This paper is a review of the history of the 1937 American Museum of Natural History expedition to Shiva Temple, a butte in the Grand Canyon. The purpose of that study was to search for evolutionary development of animals isolated on this "sky island," as it was called. Preparations for the work and the actual expedition itself were noted by global publicity regarding the expected, positive, evolutionary implications. When it was finally determined that no significant differences were observed in Shiva's population of small mammals, the isolation of Shiva and its status as a "sky island" were called into question. A sequel to this paper will examine preliminary research data consistent with significant and recent biological isolation of Shiva and the implications this has for the age of the Canyon itself.