07/15/2025
Sad to lose this display of donkey history and everything else in the current wildfires.
One thing you probably won’t hear mentioned in the tragic Grand Canyon Fire is the loss of this little gem, a statue of Brighty the Donkey.
Brighty was a donkey who lived in the Grand Canyon in the early 1900s. His owner left him behind, as many miners did when they gave up. Shortly thereafter, the Grand Canyon was established as a national park, and Brighty hung around the tourists and park workers. Sometimes he would help them carry water from the springs. He was quite legendary, and probably met Teddy Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill.
Brighty met an unfortunate death that I won’t discuss here. But years later, an author named Marguerite Henry happened to hear about his story and became fascinated by it. She visited the North Rim to find out more, and ends up writing a kids book called Brighty of the Grand Canyon.
The book was later turned into a movie. For the movie promotion, they made a statue of Brighty. Later, the film studio donated the statue to the National park. It was at the South Rim for awhile, but was later moved to the North Rim because Brighty loved at the North Rim.
It sat at the entry of the amazing sun room in the Grand Canyon Lodge. It was often overlooked by visitors, but visited enough that his nose had that shine from being touched often.
Now, Brighty has sadly died a second death.
I wrote and recorded an entire 15 minute audio guide chapter about Brighty to go with our North Rim itinerary guide, and now I’m quite heartbroken that the lodge, and Brighty’s statue, are possibly gone.
PS: Several people have mentioned that the statue might survive the fire due to the fact bronze can withstand higher temperatures. We have no idea right now the state of the statue.
