Brighty's Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim Destroyed

[sami-joe]

Have been focused on other disasters near and far so totally missed that rangers evacuated the North Rim area last week and that Saturday the lodge burned.
Though I’ve only been twice, I love this place and my heart is broken, especially thinking of the little bronze donkey in the foyer.

The news story is everywhere so I’ll post an article about Brighty.

The Life and Times of Brighty, the Grand Canyon's Most Legendary Burro

ETA: As a Californian, I got a kick out of Marguerite Henry’s original source for her book about Brighty, Sunset magazine.

In the early 1950s, Marguerite Henry, successful author of horse stories like Misty of Chincoteague , stumbled on a 1922 Sunset Magazine article written by Thomas McKee, entitled “Brighty, Free Citizen: How the Sagacious Hermit Donkey of the Grand Canyon Maintained His Liberty for Thirty Years.”

[exvet]

We too were crushed when we heard. We live in Arizona and deal with wild fires it seems constantly. Last year our house was threatened twice and we evacuated both times but losing this historic treasure really hit home. We have hiked rim to rim multiple times and overnighting at the North Rim has always been very special. It's really hard to believe that it's gone.

[moonlitoaksranch]

That is so sad. I really wanted to see the north rim and the lodge. I went to the south rim in as a kid when we lived in Arizona.

Brighty is a fun book. It describes burros very well. Our BLM burro, Abigail, is very resourceful. She also has a very sweet personality.

BLM burros in the desert have adapted so well that they actually assist endangered desert antelope by digging water holes. Many desert creatures depend on these water holes because humans have altered water sources so much in the Southwest. We are the biggest invasive species.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wild-donkeys-and-horses-dig-wells-provide-water-host-desert-species-180977627/

[sophie]

@moonlitoaksranch

We are the biggest invasive species.

We really are, the biggest and the most destructive.

[Haven_tJumpedInALongTime]

The original North Rim lodge was built in 1928, then had to be rebuilt in 1937 because it burned down in a fire! I was also heartbroken to hear about the lodge, as it has very special memories for me.

[Spudsmyguy]

According to the article, Brighty was 40 years old when he died.

[sami-joe]

For those who’ve been, here’s one of the damage maps. I see that most of the “budget cabin” complex is gone. Though I’ve not been for 20-plus years, my memories of our little cabin are sweet and vivid.

Thanks, @Haven_tJumpedInALongTime, for reminding us that the lodge had burned before, though I’m not terribly optimistic that the, umm, national park financial climate, is ripe for a third version to replace the one we knew.

https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2025-07/structures_South_NorthRim_arch_e_land_20250713_1850_DragonBravo_AZGCP000597_0713day.pdf?VersionId=ZwSVVq.EOC9mICrknWflMuo6kwcF1eI.

[moonlitoaksranch]

That lodge was a national treasure. Maybe it can be rebuilt someday.

[reefy]

A lot of history lost for sure. I live in AZ and I figured I’d get up there and stay there when I retire. I haven’t ever been to the Grand Canyon but can’t really travel these days due to family responsibilities so it’s just always been a plan.

Even having not been there, it made me really sad to read that it is all gone.

[RMJacobs]

I was there several years ago. DH, DD and I were traveling from Phoenix back home to the Denver area in a motor home. Even though I used to live only an hour away from the South Rim and spent a lot of time there, I hadn’t been to the North Rim before that motor home trip. It definitely had a different feeling from the South Rim. I’m so sad the lodge was destroyed.

[Aussie_2020]

I guess this means the rangers have finally gotten rid of Brighty for good. Poor Brighty, ended up as a few meals for a couple of bad men. The mass killing of the burros is a shame.

@moonlitoaksranch That’s a great article!

[Renn_aissance]

All of the North Rim mules are safe- there wasn’t time to evacuate them, so they were let loose when the fire started. Per the park superintendent, they have since been corralled and are safe in Utah.

I read this morning that the North Rim bison herd is also safe.

[sami-joe]

Thank you for the good news.

[MorganSercu]

So the statue took serious damage.

I poked about and found some info:

The statue roughly 600 pounds.
I think statue quality brass is running around $3/pound (just a guess!)

I like the suggestion I saw elsewhere to preserve the remains of the original statue AND seek a local indigenous artist to sculpt a new one

I found a web site (ca 2020) based in California that specializes in bronze statues and it appears that a relatively small (still life-sized) statue may range from 7500 and upwards.

Maybe someday Brighty will return, perhaps in a new stance.

[Annie10]

When I saw the thread I immediately thought of the book. How sad. I too hope the statue can be saved/restored somehow

And what was that about someone ate Brighty? I thought he died of old age. ?

[MorganSercu]

For those who are happy with Marguerite Henry’s book ending LOOK NO FURTHER.

@Annie10

And what was that about someone ate Brighty? I thought he died of old age. ?

Summary

In 1922, Brighty was snowed in with two desperados. Trapped in a cabin for three months, the men survived but Brighty didn’t—one night, he was made into burro steaks. When the meat ran out, the men boiled Brighty’s bones for soup.

Source: Atlas Obscura

[Annie10]

Oh no.