These meteorites were recognized in 1891, although it appears that Indians may have collected and transported some of these objects before that time.
Numerous masses, ranging in size from minute fragments to pieces weighing over a 1000 lbs, totaling over 30 tons of material, have thus far been found.
These masses are fragments of a large iron asteroid that hit northern Arizona ~50,000 years ago. The impact obliterated the bulk (>95%) of the asteroid, leaving behind only a few traces which we recognize as the Canyon Diablo meteorites. The impact crater produced by this collision is the famous Barringer or Meteor Crater, which is 1.25 km (4,100 feet) across, 170m (560 feet) deep (~60 story building), and has a circumference of nearly 5 km (over 3 miles).