Two Reviews of False Architect: The Mary Colter
Hoax by Fred Shaw
Rust Camp (today's Phantom Ranch) 1907 NPS imageThe 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.
