Zion National Park is a rugged expanse of sandstone cliffs and hidden river canyons in southern Utah, carved by the Virgin River through Zion Canyon, which averages 2,000 feet deep. The Southern Paiute lived here for generations before Mormon settlers named it Zion, a word meaning "refuge," and it became a national park in 1919.
Details
- Designed by and exclusive to: White House Holidays
- Material: Solid brass
- Origin: Made in the USA
- Includes: Gift box, brochure and ornament
What the ornament celebrates
People have called the canyons and plateaus of Zion home for over ten thousand years, including the Southern Paiute. When European settlers arrived, a man named Nephi Johnson ventured into the canyon with a Paiute guide to see whether the land could be farmed. His good report brought Mormon settlers to the area, and it was Isaac Behunin who gave the canyon its name: Zion, a Hebrew word meaning "refuge."
The federal government first protected 16,000 acres in 1909, under President William Howard Taft, though the name he chose, Mukuntuweap National Monument, never sat well with residents who wanted it to reflect the name Zion. It became Zion National Monument in 1918 and Zion National Park in 1919. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set aside a second, 36,000-acre Zion National Monument nearby; it was folded into the park in 1956 as what's now known as Kolob Canyons.
The park's white sandstone cliffs, natural arches like Crawford and Kolob, and the Virgin River that carved it all remain its calling card, along with mule deer, bighorn sheep, and the shifting color of fir, ponderosa pine, and aspen through the seasons. Almost 5 million visitors come to hike, climb, and swim here every year.