The Kolb Diaries: Chapter 2
The Mighty River
1910-1911
Emery stated that it was Ellsworth's idea to explore the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers, but did not mention when the idea first came to mind. Ellsworth's inclination to wander and seek adventure would suggest it occurred to him a short time after he arrived at Grand Canyon in 1901. It is certain they had talked about the journey in 1908, for a letter from Charles S. Russell of the Perkins Russell Printing Company in Prescott, Arizona, makes first note of it. Russell had made a trip through the canyon in 1907, and wrote:
. . . I should be greatly interested in such a trip as you contemplate, and should you succeed you would be the first parties to secure a continuous series of good photographs of the canyon. I should like very much to talk the matter over with you as I think I could give you some valuable pointers that would be worth your while. Let me hear from you again.[1]
The idea at the onset of the discussions did not appeal to Emery as he was less daring than his brother; also he had a business and a family to consider. When Ellsworth suggested making pictures they could sell at the studio his interest heightened. By 1910 they pushed the plans forward and discussed them regularly.
Emery and Ellsworth would not be the first to traverse the Colorado and Green rivers. John Wesley Powell (1869 and 1871), and Robert B. Stanton (1889 and 1890) had made runs through the canyons and collected considerable geographic and scientific information. Stanton produced volumes of photographs and the most complete engineering survey to that date. George Flavell in 1896 braved the river looking for beaver, and Julius Stone in 1909 rode the rough water for adventure. The Kolbs were well aware they could add no scientific data regarding the river and Emery was unwilling to risk his life simply for thrills. Using the newly invented motion picture camera to make photographs of the canyons was their goal.
Such a trip required time and study. They turned first to the reports of Powell. Frederick Dellenbaugh's book, A Canyon Voyage, revealed a tremendous store of information found in no other place and they carried a copy of the book with them. No doubt they talked with Charles S. Russell and wrote Robert B. Stanton, though no record of correspondence between them exists. They turned to Julius Stone for basic information and he gave his help willingly.
Since the purpose of the trip was to make motion pictures they needed to obtain the best camera and projector for the job. The search for a camera began in the spring of 1910.[2] The Kolbs wrote letters for information on both the projection machine and the cinematograph until August 1911. A continuous flow of correspondence began between them and various manufacturers and sales outlets asking details and prices of this equipment. On 29 July, The Edison Manufacturing Co. of Orange, New Jersey, wrote:
. . . For Motion Picture Cameras, we would advise you that these are only supplied for the manufacturer's use and further information concerning them may be obtained through the Motion Picture Patents Company N.Y.C. In this connection, however, permit us to state that we take special motion pictures, and will be pleased to submit an estimate at your request. These pictures can be made up from negatives which will remain your property, and positive prints supplied from time to time, as you may need them. . . .
The Kolbs did not accept the Edison proposition and their refusal elicited a second letter from the company on 16 September 1910 which restates that they supply the cameras for manufacturer's use only but adds: " . . . We regret that our proposition as to taking of pictures for you does not prove entertaining. . . ." Had the Edison Company been familiar with the plans the Kolbs had for their photography and the ruggedness of the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers, they probably would not have made the offer.
As time passed with no encouragement from any source they became desperate. No dealer or manufacturer gave them any hope of purchasing a camera until Frederick I. Monsen, an agent in New York City, replied to their inquiry on 7 May 1911:
Since I last wrote you I have looked into the matter of cameras and can find absolutely nothing for sale or rent. Fact is cameras are picked up as soon as offered for sale as the Motion Trust people do not want any cameras on the market. It is impossible now to buy a camera from the makers in Europe and have it shipped here. The Motion Picture Trust people have stopped all that but as we no longer live in a free country there is nothing to do about it . . . .
Now, not being able to buy or rent you a camera, here is a chance for you if you wish to take it up. I own two cameras and never use more than one. I'll sell (not rent) you either of these instruments at less than it cost me. They are both new instruments and are in perfect working order, so perfect I do not care which one I retain for my own purpose. The larger instrument is a Pathe and the magazines hold 300 feet of film. It is complete with every modern device and there is nothing better made. There are 5 or 6 magazines and panorama tripod, cases, etc,etc,. With this is a Printing Outfit which cost me $125 and with it you can turn out as fine work as the best of the factories. I also have other things that go with the outfit for which I would make no charge. This outfit taking camera and printing camera, magazines, tripod, panorama tripod head, and carrying cases, cost me $400, you may have it for $250. The other outfit is a smaller camera holding 100 feet of film but equal in the quality of its work (see sample enclosed) to the more expensive machine. I will sell this camera with the above described printing outfit for $175, it cost me $250. This is an Urban Machine fitted with a genuine Zeiss lens and, on account of its light weight, very valuable to me in the field.
This is only a suggestion for you to consider You can write to Mr. W.B. Cline, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y. who knows both instruments and will be glad to give you any information. Mr. Cline is Mr.Eastman's expert on Motion Photography. Any other information I can give you on this or any other subject will give me pleasure. . . .
Ellsworth replied to Monsen on 12 May 1911 thanking him and stating, "The younger brother Emery C. Kolb will be in New York about May 25th. or 26th. and we hope to find you in that vicinity and will take up the matter personally." After writing this letter the plans at Grand Canyon changed and Ellsworth went to New York where he made preparations from the east coast while Emery carried on correspondence from the Canyon and things began to move forward rapidly.
They continued to seek information on various aspects of the trip from Julius Stone. Ellsworth inquired about air mattresses[3] and other matters that Stone obligingly forwarded. On 29 June Stone wrote:
Under a separate cover I am sending you a blue print of the boats we had, showing their construction in detail, excepting that the skag was removable by reason of its having been attached by two through bolts, so that when we came to relatively quiescent water, such as from Green River, Wyo. to the mouth of Sheep Creek and from the mouth of Gray Canyon to the head waters of the Colorado, also through Glen Canyon and below the mouth of Grand Canyon, we could have the benefit of the skags in position in order to keep the boats from swaying, thereby making it very much easier to cover the intervening distance, while during the more turbulent canyons we went without the skags, having unfastened them and taking them into the boats.
I will send you the specifications for the construction of the boats, in a separate letter as soon as I get back to the Bank, so that you may know just what material was used. I also am sending you a copy of the government maps covering the entire course of the river as far as published, showing wherever we camped. You will note that these maps go no farther north than the Wyoming boundary line and no farther east than the Colorado line, therefore, that portion of Green River north of Utah, covering our camps No. 1, 2 and 3, and east of Utah, covering camps No. 9 to 12 inclusive, is not shown.
The bend of the river out into Colorado just about takes in Lodore Canyon, which is the wildest and most difficult of all the canyons north of Cataract.
Our boats were constructed by The Pouliot Boat Co. of Detroit, Mich.
Please let me know if the maps reach you in good order, and about when you expect to start. I am preparing excerpts from my notes taken of the trip so far as they appertain to the method of passing down such various rapids as we could not run, and will send you these prior to the time you start, or else bring them to you, as it is possible that I may attend the meeting of the Society for Solar Research in Pasadena during the first week in September. . . .
Using this information, the Kolbs prepared their specifications and forwarded them with a sketch of the design they desired for the boats to the Racine Boat Company in Racine, Wisconsin. The specifications were:
DIMENSIONS. Length 16-ft. 4-in. Beam 48-in. Model as per blue print submitted.
FRAMEWORK. Ribs and deck frames to be made from clear white
oak of the proper dimensions, spaced 9" center. Bottom
planking to be of clear white cedar, 5/8" in thickness,
carvel construction. Side plank to be same material 1/2" in
thickness, lap straked, to be fastened to the ribs with brass
screws, and two three copper rivets between each
rib. Bottom plank to have an oak strip over each joint 3/8"
in thickness x 2" wide, well riveted to the boat.
JOINER WORK. Gunwales to be made from cypress 1-1/4" x 2-1/2", well riveted to the boat. Forward deck to be 6-ft. 6-in. long, fitted with water tight hatch of a suitable size. Decks to be covered with 3/8" white cedar, covered with heavy canvas, cemented on, tacked at the edges. Hatch to be fitted with suitable frame, extending above the deck 1" and made perfectly water tight, fitted with hatch cover, made from 5/8" white cedar, covered with canvas, and to be fastened to the hatch with three thumb bolts on each side. After decks will be 5-ft. 6-in. long, constructed the same as the forward deck. Bulkheads at the end of decks made from 5/8" white cedar, and to be perfectly water tight. The extreme forward and after end will be fitted with galvanized air tanks. 1/2" iron bolt arranged on stern for carrying.
COCKPIT will be arranged as shown on blue print, to have one cross seat. Coaming at the forward and after deck, to extend above the deck 4" and finished off at the side.
FINISH. Boat to be given three coats of white lead paint inside and outside, of a lead color, and trimmed with dark trimmings. All seams to be filled with elastic seam composition.
FITTINGS consist of iron stem band; removable skeg in the after end of boat; two pair of 8-foot ash oars, with special tips; one pair of galvanized oar locks and sockets. Forward compartment of boat to be lined with light galvanized iron, made perfectly watertight.
The Racine Boat Company proposed to complete the work on the two boats about 25 July for the sum of $450 F.O.B. cars, Racine, Wisconsin. The terms were 50% of the cost to accompany the order, the balance to be paid when the shipment went forward. Emery signed the proposal promptly and enclosed a check in the amount of $175 but failed to date the paper. He later discovered his error and forwarded a new check for $200. This he addressed to the Racine Boat and Engine Company, a different concern. The company acknowledged receipt of the Kolb's check for the initial payment for the boats in a letter dated 17 July.
With the purchase of the boats out of the way, Ellsworth turned his attention to other items of business. The brothers anticipated that the supply of their Canyon booklets would run low while they were on the river and felt it was time for a new edition. A letter to Emery dated 8 August indicates the publisher needed pictures of the Corkscrew and Jacobs Ladder before production could start. Ellsworth wrote that the plates were ready for the press, "a little retouching was all- and they will run off two of the plates Friday." His letter continued saying when they received the pictures they would run them through separately and begin coloring as soon as they completed printing them.
Later in the month he inspected the progress of the books and advised Emery: ". . .things looked fine. Color samples all made with two exceptions must be printed over. Coloring prints will average 7cents each. I will omit one or two views from book to bring price nearer Harvey's. 18 views would be $1.98."[4] The Kolb's finished book with its hand-colored pictures mounted on heavy off-white paper and bound in a brown cover stock with the famous rope picture adorning it and tied together with a matching cord was indeed an attractive piece of work.
The river trip by this time had generated considerable interest at Grand Canyon. Some had the feeling the brothers had lost their mind others, knowing of their daredevil exploits shrugged their shoulders and went about their business while still others offered help. Dave Rust, a close friend[5] felt it would be wise for them to take someone familiar with running the river with them and suggested Nathaniel Galloway. Both brothers agreed a third man to aid in taking pictures and to serve as helper would be necessary. Emery began the search. In May an article appeared in the San Francisco, California, newspaper regarding the up-coming trip and initiated a letter from E. A. Evans of that city on 26 May that read:
Understanding from the inclosed clipping you intend to take a canyon trip, I take this liberty to write.
Presuming you may need a larger crew, I wish to state that I would like to fill in, I would be willing to give my services gratis, as that trip appeals to me.
Am California born, 30 years of age, weigh 152 lbs, 5 ft 7 in, unmarried.
I have been through the mill, as I have been in the army, in the Philippines in '98, have worked on the sea, mining, timber, ranch, railroader, farm and city, in fact I have knocked around considerable. I know I can stand the gaft. You might call me an old timer.
I have taken a small trip of 500 miles down the Missouri in a small skiff, but I know it does not compare with your intended trip.
I know your trip is going to be a little tough, as I have read a great deal of some of the canyon trips. F. Dellenbaugh's 'A Canyon Voyage' and Major Powell's first trip. G. W. Jame's 'The grand canyon of Arizona' R. Staton's trip of the first and second expedition, when Mr. Brown lost out below Soap Creek, also of Hanborough and Richards losing out below Knab Wash, and also of that pretty tough spot at Diamond Creek.
I know it will be hard graft, and lots of it, and I am more than willing to take the trip, if I could kick in with the outfit, knowing full well that I will have to go some.
I just gave some brief facts, but if you should care to answer, I will give you more details, I only want to know if I can go along.
Hoping you will consider this seriously, and let me know in the near future.
This seemed to be their best offer, but for some reason Emery offered the job to Reese B. Griffith and on 10 July he drew up an agreement between Griffith and Kolb Brothers. The terms of the contract were restrictive and apparently not to Griffith's liking as no record shows that he signed it.
On 4 August Emery received a letter mailed in Vernal, Utah, from Nathaniel Galloway, [6] known as the `Colorado River man,' who had made several trips down the river, indicating his interest in accompanying them:
I have been informed by Mr. D.D. Rust that you are contemplating a trip through the Canyons including the Grand Canyon for the purpose of getting mooving pictures & etc.
I am quite anctious to Hear from you to learn something of your plans & etc. & the number of boats & people that you expect in your party.
I am very much interested as I was planning a similar trip for last fall, but finely Desided to drop it at the request of a friend.
