In Search of Brighty: History of Wild Burros in the Grand Canyon

• Late 1900s to early 1920s burros brought to the Grand Canyon by miners for use as pack animals

• 1919 Grand Canyon acquires national park status

• 1922 Bright Angel (Brighty) dies• 1924-1931 Park wardens kill 1467 burros at

the Grand Canyon • 1953 Brighty of the Grand Canyon by

Marguerite Henry published• 1953-1960 Wild burros “reinvented” as a

“native species” • 1971 The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and

Burros Act offering protection to burros and horses passes (Public Law 920195)