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Grand Canyon Pioneers Society - Monthly Bulletin - December 1999 |
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GCPS Meetings for 1999
| December: | No meeting |
GCPS Meetings for 2000
| January 15: | Jim Babbitt will give a talk on Artists of the Grand Canyon. We'll meet in Sedona at the Poco Diablo Resort at Noon for lunch. The presentation will begin at 1:00 PM. The resort is located at 1736 Highway 179. |
| February 19: | Dr. Tom Myers, who for several years worked as a physician at the Grand Canyon Clinic, will tell us about the many strange things that happened during his tenure at the Canyon. We'll meet at the Route 66 Days Inn in Flagstaff at Noon. |
| March 18: | Maxine Edwards, curator of the Harvey Girl exhibit in the Bright Angel History Room, will talk about the Harvey Girls. The meeting will be in the Phoenix area. |
| April 15: | Dr. Mike Anderson will talk about the Administrative History of the Grand Canyon. We'll meet on the South Rim in the Old Community Building, Grand Canyon Village at Noon. |
| April 22: | Lee Albertson will lead the Easter Sunrise Service and backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. |
| May 20: | Dick and Sherry Mangum will lead us on a field trip on part of the route of the Grand Canyon – Flagstaff Stage Coach Line. We'll meet at 10:00 AM in the parking lot of the Flagstaff Visitor Center. |
| June 17: | Annual Picnic at Shoshone Point. |
| July 15: | Pat Lauzon will give us a tour of the Lauzon Homestead and Bass Camp. |
| August 19: | Keith Green, Grand Canyon National Park Ranger, will present a program on Phantom Ranch. The meeting place at the South Rim will be announced. |
| September 16: | Rich Holtzin will give us a tour of Diamond Creek Canyon. We will take a 22 mile long road from Peach Springs to the Colorado River. This is the only way you can drive a vehicle all the way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Details will follow in a later issue. |
| October 21: | Annual Board Meeting and a talk by Tom Vail, a Colorado River guide for 20 years. The meeting will be in Flagstaff. |
| November 18: | Jay Cravath, from the Arizona Humanities Council will talk about Kokopelli: The Mystery of the Flute Player. Meeting place to be announced. |
| December: | No meeting |
The First GCPS Tucson Outing
By Betty Leavengood
When I first planned a meeting of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society in Tucson - a first. I worried that no one would come, but I was delighted to welcome 34 people to Tucson on Saturday, November 13. Members came from as far away as Prescott, Kingman, Sedona, Phoenix, and, yes, even Tucson. We met at the Arizona State Historical Society at 10:00 AM for a tour of the museum. Three docents (Jane Berson, Joanne Hawkins, and Larry Klein) showed us the many exhibits and shared stories of Arizona’s early history.
Next we met in the boardroom for two slide presentations.
Shiva Temple First Ascent
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Emery Kolb offered his services as a guide for the Anthony Expedition and the Park Service turned him down. Not to be outdone, Emery decided to climb Shiva Temple in August of 1937, before the New York crew arrived in September. Plans were made in utmost secrecy. "Emery could have been banned from the park if the Park Service found out," Ruth explained. Emery's wife, Blanche, made parachutes out of burlap sacks to hold their lunch and water which a pilot would drop to the climbers when they reached the top.
After flying across the canyon, the climbers spent the night on Point Sublime. They started down at 6:00 AM and reached the saddle by 10:00 AM. After a steep climb, they made it to the top of Shiva just before noon."They decided that since I was the youngest, I could be the first person on the top of Shiva," Ruth said, "so I was the first person to stand on top of Shiva Temple in thousands of years. It was quite a thrill."
True to the plan the pilot flew over with the lunches and water. "He was supposed to drop the burlap sacks in an open area," Ruth said, "but he missed and our lunch ended up in top of a tall pine tree!" She showed us a slide of Emery in top of the tree holding up the burlap sack that contained their lunches. After eating lunch, which was canned tomatoes and crackers, they decided to leave evidence of their presence on Shiva Temple. "Emery scattered film canisters around and we got an agave stalk and used our burlap lunch bag for a flag," she said. "We put the flag where we could see it from Emery’s studio. Then, because I had heard that there would be a woman on the Anthony expedition, I blotted my lipstick several times with tissues and then stuck the tissues on bushes."
After taking several group pictures, the group descended to the saddle. "We spent the night under a large overhang," Ruth said. "It was like being in another world. We could see the lights on the South Rim, but we were all alone." Ruth said the worst part was not being able to tell anyone about the trip. "I didn't see the pictures that were taken on Shiva for 20 years."
The Anthony Expedition climbed Shiva Temple with many fanfares the next
month. In the final report, no mention was made of finding any evidence that someone had beaten them to the top. "Anthony did say that someone had tried to climb Shiva because he found a rope at the saddle," Ruth laughed.
Ada Diefendorf Bass Slides
Next I showed slides of photos from the Bass Collection which is housed at the Arizona Historical Society, focusing on pictures of Ada Diefendorf Bass. The first slide, taken in 1894, showed Ada just before she left East Worcester, New York, to visit an aunt in Prescott, Arizona Territory. Ada, still unmarried at 26, taught school and gave music lessons and must have decided that she needed some adventure in her life. While in Prescott she took a tour to the Grand Canyon with William Wallace Bass. Entranced with the Grand Canyon, and with her guide, Ada returned to New York, gathered her personal belongings and came back to Arizona to marry W.W. Bass in January of 1895.
If Ada was looking for adventure, she certainly found it. Bass was always on the move, taking tourists down into the Canyon or for trips around the rim. Ada found herself the chief cook, bottle washer, and all-purpose maid for the tourists while still taking care of her four children. In the early years, especially, she had more than she could handle, often writing in her diary of the drudgery of her life, and on two occasions going back east for extended periods. The slides showed Ada, always properly dressed in the long skirts of the period, looking rather grim. But as time went on her life became easier as the tourists came primarily for day trips and she did not have to take care of them. Ada and W.W. left the Canyon in 1924 to retire in Wickenburg.
Postal History Foundation
Following the slide presentations we drove to the Postal History Foundation where director Bob Bechtel, a Grand Canyon Pioneer Society member, showed us first day covers from the Grand Canyon stamp collection and gave us a quick tour of the facility. The program of the foundation, especially their work with school children, impressed us. Thanks to Bob for the interesting presentation.
We ended the day with lunch at La Cocina Restaurant in historic downtown Tucson. Thanks everyone for making the trek to Tucson.
A Remembrance
I have a special memory of two Canyon trail veterans, Shannon and her mother Evelyn. They would come up from Phoenix for an annual summer hike to Phantom Ranch with a group of other folks from Arizona that included myself.
One year, we all hiked down from the North Rim. On the long trail section between Cottonwood Basin and Phantom, Shannon and Evelyn were bracketed between me and my friend, Andy, and we talked back and forth mile after mile. Trivia came up. Evelyn swore that she'd never fly in a helicopter and Shannon knew every film in which John Wayne had died.
Hot, dusty and thirsty, we reached Phantom Ranch. We shucked off our packs and rushed into the cantina for ice cold lemonade. However, we didn't get to order it. On the blackboard was a message: "Shannon, call home, emergency." Her young son appeared to be dangerously ill. Twenty minutes later, Andy and I watched as Shannon and Evelyn (who had said she would never do it) boarded a Park Service helicopter and were whisked away.
Shannon's son perked right up when he saw his mother and recovered. We kidded Evelyn about her helicopter vow the next summer. "It's like that 007 movie," she laughed, "I'll never say never again!"
Jack Hefley
Congratulations
After years of study and hard work, GCPS member Michael Anderson has completed all of the requirements for a Doctorate in History at Northern Arizona University. The graduation ceremony is this month. The GCPS membership congratulates Dr. Anderson on this high level of scholarly achievement.
GRAND CANYON PIONEER SOCIETY
PIONEER AWARD
The individual honored will have made a significant contribution in any area that advances the knowledge of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Areas of contribution include Geology, Creation, River Running, Backcountry Hiking, Photography, and History
The form to nominate an individual for the Pioneer Award may be obtained from:
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Lee Albertson, Chairman Grand Canyon Pioneer Society, Pioneer Award
12219 South 71st Street Phone: (480) 838-2710 Email: Albertson1213@msn.com |
The completed form must be returned by February 1, 2000. If you have any questions please contact Lee Albertson.
The Bulletin welcomes comments, stories, or Reflections and Remembrances.
Please send them to
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Tom Carmony
206 W. Caroline Lane Tempe, AZ 85284-3021 |
or e-mail them to carmonys@extremezone.com
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