"... It's not the kind of place you'd choose for a farmstead. What little soil there is is poor. What could her imaginary "someone" grow down there?"
Just an FYI, Karl, the Havasupai Indian Tribe lives in the western end of the Grand Canyon, at the bottom. And - they grow crops down there. I might not have known this either, except my uncle who worked for the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Flagstaff, AZ, at the time, helped them survey and build their irrigation system back in the '60's.
Amazing, ain't it?? Keep up the great work. .
I luvya.