The word “breathtaking” did not make it into Noah Webster’s original 1823 American Dictionary of the English Language. Perhaps, it is because the adjective was not necessary until the Grand Canyon became a national monument and then a national park almost a century after Webster first published his grand volume. Yet, it is the word “breathtaking” that so ideally sums up the personal experience of the Grand Canyon’s vista and the hushed awe it elicits. Or, as early 19th-century British novelist J.B. Priestley described the natural marvel: “It is not a show place, a beauty spot, but a revelation.”…