Invasive Species
As I mentioned, burros were not native to the Canyon, and in the early 20th century, the NPS decided that it should restore the Canyon to how it was before Europeans arrived. Burros decimated native vegetation and outcompeted native animals such as desert bighorn sheep for food while fouling water sources, accelerating erosion and destroying topsoil. By Brighty’s time, the park’s population had reached 2,000 animals in three main herds, leading the NPS Director Stephen T. Mather to dub burros “a veritable pest” and he advocated “to eliminate the burro evil.”
It was a challenge and expensive to relocate the animals, so in 1924, shortly after Brighty’s death, rangers began hunting burros. Records show that between 1924 and 1931, they killed 1,467 and between 1932 and 1965, rangers shot 370 more. The hunts went on with little public knowledge, until the book and movie about Brighty brought awareness to the remaining burros in the Canyon.
The Statue of Brighty Caused Controversy
From 1968 to 1977, as rangers continued to shoot burros, the Brighty statue was on display at the South Rim Visitor Center. The statue’s presence at the Visitor Center implied that burros were an integral and beloved part of the Canyon—a blatant contradiction of the park’s beliefs and practices.
Even though the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed by Congress unanimously in 1971 the National Park Service’s mandate to protect native ecosystems from invasive species trumped the Act
In 1976, the park service introduced a new removal plan, preferring elimination to relocation at a cost exceeding $1,000 per animal. However, the public resisted with town meetings, newspaper editorials, and campaigns to save the burros. The statue of Brighty had come to represent all the endangered burros, ignited the controversy. By April 1978, park officials had moved the Brighty statue into storage, anticipating that the commotion surrounding the burros would subside.
“Bring Brighty Back”
“Bring Brighty Back” campaign got a boost when Marguerite Henry herself began urging her readers to protest both the burro killing and the statue’s disappearance.
In the early 1980s, The Fund for Animals (FFA), established in 1967, successfully raised $500,000 to airlift 577 Canyon burros to safety. These burros were relocated to the FFA's ranch in Texas, and numerous burros found new homes with individual animal lovers.
Following the airlift rescue, park rangers killed the remaining burros and erected a fence along the park's western edge to prevent other burros from entering. Presently, there are few, if any, burros left in the park. However, mules, the progeny of a female horse and a male donkey, continue to dominate the Canyon, not as wild animals but as pack animals.
Responding to public outcry, park officials brought Brighty out of storage in 1980, this time finding him a home on the North Rim, where he’d spent his summer months. The Grand Canyon Lodge, the statue’s current residence, was built on the site of the original tent cabins that the McKees, Brighty’s adopted family, rented out to early tourists.
Sad Ending to the Real Brighty
The real ending to Brighty’s story was similar but not a happy ending as in Margurite Henry’s book. In 1922, Brighty was snowed in with two desperados. Trapped in a cabin for three months, the food ran out. Needless to say, the men survived but Brighty didn’t.
I prefer to think of the spirit of Brighty and the last words of Henry’s book:
“the roving spirit of the Grand Canyon—forever wild, forever free.”
Next Time
Writing a blog sends you down one rabbit hole to another. While researching Brighty, I learned about “Uncle” Jimmy Owens (James T. Owens). He was sent to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. He was responsible for killing hundreds of mountain lions, in a misguided attempt to protect the local population of mule deer. What followed was an ecological disaster.
Jan, your posts are always interesting. You know so much about the history of the American Southwest.
"He was responsible for killing hundreds of mountain lions, in a misguided attempt to protect the local population of mule deer. What followed was an ecological disaster."
Like Allan Savory's killing of 40K elephants to slow desertification in Africa. Turns out that grasslands are actually strengthened by large elephant populations. Sad that we humans often default to genocide as a "treatment" for various "problems".
Thanks for your great stories about the southwest Jan! 👏