Hickman Bridge Capitol Reef

by Marty Fancy

Title

Hickman Bridge Capitol Reef

Artist

Marty Fancy

Medium

Photograph

Description

Hickman Bridge is one of the highlights of Capitol Reef National Park- a large, elegant natural arch in a scenic side canyon far above the Fremont River, surrounded by the great white domes of Navajo sandstone that characterize the national park. The bridge is named for one of the two men who deserve credit for the preliminary work that led to the creation of Capitol Reef National Monument (later Park) - Joseph S. Hickman.

Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almost 100 miles. The Waterpocket Fold defines Capitol Reef National Park. A nearly 100-mile long warp in the Earth's crust, the Waterpocket Fold is a classic monocline, a "step-up" in the rock layers. It formed between 50 and 70 million years ago when a major mountain building event in western North America, the Laramide Orogeny, reactivated an ancient buried fault in this region. Movement along the fault caused the west side to shift upwards relative to the east side. Capitol Reef National Park was established primarily to preserve geologic features, such as the scenic rock domes and narrow canyons. Park boundaries encompass most of the Fold.
The area of Capitol Reef has been a homeland to people for thousands of years. Archaic hunters and gatherers migrated through the canyons. Fremont Culture solidified around 500 CE, from food foraging groups, to farmers of corn, beans and squash. Petroglyphs etched in rock walls and painted pictographs remain as sacred remnants of the ancient Indians' saga. Explorers, Mormon pioneers and others arrived in the 1800s, settling in what is now the Fruita Rural Historic District. They planted and nurtured orchards of apples, pears, and peaches.

Uploaded

January 4th, 2018

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