Into the Heart
of the Grand Canyon
Introduction
Historic Expeditions
Plants and Wildlife
Author
Biographies
Cases,
Dory, and Sculpture in the Exhibit
Introduction
The first successful run of the
Colorado River through the Grand Canyon was made
by Major John Wesley Powell’s expedition
in 1869. Before 1949 fewer than 100 people had
gone down the canyon by boat. Today 22,000 people
take the trip annually. The river still presents
many of the same challenges experienced by Powell
and his men.
The river and its canyon exert its
influence on all who travel it. Many have written
about their personal journeys, describing the
trip’s impact upon their lives. Whether
because of the beauty of the scenery or the physical
and mental challenges presented, all have been
changed.
This exhibition is based loosely
on the book of the same name in which photographer
Kathleen Jo Ryan and 16 modern-day adventurers
documented their experiences on the river. The
quotes are excerpts from each woman’s essay
reflecting her river passage. In comparison, images
and quotes from historic river travelers show
how the equipment has changed but the personal
experiences have not.
Today this river, once considered
too dangerous, has become the adventure of a life-time.
For more information contact
Grand Canyon Association (928) 800-858-2808 or
www.grandcanyon.org.
Historic Expeditions
Long after the rest of the continent
had been explored, the Grand Canyon region remained
unknown territory, a blank spot on maps.
Early explorers of the Colorado
River through the canyon probed the mysterious
hinterland to determine whether the river was
navigable, to chart its course, and to discover
what resources might be found there and exploited.
They kept detailed records and penned their reactions
to the challenges they met at nearly every turn.
It didn’t take long for river
runners to discover that the sheer adventure of
an expedition through this remarkable canyon was
reason enough to go. The experience of losing
themselves in the depths of a forbidding canyon
on a wild and unforgiving river taught them as
much about themselves as it did about their surroundings.
IVES EXPEDITION: 1857–58
More than fifty years after Lewis
and Clark completed their journey to the Pacific
Ocean, the United States government sent its first
expedition up the unknown Colorado River to determine
whether the waterway could be used for supplying
military posts in southern Utah Territory.
Starting from the Gulf of California,
Lieutenant Joseph Ives led his men through perils
of rocks, sandbars, and skirmishes with indigenous
tribes as far north as their stern-wheeler could
go—to the vicinity of today’s Davis
Dam. At this point, he reported, the river would
be “an economical avenue for transportation.”
Here they tied up their boat, cached
supplies, and set out on foot to explore the great
canyon that lay ahead. What they found in the
depths of the abyss was discouraging, indeed,
and led them to report that, though interesting
from a scientific point of view, it was “altogether
valueless.”
QUOTES:
“The region is, of course, altogether valueless.
It can be approached only from the south, and
after entering it there is nothing to do but leave.
Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be
the last party of whites to visit this profitless
locality.”
”It seems intended by nature
that the Colorado River, along the greater portion
of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever
unvisited and undisturbed.”
--Lt. Joseph C. Ives, from his Report
upon the Colorado River of the West
The unfamiliar terrain of the Grand Canyon appeared
formidable to early explorers on the Ives Expedition
of 1857-58.
Scenic engravings by H. B. Mollhausen
for Lt. Ives’ Report upon the Colorado River
of the West, 1861.
Courtesy of Grand Canyon National
Park Museum Collection, GRCA 16180 and GRCA 16240.
POWELL EXPEDITIONS: 1869, 1871–72
Major John Wesley Powell and his
small band of civilian men made the first successful
journey through the Grand Canyon by river in 1869.
Though the purpose of the expedition, from Powell’s
point of view, was to record geographic and geologic
data, the press reported it as a great adventure—one
in which all crew members, save one, had perished.
Powell emerged at the end of his journey to find
himself eulogized in myriad obituaries. The report
was overstated, but in truth, the trip did claim
several lives.
The party had expected difficult
rapids and unknown dangers. But the size and frequency
of these, coupled with the loss of food and equipment,
took their toll. Day after day, while Powell made
notes in his journal about scientific observations
and waxed eloquent about landscape, crew members
chronicled in their journals the hardships of
moving through this rugged land on an uncharted,
untamed river. Finally, three crew members had
had enough. They left the expedition on August
28, determined to reach civilization among the
scattered Mormon villages, but they were never
seen alive again. Three days later, Powell and
his remaining crew emerged from the deep canyon
to complete their journey.
Two years later, Powell was once
again on the river and roaming the adjacent rims
to gather historical and cultural data among the
indigenous peoples.
QUOTES
“There is discontent in camp tonight and
I fear some of the party will take to the mountains
but hope not. This is decidedly the darkest day
of the trip. . . .”
–George Bradley, August 27, 1869
“As the twilight deepens,
the rocks grow deep and somber; the threatening
roar of the water is loud and constant, and I
lie awake with thoughts of the morrow and the
canyons to come.” –Major John Wesley
Powell
“The glories and the beauties
of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon—forms
unrivaled even by the mountains, colors that vie
with sunsets, and sounds that span the diapason
from tempest to tinkling raindrop, from cataract
to bubbling fountain.” –Major John
Wesley Powell
Illustrations from Powell’s
expeditions in 1869 and 1871-72, reflected the
geology of the Grand Canyon more accurately than
those from Ives’ earlier expedition.
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View
Enlargement
Marble Canyon as depicted in Major J.W. Powell’s
report The Exploration of the Colorado River
and Its Canyons.
Courtesy
of Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection,
GRCA G54700 |
KOLB BROTHERS EXPEDITION:
1911–12
Adventurers to the core, pioneer
photographers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb had lived
at Grand Canyon for nearly a decade, exploring
and photographing the little-known backcountry
as a way of life. But by 1911, they were ready
to try something new.
Buoyed by stories of earlier explorers and armed
with new-fangled technology, they proposed to
make the first motion picture of river running
through the Grand Canyon.
“We could not hope to add
anything of importance to the scientific and topographic
knowledge of the canyons already existing,”
wrote Ellsworth. “And merely to come out
alive at the other end did not make a strong appeal
to our vanity. We were there as scenic photographers
in love with their work, and determined to reproduce
the marvels of the Colorado’s canyons.”
Three men in two boats embarked
from Green River, Wyoming, on a crisp September
day to retrace the 1,100-mile route of the Powell
expedition and record it all on film. Mishaps
and mayhem prevailed, but by 1915 they were touring
the country to narrate their silent film in front
of curious crowds. The film was shown at their
South Rim studio every day thereafter until Emery’s
death in 1976, making it the longest-running film
in history.
QUOTES:
“The boat mounts bravely but is caught and
hurled like a feather when the opposite wave strikes.
. . . The first thing I knew I was sinking slowly.
. . .”
–Ellsworth Kolb
“I see Emery is hung up on
rock at head of rapid. My boat is filled and thrown
from side to side, finally turns over with me
under. . . . Long time underwater in the swift
current. . . . I can hardly drag myself out. .
. . E [Emery] climbs on rock above me and says
his boat is smashed. . . . Camp. 5 minutes later
clothes frozen.”
–Ellsworth Kolb
“We [were] very happy to be
all together & alive. It took me the whole
day to repair the hole in my boat. Large enough
to crawl through.” –Emery Kolb
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View
Enlargement
The Kolb brothers’
wooden boats EDITH and DEFIANCE were built
to their specifications and delivered by rail
to Green River, Wyoming. From this point the
brothers embarked to retrace the route of
Powell’s historic 1869 expedition.
Courtesy of Grand Canyon National
Park Museum Collection, GRCA 17171 |
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View
Enlargement
The adventurers spent Christmas Day, 1911,
patching the EDITH with pieces of mesquite,
tin, and canvas.
Courtesy of Grand Canyon National
Park Museum Collection, GRCA 17170 |
GLEN and BESSIE HYDE:1928
In 1928, Bessie Hyde, the first
woman to travel into Grand Canyon on a Colorado
River expedition, honeymoons on the river with
her new husband Glen. But the story of adventuresome
lovers turns tragic, and today their tale reads
like a dime novel.
The Hydes embarked on their honeymoon
in a clumsy-looking twenty-foot scow, built by
Glen near their launch site at Green River, Utah.
Their journey wasn’t all for love: They
harbored ideas of capitalizing on the trip by
writing a book and possibly lecturing across the
country. Bessie was as enthusiastic as her young
husband, at least at first.
By the time they reached the foot
of Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon twenty-six
days later, it appeared that—for Bessie
at least—the honeymoon was over. Glen insisted
that they continue, and they did, but they never
reached their destination. Over a month later,
a search party found the scow floating peacefully
midstream, its line caught on underwater rocks.
The couple’s equipment and personal effects
were found undisturbed in the boat, but the lovers
had disappeared.
BESSIE’S POEMS:
My church
Is made of
Rocks and sand,
With clear, blue sky
And pounding waves.
Broken dreams hurt me so,
I sometimes pause to wonder,
If dreaming really is worthwhile
And not a foolish blunder?
CLOVER AND JOTTER: 1938
Botanist Elzada Clover dreamed of
exploring Grand Canyon to identify plants in the
botanically unknown canyons of the Colorado River.
The only practical way to accomplish it was from
the river. Together with river runner Norman Nevills,
Dr. Clover organized an expedition for the summer
break in her academic year, bringing along graduate
student Lois Jotter as assistant.
Adventurous scientists were once
again on the river, but this time they were women—the
first women to attempt the trip since Bessie Hyde
had disappeared ten years earlier. Their 660-mile
journey was a success both as a scientific expedition
and an adventure. Their trip was also the first
commercial river trip through the Grand Canyon.
Toward the end of their journey
as they passed the location where Glen and Bessie
Hyde were thought to have perished, “Elzie”
Clover wrote in her journal: “It is really
a shame that they worked so hard, did so well,
and then had to forego the pleasure of accomplishing
it.”
Clover and Jotter were honored at
the time as the “only women in history to
complete the perilous voyage.” They celebrated
at Boulder City, Nevada by ordering rattlesnake
steaks for their victory dinner.
QUOTES:
“She [Bessie] was afraid of the river. Makes
me feel almost ashamed to enjoy it so much. It
is a great river with a hundred personalities,
but it is not kind.”
–Elzada Clover
“Made camp on a narrow
sandy shore, where people later took dips, and
where there were nice little rock crannies in
which to sleep.”
–Lois Jotter
Plants and Wildlife
The National Park Service has developed
stewardship guidelines for everyone who visits
the Grand Canyon. The guidelines are designed
to protect native plants, wildlife and the environment.
River guides educate participants about the benefits
of leaving all natural resources unimpaired. River
trip participants are asked to walk on established
trails, use established tent sites, pick-up food
scraps that fall while eating, avoid using soap
in or near sensitive side streams and use the
outfitter’s containers to haul all trash
out of the canyon.
In the early days, when only a handful
of people were making river trips each year, the
traditional "dig a hole and bury it"
method of managing human waste was adequate. By
the early 1970s, the National Park Service became
concerned about increasing "pit stops"
in the beaches and side canyons. In response,
professional outfitters began providing containers
to take all human waste out, depositing it into
approved dump stations.
The National Park Service, outfitters
and guides annually maintain trails, cleanup and
re-vegetate impacted areas. As a result the Grand
Canyon remains a clean and pristine environment
where 22,000 annual river visitors may feel as
if they are the first to land at a beach or camp
site.
For more information about stewardship
visit the National Park Service web site, www.nps.gov/grca/
Grand Canyon Wildlife
Grand Canyon National Park’s
large size, relatively unfragmented and diverse
habitat make it an ideal place for wildlife. Mule
deer are common throughout the park and are the
mammals most commonly seen on the rim. Desert
bighorn sheep inhabit the remote slopes of the
inner canyon but are occasionally seen on trails.
Bobcats and coyotes range from the rim to the
river, and a small population of mountain lions
lives in Grand Canyon National Park.
Among the smaller mammals that inhabit
Grand Canyon National Park are ringtails (closely
related to raccoons), beavers, gophers, chipmunks,
squirrels, rabbits and bats. Lizards and snakes
(including the unique Grand Canyon “pink”
rattlesnake), turtles, frogs, toads and salamanders
all live in the park. Hundreds of species of birds
live there too, along with countless insects and
arachnids (spiders and scorpions).
Grand Canyon National Park is home
to many threatened and endangered species. These
include the Colorado squawfish, humpback chub
and bonytail chub. Endangered birds include the
peregrine falcon, bald eagle and willow flycatcher.
Photos by Kathleen Jo Ryan
Digital Lambda prints from 35mm color transparencies
Courtesy of Artist
For more information about stewardship
visit the National Park Service web site, www.nps.gov/grca/
Grand Canyon Plants
The South Rim of the Grand Canyon
lies on the edge of a high plateau. From here
the cliffs drop 5,000 feet to the Colorado River,
crossing several biotic zones. The landscape is
characterized by abundant sunshine, temperature
extremes, and long periods of drought punctuated
by torrential rains in summer and snow in winter.
The soil is thin; bedrock lies just a few inches
below the surface. The competition for moisture
in this dry land is keen.
On the rim at elevations above 7,000
feet, ponderosa pine is the dominant tree in the
forest. Below 7,000 feet, pinyon pine and Utah
juniper are the dominant trees. Gambel oak is
also common. The trees are interspersed with drought-resistant
shrubs like cliffrose, sagebush and serviceberry.
Below the rim, it’s another
world. The temperature within the inner canyon
can be as much as 30 degrees F. higher than temperatures
on the rim. Much of the inner canyon is desert,
excluding areas along the river and tributaries.
Inner canyon vegetation is cacti and drought-resistant
shrubs. Riparian plants include thickets of willow
and tamarisk.
Photos by Kathleen Jo Ryan
Digital Lambda prints from 35mm color transparencies
Courtesy of Artist
For more information about
stewardship
visit the National Park Service web site, www.nps.gov/grca/
Author Biographies
Kathleen Jo Ryan (Washington)
is a photographer and multimedia producer. In
addition to Writing Down the River, her works
include Texas Cattle Barons . . .(video)
and Deep in the Heart of Texas . . .
(book); and Ranching (video) and Ranching
Traditions . . . (book). Ryan is the founder
of Western Education & Stewardship Trust (W.E.S.T.)
that developed WestNetwork.org to connect people,
organizations and communities in the rural American
West.
Denise Chavez (New
Mexico) is a novelist, playwright, actress, director
and teacher. Her published works include a book
of short stories, The Last of the Menu Girls,
and two novels, Face of an Angel
and Loving Pedro Infante. Chavez was
awarded a Lannan Foundation Literary Residency
in 2000 and was the 2003 Hispanic Heritage Awards
Honoree in Literature. She is founder and Artistic
Director of the Border Book Festival.
Gretel Ehrlich
(California and Wyoming) has published poetry,
fiction, nonfiction, essays and a memoir. Her
work includes The Solace of Open Spaces, Drinking
Dry Clouds and Yellowstone: Land of Fire
and Ice. Her work has appeared in Harper’s,
Atlantic, New York Times, Time, Life and
Outside. She has been honored by the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation
and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Linda Ellerbee (Massachusetts
and New York) is a television producer, news anchor,
best-selling author, public speaker and a breast-cancer
survivor. Her company has produced prime-time
specials for HBO, SOAPnet, A&E, MTV and WE.
Two of her books — And So It Goes and
Move On — were national bestsellers.
As a breast-cancer survivor, Ellerbee travels
thousands of miles each year giving inspirational
speeches.
Judith Freeman
(California and Idaho) is a novelist, essayist
and critic. She has written four novels and a
collection of short stories. Her novel, Red
Water, was named by the Los Angeles Times
as one of the 100 Best Books of 2002 , the same
year it was chosen as the Number 1 Book of the
Southwest by the Tucson Book Review. She has received
a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction, the Western
Heritage Award and the Utah Book Award.
Linda Hogan (Colorado)
is a poet, novelist and essayist. She was one
of three finalists for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize
for her novel, Mean Spirit. She was a finalist
for the National Book Critics Circle Award for
The Book of Medicines, a collection of
her poems. Hogan has received The Five Civilized
Tribes Museum Playwriting Award, a National Endowment
for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Teresa Jordan (Nevada
and Utah) is the author of Riding the White
Horse Home and Cowgirls: Women of the
American West. She has edited two anthologies
of Western women’s writing, The Stories
that Shape Us: Contemporary Women Write About
the West and Graining the Mare: The Poetry
of Ranch Women. She is the recipient of a
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in
literature and the Silver Pen Award from the Nevada
Writer’s Hall of Fame.
Ruth
Kirk (Washington) published her first
book (about Death Valley) in 1956 and it is still
in print. She and her husband Louis Kirk, a national
park ranger, naturalist and PBS producer, covered
various subjects including the effects of snowmobiles
on an Inuit village, desert ecology and Northwest
Coast archaeology. Kirk’s most recent books
are Snow and Sunrise to Paradise: The Story
of Mount Rainier National Park.
Page Lambert (Wyoming
and Colorado) continues to make pilgrimages to
the Colorado River, facilitating five-day writing
journeys for women. A recipient of a 2004 Literary
Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council, Lambert
was described in Inside/Outside Southwest
Magazine as one of the most notable women
writers of the contemporary West.
Brenda Peterson
(Washington) writes both fiction and non-fiction.
Her novel, Duck and Cover, was a New York Times
Notable Book of the Year for 1990. Living by Water
was an Editor’s Choice for the American
Library Association. Peterson is an NPR commentator
and is featured in Edge Walking on the Western
Rim: New Works by 12 Northwest Writers. Her
most recent nonfiction book is Sister Stories:
Taking the Journey Together.
Leila Philip (New
York) is the author of The Road Through Miyama,
which received the 1990 PEN Martha Albrand Citation
for Nonfiction. Her second book, Hidden Dialogue:
A Discussion Between Women in Japan and the United
States, was published in 1993. She was honored
by the National Endowment for the Arts; was a
James Thurber Writer in Residence in Columbus,
Ohio; and was a Bunting Fellow in Creative Writing
at Radcliffe.
Sharman Apt Russell
(New Mexico) has written books and essays, including
An Obsession with Butterflies: Our Long Love
Affair with a Singular Insect; Anatomy of a Rose;
Kill the Cowboy: A Battle of Mythology in the
New West; and Songs of the Fluteplayer.
Russell was a fellow at the Rockefeller Study
Center in Bellagio, Italy, and has received many
writing awards.
Annick Smith (Montana)
is a writer and filmmaker. She was the executive
producer of Heartland, a feature film
about pioneer life, and a co-producer of A River
Runs Through It. Her books include Homestead,
about her life on a Montana homestead; Big
Bluestem: Journey into the Tallgrass, about
the prairies of Oklahoma; and In This We Are
Native: Memoirs and Journeys, essays about
place, nature and family. Smith co-edited The
Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology.
Barbara Earl Thomas
(Washington) is a painter and writer. She has
exhibited artwork at the Seattle Art Museum, The
Tacoma Art Museum and other museums across the
United States. Storm Watch: The Art of Barbara
Earl Thomas was published in 1998. Her essays
have appeared in Raven Chronicles, A Single
Mother’s Companion, Intimate Nature: The
Bonds Between Women and Animals and The
Gift of Birds: True Encounters with Avian Spirits.
Evelyn C. White
(California) is editor of The Black Women’s
Health Book. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian,
Essence, Ms., the Washington Post and the Wall
Street Journal. She is a board member of the Soapstone
Writer’s Retreat for Women in coastal Oregon.
Her biography, Alice Walker: A Life,
is to be published in the fall of 2004.
Ann Haymond Zwinger
(Colorado) has published many books, including
Downcanyon: A Naturalist Explores the Colorado
River through the Grand Canyon; The Nearsighted
Naturalist; Fall Colors; and Colorado
III. Her essays have appeared in Orion,
Plateau Journal and Whole Terrain.
Zwinger is the recipient of the Spirit of the
West Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary
doctorate from the University of Colorado.
Susan Zwinger (Washington)
has written several books, including The Hanford
Reach: The Arid Lands of South Central Washington
and The Last Wild Edge: One Woman’s
Journey in Search of Ancient Forest. Her
first book, Stalking the Ice Dragon: A Naturalist’s
Journey through Alaska, received the Governor’s
Author’s Award in 1992.
Cases, Dory, and
Sculpture in the Exhibit
Scale Model Black Mesa Dory, 2004
After a design by Martin Litton
Handcrafted by Marty Schlein, Blue Sky Woodcraft,
Carbondale, Colorado.
Plywood with fiberglass cloth covered
in resin
A dory is a narrow, flat-bottomed
boat with high sides and a sharp prow. Dories
used on the Colorado river are designed to carry
two passengers in front and two in the rear. The
guide sits in the middle and rows the dory using
two 10-foot oars. A full-size boat is 16 feet
9 inches long and weighs approximately 500 pounds.
Designer Martin Litton names each of his dories
to commemorate to a wild place that has been impaired
by humans.
Grand Canyon Dories has run the
full-size dory Black Mesa in the Grand Canyon
on approximately 200 trips (45,400 river miles).
Courtesy of OARS/Grand Canyon Dories
www.oars.com
Sockdolager
Clyde “Ross” Morgan
Bronze with mesquite pedestal
Near the end of Powell’ 10-month
expedition in 1869, the trip was turning into
a fight for survival in unmapped territory. With
crew members John Sumner and William Dunn at the
oars, the Emma Dean plunged through a rapid that
Powell subsequently named Sockdolager for its
“knock-out punch.”
Artist Ross Morgan carefully researched
Powell’s boats and gear before rendering
them in bronze. Inside the boat are beaver traps,
tools, and meager provisions. Subsisting mainly
on moldy flour, dried fruit, and coffee, the men
kept their weapons handy in hopes of bagging a
mountain sheet or other hapless creature. Sumner
appears here wearing his long-handle underwear
because by now the men had lost or worn out most
of their clothing.
Courtesy of the Artist
Motion
Picture Camera
The Kolb brothers’ new-fangled motion picture
camera.
Courtesy of Northern Arizona University, Cline
Library Special Collections and Archives, Kolb
Collection
Cork Life Vest
Cork life vest worn by Julius Stone on the Colorado
River in 1909. Courtesy of Grand Canyon National
Park Museum Collection, GRCA 13685
Hat,
coffee pot and cup
Trusty hat, coffee pot, and cup used by Nevills
in 1940s.
Courtesy of Grand Canyon National Park Museum
Collection, GRCA 18636,
GRCA 13707, 13695
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