The park's largest monument (in size) is found here. Completed in 1915 to honor Major John Wesley Powell and his group—the first to 'run' the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, this area also bore witness to the park's formal dedication in 1920.

The plague at the top of the stairs commemorates Powell, the men who joined him on this two trips down the Green and Colorado Rivers through the canyon, and both the 50th and 75th anniversaries of Grand Canyon National Park.