JFRCalifornia
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
It's you've ever been to Defiance House Ruin, you've traveled up Forgotten Canyon. In spite of its name, it's got to be one of the more popular places to visit in the north end of Lake Powell. For such a popular destination, how did it get its name "Forgotten Canyon"? Well, for that you have to go back to the USGS river surveys of the early 1920s. When they came through Glen Canyon in 1921, what they left behind was a fantastic series of survey maps of the river, showing great detail with 20-foot contour intervals. They published these in 1922, and they ultimately proved useful for the future consideration of possible dam sites along the river. Although the USGS focused on the Colorado River itself in their survey work, they also mapped the portions of side canyons closest to the river. But somehow, they overlooked the canyon straight across from the mouth of Smith Fork. You can see it on this attached map (the second image is detail from the first map):
Right there at Mile 132, there should be an entrance to a canyon, heading to the east. But there isn't. It had been overlooked. Forgotten.
In 1951, during a river trip down Glen Canyon, river runner Harry Aleson suggested calling it "No Name Canyon". But on that same trip, Dudy Thomas thought it would be better to call it Forgotten Canyon. They all agreed that was a better name. And so the name stuck.
Right there at Mile 132, there should be an entrance to a canyon, heading to the east. But there isn't. It had been overlooked. Forgotten.
In 1951, during a river trip down Glen Canyon, river runner Harry Aleson suggested calling it "No Name Canyon". But on that same trip, Dudy Thomas thought it would be better to call it Forgotten Canyon. They all agreed that was a better name. And so the name stuck.
