Grand Canyon Historical Society

Pioneer Award

The Grand Canyon Historical Society presents the Pioneer Award to honor an individual who has made a significant contribution to the understanding of and knowledge about the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
A call for nominations for the Grand Canyon Historical Society Pioneer Award is made in January each year. The Historical Society accepts nominations for the Pioneer Award until March 15. The individual honored will have made a significant contribution to the understanding of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado in such areas as: Geology, Creation, River Running, Backcountry Hiking, Photography, History, Administration, etc., that is, any area that advances the knowledge of the Grand Canyon. To receive a nominating form, please write to the chairman of the Nominating Committee.

2006 Awardee

The Grand Canyon Historical Society's
Pioneer Award for 2006
was presented on June 24, 2006, to



Al Richmond for:



  • his achievements as one of the founders of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society (now called the Grand Canyon Historical Society) and his ongoing work to solicit and select a recipient for the Society's annual Scholarship Award, and his participation in the selection and presentation of the annual Grand Canyon Hall of Fame Award for Community Service;
  • serving the public as an Arizona liaison for the National Parks and Monuments of northern Arizona;
  • his assistance with the Arizona Culturekeeps, a statewide historical program recognizing those dedicated to preserving the State of Arizona;
  • facilitating the construction of the Arizona State Railroad Museum in Williams, Arizona;
  • his achievements as the founder of the Grand Canyon Railway Museum in Williams, Arizona; and for his work as the historian and museum curator for the Grand Canyon Railway Museum; and
  • his revolutionary research of the development, building and historical accounts of the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, and the resulting publication of that research into the popular books Cowboys, Miners, Presidents and Kings: The Story of the Grand Canyon Railway, plus Rails to the Rim: Milepost Guide to the Grand Canyon Railway and more recently The Grand Canyon Railway: Sixty Years in Color.
Pioneers

The recipients of the Pioneer Award are: