Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Historic Boats

Grand Canyon's Historic Boats at the South Rim

 Grand Canyon National Park's Historic Boats

 Grand Canyon National Park has a number of Historic Boats in its Museum Collection. Flagstaff videographer Greg Hales and I put together a series of sixteen videos on these boats. You can see the first video introduction here: Vimeo      YouTube

The second video in the series is on the boats used by John Wesley Powell in 1869 and 1871. While only a 3-foot diameter fragment remains of one of the 1871 boats, there are well made replicas of those boats at the Tusayan Imax.           Vimeo     YouTube

The third video in this series is on the 1909 boat used by Julius Stone to boat from Green River, WY, to Needles, California, in 1909. It is the oldest complete boat in the collection.
Vimeo     YouTube

The fourth video explores the boats used by the Kolb brothers to boat through Grand Canyon in 1911-12, the Edith and Defiance.     Vimeo:   YouTube

In the fifth video I look at one of David Rust's canvas canoes that were used to guide tourists in Glen canyon in the 1920s. Two Park Rangers using a canvas canoe like Rust's drowned in Horn Creek Rapid in 1929. This is their story.    Vimeo    YouTube

The sixth video looks at the Marble, a boat used to help map the river in Grand Canyon in 1923.           Vimeo      YouTube

In the seventh video, I focus on the WEN, made by Don Harris and Norm Nevills in 1938. The WEN is a Catract boat, also called a sadiron.   Vimeo    YouTube

The eighth video focuses on Alexander "Z" Grant's run through Grand Canyon in 1942 in a foldboat kayak.    Vimeo     YouTube

In the nineth video I recount the 1948, '49 and '50 exploits of the Esmeralda II, the first motorboat on record to traverse the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  Vimeo    YouTube

For the tenth video I recount the exploits of Stephen Moulton Babcock Fulmer, known to his friends as "Moulty." He built the GEM in the early 1950s, Grand Canyon’s first documented McKenzie River Dory.   Vimeo     YouTube

For the eleventh video, we look at a ten-man raft named the GEORGIE after Georgie White, the Woman of the River. This may be the raft Georgie rowed through Grand Canyon in 1952.                               Vimeo     YouTube

The twelfth video covers the 1960 Buehler Turbocraft jetboat uprun of the Colorado River in 1960. (See Errata for a correction about this video)   Vimeo     YouTube

In the thirteenth video we cover Walter Kirschbaum. With the help of his wife Ruth, they made this kayak in the late 1950s. A week after the jet boats headed downriver, Walter paddled this boat through Grand Canyon. He completed his run just before the jet boat uprun of the river began. Both were firsts.       Vimeo     YouTube

The fourteenth video explores this modified McKenzie River dory that first ran Grand Canyon in 1962. The boat was built by Keith Steele for Plez "Pat" Reilly. After its first trip through Grand Canyon, Reilly sold her to Martin Litton.   Vimeo     YouTube

Our fifteenth video looks at the sportyak DOCK. The bypass tubes around Glen Canyon Dam were closed in January of 1963, bringing the flow of the river to a trickle. In August, a small group of folks made the first run through the now dam controlled Grand Canyon. Their boats of choice were tiny Sportyaks. Vimeo     YouTube

In our sixteenth and final video, we complete the circle and look at vert tiny and tippy boats paddled by 12-year-olds. These two boats, like almost all the other boats in the fleet, were added only years after they made their Canyon run and represent today's kayaks. Vimeo     YouTube

Remembering Art Greene's Airboat Tseh Na-ni-ah-go Atin'

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Two Reviews of False Architect: The Mary Colter Hoax by Fred Shaw

 

Two Reviews of False Architect: The Mary Colter Hoax by Fred Shaw

                                      Rust Camp (today's Phantom Ranch) 1907 NPS image

The first review of Fred Shaw's book False Architect is by Haley Johnson. Haley is Past President of the Grand Canyon Historical Society. In 2021 she presented a discussion of some of the facts showing Coulter was a designer, not an architect. You can see her presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHTQk82QPys

Johnson wrote the following review on the False Architect Amazon page:

Amazing how we think we know everything about a time before many of us were born yet new technology is constantly allowing us to uncover long hidden secrets. I have gone through dozens of Shaw's sources, most which are all available to the public, and I am surprised how easy it is to find what he found! Even without a direct link (which he DOES provide) it was simple to find many of the newspaper articles.

I absolutely love that ZANE GREY basically called Colter unbalanced.! Love this read, fascinating history. I for one am absolutely open to changes in History. We weren't there, we only have evidence to read. I love to learn more and dig more into what was or could have been. We are learning new things all the time thanks to advances in technology.

If what Shaw has found is actual fact nothing needs to change except it's another page in the history of Colter and these amazing buildings associated with her.

An interpretive Ranger could easily interpret Mary Colter as we have been doing for as long as any of us can remember and then at the end of the program can add in this new evidence and let the audience come to their own conclusion. it can open up discussion, it's a facilitated dialogue opportunity.

This can be a new experience and a new learning opportunity for all of us it doesn't have to mean Mary Colter is bad or that we should all hate her 🤷🏽‍♀️ whatever happened back then for Colter to have gotten in the books as she did is amazing! She's still going to be a powerful historic figure no matter what.

Fred Shaw uncovered this fascinating evidence and has recently uncovered even more, why push against it when we can all dig deeper into it and try to learn more?

You can read Johnson’s and other reviews here: https://www.amazon.com/False-Architect-Mary-Colter-Hoax-ebook/dp/B07CJRX2F5/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

The second review of Fred Shaw's False Architect is by Doug Sherman. Doug is a retired Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the College of Lake County, Illinois. His review was originally posted September 19, 2018 at https://www.facebook.com/groups/GrandCanyonHistory. You can read more about Doug here: https://www.blurb.ca/user/Dougsherman

Review of Fred Shaw's False Architect by Doug Sherman

I am a former geology professor and a professional photographer who has spent hundreds of hours teaching field courses and photographing the Grand Canyon. Like everyone else, I thought Mary Colter was the architect of many of the buildings at the Grand Canyon. After all, that is what the literature available from the Grand Canyon Natural History Association and the National Park Service purports. So, when a friend suggested that I read this book I was more than intrigued to see what the author had to say.

As a scientist, I approach things from a skeptical point of view. I always check to see if sources are viable and if there is any bias in the evaluation of information presented or in the way it was assembled. It is apparent, based on the information presented in this book, that the previous literature describing Mary Colter as the architect of numerous buildings at the Grand Canyon and elsewhere along the Santa Fe Railroad system violated these fundamental principles. Few if any primary sources were used by authors of the previous literature and much of the information utilized in those books was provided to the writers by either people Colter had befriended, by Colter herself, from other books whose authors didn’t do proper research, or from her grossly embellished autobiography.

Fred Shaw did not set out to refute Mary Colter’s claims. He only decided to investigate her based on contradictions he discovered while doing research for a book on Louis Curtis, a prominent architect who worked for Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad during that same time.

He began by researching Mary Colter’s early history including where she lived, her educational background, and her job background. Most importantly, he discovered that she had no architectural training whatsoever. In fact, the California School of Design, which she attended for three years after high school, offered no architectural classes. Her courses there consisted of drawing and fine arts.

Although Colter claimed in her autobiography that she taught architecture courses while employed at Stout Manual Training School in Menomonie, WI and Mechanic Arts High School in St. Paul, MN, Shaw provides definitive proof that the former school did not offer architecture classes and that at the latter her duties were teaching literature and drawing classes. These lies might be considered unimportant embellishments used to impress her friends and family. However, Shaw proves this was only the beginning of a life of deceit on a grand scale.

After she was hired by Fred Harvey to be a decorator during the heyday of construction at Grand Canyon National Park and along the Santa Fe Railroad the depth of her prevarication increased. This position gave her access to the blueprints/plans for these structures and because these plans were the property of the Fred Harvey and Santa Fe architectural departments they did not contain the names of the actual architects. As a result, Mary Colter wrote her initials M. E. J. C. on many of the plans thus, claiming them as her own or she simply asserted to others that she was the architect. She didn’t expect that someone as astute in investigative techniques as Fred Shaw would eventually uncover the truth.

Shaw compared the writing of Colter on those plans with the writing on the legends of those plans and that of known architects working for the Santa Fe Railroad and Fred Harvey at those times. By doing this he discerned who the actual architects were. In addition, by reviewing the known works of these architects it was apparent that distinctive elements they had used before were incorporated into many of these buildings which Colter claimed to be her own.

Colter also blatantly usurped an idea originating with Louisa Wetherill that Navajo Sand Paintings should be used to decorate the walls of El Navajo Hotel in Gallup, NM. An article crediting Colter with the idea appeared in the New Mexico Times Tribune. None other than Zane Grey wrote a letter to the editor of that paper asking that the article be retracted and that Wetherill, who had shared her idea with Colter, be given the proper credit. Grey knew the truth because he had been friends with Wetherill for many years and had seen the correspondence between the two affirming his allegation.

Based on the information presented in this book, it is well past time to give the actual architects of the buildings along the Santa Fe Railway system and at the Grand Canyon their rightful due. Shaw proves conclusively that Colter was not the architect of any of the buildings at the Grand Canyon or along the Santa Fe Railway system.

Shaw’s exhaustive research yields the following results:

Louis S. Curtiss: El Ortiz Hotel, Lamy, NM; Phantom Ranch buildings (First Phase), Grand Canyon National Park; El Navajo Hotel, Gallup, NM; Santa Fe San Diego Station, San Diego, CA; Hermits Rest, Grand Canyon National Park; Lookout Studio, Grand Canyon National Park; Indian Gardens (proposed), Grand Canyon National Park.

Robert J. Raney: Desert View Watch Tower, Grand Canyon National Park; Bright Angel Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park; La Posada Hotel, Winslow, AZ; Auto Camp Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park; Phantom Ranch buildings (Second Phase), Grand Canyon National Park; Fred Harvey facilities at Chicago Union Station, Chicago, IL.

Charles F. Whittlesey: The Alvarado Hotel, Albuquerque, NM; Santa Fe ticket office in Los Angeles, CA; Santa Fe Depots in Bakersfield, CA, Trinidad, CO, and Raton, NM; El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon National Park.

W.H. Mohr: Hopi House, Grand Canyon National Park (Initial drawings by Mohr refined by Charles F. Whittlesey).

John Gaw Meem: The La Fonda Hotel Addition, Santa Fe, NM (with help from Robert Raney)

The chapter speculating why Colter made these false claims is unnecessary. The evidence gathered over a three- and one-half year period, which is contained in the end notes of the book, conclusively proves that she was not the architect of record for these buildings.

Fred Shaw should receive kudos for his tenacity and courage in completing this monumental work. Correcting the illegitimate claims of Mary Colter that have stood for six decades was not an easy task.

Doug Sherman is a retired professor of geology, nationally recognized photographer and Cottonwood, AZ, resident.

 

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

National Park Jurisdiction Along the Hualapai Reservation

 


 National Park Jurisdiction Along the Hualapai Reservation
By Jeff Ingram

Jeff Ingram helped craft legislation passed in 1975 to enlarge Grand Canyon National Park and the Havasupai Reservation. West of the Havasupai Reservation, the 1975 Act strove to take no lands from the Hualapai Ration. Jeff still ponders the effects of the legislation to this day. The following was recently written by Jeff after receiving some questions about the boundary of the Park.

Let’s see what we know. The Hualapai claimed the riverbed out to the middle of the river. The history of the 1975 Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act includes the desire of the principal sponsor to 1. unify administration and jurisdiction over river traffic in the Park Service at GCNP, and 2. to have nothing in the Act that would take Hualapai land without their agreement. The Act aimed to resolve any ambiguity in the 1883 Executive Order, and thus placed the Park boundary on the south bank, running along adjacent to the Hualapai boundary. Later on, (1976/1997), the Interior Solicitors said their opinion on the Hualapai claim was that “no”, the boundary did not go to the middle of the river; and in their opinion the 1883 Executive Order set the boundary at the high water level along the river.
 
It is my opinion that reconciling any ambiguity raised by the two desires of the sponsor means that “high water level” must be construed to favor the Hualapai and thus take none of the south bank above the high-water level as marked by the usual diurnal rise and fall of the river caused by normal operation of Glen Canyon dam. This point is reinforced because that is the high-water level at the time the Park boundary was set by the 1975 Act, as the sponsor knew. This construction is further reinforced by Hualapai-controlled riverside activities such as the Whitmore helispot and use of Diamond Creek beach. The sponsors, I am sure, would have been strongly negative about the Park Service asserting jurisdiction over the south bank to that extent. 
 
We are left then with river traffic use of rocks and trees along the shore to tie up and scout the river ahead being a legitimate use for river traffic. Beyond that, lunch stops (which can include moving away from the river, up the beach), overnight camps, hiking etc., are all to be construed as taking place on Hualapai land and therefore are under their jurisdiction. This, of course, also includes the Whitmore helispot and Diamond Creek beach. That is, if the Hualapai wish river travelers to secure a permit and to pay for the privilege for stops of the latter sorts, it is their right as the landowners (sovereigns) to do so. I firmly believe this would be the opinion of the sponsors of the legislation, based on my memory of conversations, meetings, and actions with them and their staffs in the 1972-5 period of the legislative history. 
 
While it is true that referring to the high-water level in 1883 can be defended in some strict sense of the law, such an interpretation runs counter to the 1975 Act and the 1883 Executive Order when they are construed in favor of the Hualapai. Bluntly put, to insist on an 1883 high water line would be theft of the Hualapai’s land, given the history. It is enough to deny their claim out into the river; we need not then turn around and advance beyond the river’s edge to stake any larger claim to their territory.
I was reinforced in this point by something I came across, traced back across the centuries to the Institutes of Justinian in the 6th century:
 
The public use of the banks of a river, as of the river itself, is part of the law of nations; consequently every one is entitled to bring his vessel to the bank, and fasten cables to the trees growing there, and use it as a resting place for the cargo, as freely as he may navigate the river itself. But the ownership of the bank is in the owner of the adjoining land, and consequently so too is the ownership of the trees which grow upon it. 
 
No one therefore is forbidden access to the sea¬shore, provided he abstains from injury to houses, monuments, and buildings generally; for these are not, like the sea itself, subject to the law of nations.
 
This may sound antiquarian, but the principle of it has lasted.
 
The administration of Grand Canyon National Park would be well advised to follow the intent of the 1975 Act and previous initiatives of Park administrators and seek to work with the Hualapai for harmonious and pro-environmental oversight of use of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon.