On the occasion of Governor Spry’s first visit to Zion in October, 1913, the people along the Virgin River declared a holiday and accompanied his party almost en masse into Zion, where a picnic was enjoyed at the foot of the cable. To thrill the governor, a man was lifted to the top of the cliffs on the cable and brought back a few minutes later. The party rode horseback into the Narrows and was much impressed by the experience. Governor Spry was thoroughly convinced of the importance of national recognition and thereafter earnestly pressed for its realization. From Rockville, the party took spring buggies for Kanab with extra teams to negotiate the hills. The idea behind the trip seems to have been to investigate the possibilities of tourist travel from some point on the Salt Lake Route Railroad to Zion and Grand Canyon. Douglas White, writing in _The Arrowhead_ for July 1917, said that as a result of this visit, Governor Spry “decided that the highway division of his administration should accomplish the construction of a highway to the border of the National Monument.” By 1914, the local people of Dixie no less than the governor, were awakening to the scenic potentialities of their homeland. It had taken five years to sell the idea of Zion Canyon as a national mecca to the people living near it. The Grand Canyon Highway Association was organized with David Hirschi as president, and a five-county (Washington, Kane, Iron, and Beaver in Utah and Coconino in Arizona) road convention was called for July in Hurricane. Up to this time no auto had yet been driven from Toquerville to Zion Canyon. The first problem was to make the roads passable by removing high centers, reducing grades and filling washes. A campaign was launched locally to secure subscriptions for road improvement. Hurricane pledged $2,000, La Verkin $500, Toquerville $1,500 and Cedar City $1,200. During the winter the road from Toquerville to Hurricane and the dugway up the Hurricane Fault to the east toward Kanab were improved. In 1916, political pressure had reached Washington. Senator Reed Smoot responded and planned to ask for federal assistance in road making. This dovetailed with a national movement which culminated that year in the first federal aid road act. Smoot called upon the Department of the Interior for information concerning the Mukuntuweap National Monument. Horace M. Albright, a youthful assistant to Secretary Franklin K. Lane, furnished the data. Senator Smoot inserted in a deficiency appropriation an item reading as follows: For a proportionate share of the amount required to construct an inter-state wagon road or highway through the Mukuntuweap National Monument, Utah, approximately fifteen miles for the fiscal year 1917, $15,000. [Approved September 8, 1916. 39 Stat. 801-818].