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Table 6. Sightings of bighorn sheep in Grand Canyon during pre-dam river trips. Year Number of Source Date Trip Location Sheep July Wright Grand Canyon 0 Unpublished diary May 22 Reilly Forster and Stone Creek tracks Unpublished diary June Reilly Grand Canyon 0 Unpublished diary July 4 Reilly Boucher Creek 10 Unpublished diary . July 4 Reilly Elves Chasm 2 Unpublished diary May 8 Reilly near Elves Chasm 2 Unpublished diary ~ 1958 1959 1962 1964 (mile 133.8-R) and again at mile 190. A member of Reilly's 1959, trip saw an otter at mile 19. Otters are now rarely seen in Grand Canyon, although credible observers recorded their presence in the 1970s (Carothers and Brown, 1991). Large Mammals Bighorn sheep may have increased along the river corridor since the first river runners (Table 6). Beginning with the first Powell expedition (Cooley, 1988), few river trips saw large mammals along the river corridor. Trips before the turn of the century saw the largest numbers. The most common sightings of bighorn sheep were between Elves Chasm (mile 116.5- L) and mile 126, in the vicinity of Havasu Creek (mile 157), and occasionally in western Grand Canyon. Bighorn sheep sightings now are more common. Nevills-Staveley was surprised to see bighorn sheep near Navajo Bridge; no historic river trips had ever seen them so far up canyon (Stockwell, 1989, p. 13). According to Grua, these sheep were introduced onto the Pari a Plateau in 1980, and they subsequently migrated into Marble Canyon (miles 0 to 61). Several people indicated they saw more bighorn sheep on the Old Timers Trip than on any other. From the experience of those on the trip who frequently observed the river in the 1990s, we felt we saw very few. Burro sightings became more common through the 1940s and 1950s. The sightings followed the known distribution of the animals. In 1938, Clover and Jotter observed burros on both sides of the river at Diamond Creek (mile 225.8-L). Reilly observed burros at the mouth of Hermit Creek (mile 95.0-L) in 1962. The most apparent populations of burros along the river were downstream of Whitmore Wash (mile 188.1-R). Nevills saw a domestic sheep at Spring Canyon (mile 204.3-R) in 1942; the Stone Exp~dition killed domestic sheep near Salt Water Wash (mIle 11.8-L) in 1909 (Stone, 1932). Signs of deer were recorded in diaries, particularly in the reach from about mile 35 to Phantom Ranch (mile 87.8-R). Jotter and Clover saw a deer at the mouth of Kwagunt Creek (mile 56.0-R) in 1938. Holmstrom noted deer tracks at the mouth of Tapeats Creek in 1937. Nevills saw a large buck at mile 71- L in 1947. Reilly saw tracks at Buck Farm Canyon (mile 41.0-R) and Kwagunt Rapid (mile 56.1) and saw a doe at Tanner Canyon (mile 68.5-L). "Dock" Marston saw many deer in Lava Canyon (mile 65.5-R) in 1948. Several Old Timers mentioned deer swimming in front of the boats in the 1950s; Cross II stated he observed deer swimming 6 times on his trips in the 1960s. The most downstream report of deer was by McKee, who found "weathered" antlers on ledges 600 feet above the river at Tapeats Creek. Mountain lions were observed on a Nevills trip in 1947 (mile 215) and a Reilly trip in 1956 (mile 177). Reilly commonly mentioned seeing bobcats or bobcat tracks. He saw a bobcat at mile 200, and bobcat tracks at Unkar Creek (mile n.6-R), Lava Canyon (mile 65.5-R), Nankoweap Creek (mile 52.2-R), Kwagunt Creek (mile 56.0-R), Stone Creek (mile l3l.9-R), Fern Glen (mile l68.0-R), Whitmore Wash (mile l88.l-R), and Gneiss Canyon (mile 235.9-L). McKee saw sign of bobcats at the foot of the Bass Trail (mile 107) and at mile 176. Frost had a special memory of seeing a bobcat in the vicinity of Three Springs Canyon (mile 215.7-L). Ringtail cats were also seen during pre-dam river trips, but only one of the Old Timers remembered food thefts by ringtails. Several Old Timers mentioned they did not cause problems. McKee saw ringtail tracks at six sites between Bright Angel Creek (mile 87.8-R) and Diamond Creek (mile 225.8-L) in 1937, and Reilly also Co 26 OBSERVATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN GRAND CANYON