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Grand Canyon Pioneers Society - Monthly Bulletin - November 1999 |
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GCPS Meetings for 1999
| November 13: |
Mark your calendar for a visit to the Old Pueblo. The first ever Tucson meeting will be at the Arizona Historical Society, 949 E. Second Street. We'll meet a docent at 10:00 AM in the lobby of the Historical Society for a tour of the museum. Following the tour, we'll convene in
the Board Room for two talks: Ruth Stephens Baker will show slides and tell us about her climb up Shiva Temple with Emery Kolb in 1937. Next Betty Leavengood will show slides from the Bass Collection which is housed at the Historical Society. On our way to lunch, we'll stop at The Postal History Foundation for a look at the Grand Canyon History Postal Exhibit. Lunch will
be in historic Tucson at La Cocina Restaurant in the Old Town Artisans shops. (Lunch will be between 1:15 - 1:30 PM. Prices range from $6.00 to $15.00.) After lunch there will be time for shopping or exploring the historic district. Anyone that is interested can join Betty for a
campout at Kentucky Camp, an old mining camp in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. If you don't want to spend the night, you are welcome to come down for a tour, providing you have a high clearance vehicle. E-mail or call Betty if you want to campout -- HikerBetty@aol.com or (520) 885-3570.
Directions to Historical Society: If you are coming down I-10, take the Speedway Exit east to Euclid. Turn right on Euclid to Second Street. Turn left on Second Street. There is a parking garage on the left. Visitors to the Historical Society may park without charge. Remember to take your parking ticket with you to get validated. The Historical Society is at Second and Park, so make a left coming out of the garage and walk a block and a half to the Historical Society. There is also pay parking directly across the street from the Historical Society and there are meters on the street. For those who may need a place to stay overnight in Tucson, GCPS member Donna Weissenborn has graciously offered two spare bedrooms in her home to out of town Pioneers. You may contact her through e-mail at lugnut@theriver.com. |
| December: | No meeting |
BA Lodge History Room Rededication
On September 2 at 9 a.m., Maxine Edwards, former Curator of the State Museum in Phoenix presided over a rededication ceremony for the History room at the Bright Angel Lodge. The event was attended by many GCPS members and was an enjoyable and informative presentation. Maxine pointed out many new exhibits and encouraged anyone who has historic memorabilia to contact her, as the collection will be ongoing.
The 1999 Annual Meeting
On Saturday October 16, the members of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society gathered at the Little America Resort in Flagstaff for their annual meeting. After a banquet lunch, President Tom Carmony called the annual Board of Directors meeting to order. Minutes of the meeting are in a following article in this issue of The Bulletin.
Following the meeting Dick and Sherry Mangum presented a delightful slide show and commentary on the Old Flagstaff Stage Coach Line to the Grand Canyon. They showed photographs of how the trip was made before the Grand Canyon Railroad reached the south rim. The Mangums traced the route the stage line took using pictures from various collections that indicated it was for sure not the comfortable and leisurely trip we have today. Their research on this was most interesting. In many instances the road was no longer in evidence making it necessary to take old photographs and match them up with the background visible along what they guessed the route followed. The entire project entailed a lot of work that to them was no doubt fun. Their reward came in publishing an interesting book on the subject.
Richard and Sherry Mangum's newly published book, Grand Canyon - Flagstaff Stage Coach Line, a History & Exploration Guide, is available from Five Quail Books - West, P.O. Box 9870, Phoenix, AZ 85068-9870, (602) 861-0548. You may also contact Five Quail Books by e-mail at 5quail@grandcanyonbooks.com.
The Society had the room rented for three hours and we fit the entire program into the required time limit with three minutes to spare. All in all it was an interesting and productive meeting.
Editor:
I too have been reading more and more about the movement to "drain" Powell Reservoir. At first I thought it was a crackpot idea, but I have to admit that, the more I learn of the Canyon and the movement to do away with the dam(n), the more I am behind it with great excitement.
I remember seeing a travelogue on the canyon in the 60's. I was very young, but the pictures had an impact on me then, and I wonder how much they have to do with my grown-up obsession with red rock walls and canyon lands. I guess I need to put my vote in for standing behind the draining of the dam, although I am presently looking for as much information on the subject as possible. I want to be well informed on this issue. I think it's important.
Claire Sandford
Longmont, Colorado
Editor:
I'm not sure why GCPS needs to take a stand on the subject of draining Lake Powell, but here is how I feel. (Because I live in Page, my views may be regarded either as extra insightful or especially suspect. They are probably both.)
I never, ever would have supported the creation of Lake Powell. Glen Canyon was just too beautiful to destroy. My guess, that if I had been old enough and knew of the plan to dam Glen Canyon, I would have vigorously protested.
But the canyon was dammed and Glen Canyon was obliterated. Now a fantastic lake lies in Glen Canyon's grave. I might be wrong, but I believe that even a partially satisfactory restoration of Glen Canyon would take many decades. A more or less full restoration of Glen Canyon would require centuries.
The same hubris that brought us Glen Canyon Dam would be at work AGAIN! This time it would be for opposite purposes. If the lake were drained, for the rest of my life and perhaps for decades afterward there would be neither a Lake Powell nor a Glen Canyon. I'm not willing to give them both up. Leave the lake. It's all that's left.
Please note that I would be fairly happy to be proven wrong about the length of the restoration period. But I don't believe I am.
Gary Ladd
Page, Arizona
[I don't think the GCPS will ever take an official position, one way or the other, on this subject. One member was curious about what the other members thought about the draining of Lake Powell. - Ed]
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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