Ralph H. Cameron and the Grand Canyon (Part II)

Ralph Cameron's election in 1920 to the United States Senate from Ariwna came at an opportune time. Congress, the year before, had incorporated his mining claims into the newly created Grand Canyon National Park, and the United States Supreme Court had just ruled that his claims there were invalid. As matters stood, there seemed little likelihood that Cameron could realize his dream of converting strategically located mineral sites into a fortune. But Cameron's optimism never deserted him. During his campaign for the Senate, he had told voters that he had been exploring and working on power sites in the Grand Canyon for more than sixteen years, and had just obtained the financial backing to construct two huge hydroelectric plants, capable of generating power "to electrify every railroad, mine, mill, city, town and hamlet in Arizona." Later, as a senator in Washington, Cameron used his office to promote power projects at key points in the Grand Canyon. Cameron's extended struggle to profit from questionable mining claims in Arizona's spectacular gorge constitutes an unusual chapter in the history of land speculation in the American West.