(Glen Canyon National Recreation Area):
On the 15th. of October 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower pressed
a button at his desk in the White House and initiated the blast
that began the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam just eight
miles south of the Utah border in Arizona. When completed this
dam backed up the flows of the Colorado and San Juan rivers 186
miles and 72 miles respectively, thus creating 1,960 miles of
shoreline and one of the largest man-made lakes in the United
States.
Work crews founded the town of Page, Arizona, which
soon became a city serving the needs of travelers. Today, the
hydroelectric dam sends its power throughout the West. Rainbow
Bridge, a rock arching span of 278 feet is located in a side canyon
on the East side of the lake and is the largest natural rock bridge
in the world.
