Marsh Butte is a summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County in the northern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is situated eight miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village, immediately east-northeast of Diana Temple, and Tower of Ra stands directly opposite across Granite Gorge. Topographic relief is significant, as Marsh Butte rises over above the Colorado River in half a mile (1 km).
Marsh Butte is composed of Mississippian Redwall Limestone, overlaying the Cambrian Tonto Group, and finally granite of the Paleoproterozoic Vishnu Basement Rocks at river level in Granite Gorge.N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917, page 39.William Kenneth Hamblin, Anatomy of the Grand Canyon: Panoramas of the Canyon's Geology, 2008, Grand Canyon Association Publisher, . According to the Köppen climate classification system, Marsh Butte is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.
History
In March 1906, this butte was officially named "Endymion Dome", for Endymion of Greek mythology, in keeping with Clarence Dutton's practice of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities.Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, page 151. However, George Wharton James suggested it should be named after preeminent paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh (1831–1899), and two months later it was officially renamed in May 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. George Wharton James described it in his 1910 book "The Grand Canyon of Arizona How to See It" as "a butte of singularly beautiful structure."George Wharton James, The Grand Canyon of Arizona How to See It, 1910, Little Brown and Company, page 40.
The first ascent of the summit was made October 29, 1977, by Pete Baertlein and Mitch McCombs via the east ridge.Aaron Tomasi, Pernell Tomasi, Grand Canyon Summits Select An Obscure Compilation of Sixty-nine Remote Ascent Routes in the Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry, 2001, , page 54.
See also Geology of the Grand Canyon area
Gallery
References
External links
Weather forecast: National Weather Service Climbing Marsh Butte: Themtsarecalling.com