Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery, also known as Pioneer Cemetery, is a historic cemetery located near the Grand Canyon's South Rim.
[1][2] It is also known as South Rim Cemetery and the American Legion Cemetery due to its association with the veterans' organization.
The cemetery is home to some 400 individual graves.[3][4] The cemetery closed to new burials in 2017, but remains open for visitation.[5]
"Originally, to qualify for burial, an individual must have lived at Grand Canyon for no less than three years or must have made a significant and substantial contribution to the development of, public knowledge about, understanding of or appreciation for Grand Canyon National Park."[6] Among those buried there are pioneers, NPS administrators of Grand Canyon National Park and residents of Grand Canyon Village including John Hance (1840–1919) early white settler and Grand Canyon guide,[4]: 23–27 Pete Berry, Ralph H. Cameron (1863–1953) American businessman, prospector, and politician[4]: 33–37 William Wallace Bass, members of the Kolb Family (Ellwworth and Emery), who established the Kolb Studio,[4]: 39–49 and M.R. Tillotson. Hance is the first to have been buried there.[7] Also buried in the cemetery are the unidentified remains of the victims on the United Airlines flight involved in the 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision, with a cenotaph of 31 names.[4]: 59–62 [8]
Other noteworthy burials include:
William J. Breed (1928–2013) geologist and expert on the Grand Canyon[4]: 80
David White (1862–1935) who studied the Grand Canyon[4]: 77–78