I am expecting to make a boating trip through the Canyons of Green River this fall.
Please let me hear from you to give me dates & the point of your starting.
Both brothers objected to being piloted down the river by a so-called professional river man, and Ellsworth expressed his feelings thusly:
. . . I suppose Rust & G [Galloway] still insist on G. going and you are telling R we may start at Green River, Utah if boats are delayed too long so-as to throw him off. I don't want G to row my boat, otherwise I stand for any arrangement you make concerning a third man. We will hardly get the pictures we want without one . . . .[7]
Ellsworth continued his work on the east coast and wrote Emery from New York City, 8 August regarding the materials purchased.
. . . I went to D Abercrombies and got some oarlocks like Stones. The factory did not have that kind.
Mr. Stone wants to send us a hydrometer and barometer and take certain readings for him. Lodore Canyon for instance. His only recorded 6000 ft. and that was not high enough. He offered me his set of lenses, interchangable, but said nothing about camera. He also offered me Powell's book if I would bring it back but I declined. I have tried to get it but have not been successful. . . .
Don't forget this. The middle section of boat will be shipped to the Canyon unless you order different so suit yourself but act quickly if you wish order changed. I think two boats would be enough and we could use the tin boat when we got there if we needed it. . . .
The hardest thing to get seems to be a water tight box. The only thing I can find so far seems to be an English box for army officers that has kept papers dry 6 years under water 30 x 15 x 14 in. $22.00. I think we should have one for M.P. camera if nothing else shows up.
I will keep you posted on purchases. . . .
Ellsworth heard from The Racine Boat Company on 15 August:
Replying to your favor of 11th inst. the two large boats are all ready to be shipped, and would have been shipped yesterday had we not received your letter.
As we notice you have bought some special oar locks which you wish to install in the boat. We are holding the boats awaiting the oar locks and will ship them out as soon as they arrive.
We are enclosing you herewith, a bill for the two large boats, amounting to $452.00 with a credit of $250.00 leaving a balance of $202.00. Also a bill for the center section which amounts to $28.00, two pair of 7-foot ash oars $5.00, and one pair of oar locks and sockets $.50, or a total $33.50, together with the $202.00 leaves a balance of $235.50.
If we do not hear from you before the boats are shipped, we will draw on you for the $235.50, and ship the boat as directed.
The center section will probably go forward a day or two later. . . .
The correspondence between the two brothers continued with an undated letter from New York:[8]
. . . I am getting a dark room 4-1/2 x 6 x 7 ft high to go inside tent $17.00 not bad when you think what you pay for a changing bag. They are making a tent regular shape 8 x 9-3/4 x 3 ft wall to be put up with 2 oars, no polls. It is green, and lighter and softer than Tanilite. He invented both. I have not got rubber beds or life preservers yet. Have been busy every minute.
Have just been out to see Munson.[9] His father died two days ago and he was just leaving. I will see him Sat. eve & Sunday. He will get films. He says those films are all right as far as perforation goes. That is #5 Schneider and the only thing is you must have the same positive perforation. . . .
Now here is where finances stand.
About $500 in bank Check to C.A 400.00
Your $1000 Aug 16th Check Abercrombie 50.00
Cash $ 1500 Check to be given
C.A. Co. 600.00
M.P. Films 250.00
Possible cost of Abercrombies list, plates, small films etc. 450.00
1750.00
Balance on boat about 250.00
2000.00
1500.00
Bal. to be placed in bank from receipts. This will not include 90 day note for 1300 to Campbell if I can swing it. 500.00
P.S. I will not get a third air mattress. Remember that.
Another letter sent to Emery on 18 August read:
Boats go today mid section shipped to G.C. a few days ago. I will send check in full so if they draw on Williams bank don't honor check. Negatives just at hand. Had a most satisfactory trip to Boston. The things have to be made to order but I'm sure we are in good hands.[10] Practically everything at cost. He wants good pictures of things in use. Price is on Q.T. I am going to have him get 2 pr. army blankets at 7.50 each 1 for each bed. You can bring 1 extra for yourself. If you wish mattress for other man order to Met. Air Goods Co.[11] ship to G.R.[12] I can get all baggage in the two large bags, with lock will ship as baggage. . . .
Have examined shutter & find Thornton Pickard most simple for 8x10. Will order through Denver. Also will order all films through them. Think I will get focal plane on 5x7. Will go to Rochester in two days, from there home.
Don't reship steel boat. We can carry one passenger. In bad water one man can be on shore most of the time. That would be my opinion at least. . . .
Where some of our money is going.
Racine Co. 485.50
Steel Boat and frt. 50.00
Bot. Here 315.00
M.P. Camera 250.00
M.P. Films 250.00
Other films and plates 250.00
Fare 350.00
1950.50
About $3000 I would say will cover not including finishing films.
It is interesting to note that Ellsworth included the price of the motion picture camera. The Kolb papers do not mention where they purchased the camera, but since they used a Pathe and Monsen quoted a price of $250 it is apparent Ellsworth bought the equipment Monsen offered. On the same date Ellsworth included a complete list of material purchased from Abercrombie that included a large number of miscellaneous items he felt would be needed.
On 20 August 1911 he mailed a final letter to Emery from New York.
I leave here tomorrow night from for
Rochester. Home Wed . . . .
I got 8 doz. of the 5x7 Imperial Plates. The English strike has tied things up. I am getting 12 doz (1 case) 8x10 and have ordered 3 cases 5x7 to be shipped later, one to Utah, two to G.C. . . .
The time for Emery's departure for Green River, Wyoming, grew near and uncertain he would still be at the Canyon, Ellsworth wrote Blanche on 23 August from the family home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
. . . I arrived home this A.M. after a very busy day in Rochester. I suppose Emery will still be home when this arrives so I will tell him what I did.
I ordered a stereo hawkeye out of stock. They make them now to take 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 film and the exposed part is exactly stereo size. There is lots of edge to give 1/8 in more leway. They make the new model extra wide bed and heavy posts on side of lens etc., very strong. Have ordered Zeiss Tessar lens' focus 3/8 inches shorter than the regular, auto duplex (8) shutter same as 3-1/4 x4-1/4. ray screens to screw on to lens.
I ordered 50 1doz. rolls speed film 3-1/2 x3-1/2
50 -1 doz. rolls " " 3-1/4 x 4-1/4
30- 10 ex " speed 3-1/4-5-1/2
packed as for tropics also 4 cans slip top to contain all films.
The moving picture film order was transfeered from Broulatour to Eastman. Broulatour perforates some of his own film and I thought best to avoid that. The M.P. film is to be shipped with the other film c/o The Denver Photo Materials Co.
The films (small) and the stereo are billed through the Denver people. . . . Did not get a binocular. Will write from here. I am sending a letter for Emery c/o Denver people with the trunk check and safe deposit check for the camera. I never got that screw for the M.P. Camera but have sent the address of a firm in Denver who will fix him out. They are City Novelty Works, 1027 19th St. Denver Colo. Dadman got some made. I did not get developing tanks as they are quite heavy. . . . .
Advise Emery. 1. We have advised baggage people not to send trunk to unclaimed baggage. He will have excess to pay.
2. To get camera out and get extra screws.
3. Boats were shipped with only 150 ft rope should have least 100 ft. beside 25 ft. on each for tying. Get 100 ft. there.
4. Get sockets and iron standards to go around cockpit for canvass.
5. I did not get canvass. Better get it there.
6. I shipped 1 case 8x10 speed plates to Denver. Take 3 doz. out for Green River, Wyo. Ship balance to Green River, Utah. Take chemicals also. Everything but bromide is with plates.
A younger Kolb brother, Ernest came from Pittsburgh to work at the studio for the duration of the river trip. Emery, before leaving the Canyon prepared a list of duties his brother would be expected to carry out:
Work given to Earnest Aug. 1911 by E.C.K.
First of all sales room to be cleaned & pictures straightened always before 8 am. Plates loaded and developer made in evening.
Work room straightened in eve. Lamps filled & cleaned.
Snow always scraped off up to B.A. as soon as falling snow stopped.
E.V. to tend to making his own bed and tend to room daily.
Keep wood chopped if nothing else to do.
Not to permit visitors during working hours and smoking in work room etc. forbidden.
Trays to be cleaned daily.
Never to depend on us to do work at any thing seen to be done.
The Racine Boat Works notified Emery of the shipment of the boats on 24 August:
We are in receipt of your favor of 19th inst., and beg to advise the two boats have gone forward to Green River, Wyoming, and a draft was sent with the B/L. In the mean time however, your brother sent us a check from New York which entirely balanced your account with us; we have therefore instructed our bank here to re-call the draft and B/L from Green River, and we will enclose it either to you at Green River, or Grand Canyon which ever place you instruct. Please do not fail to instruct us where to send this B/L . . . .
Enclosed we hand you a shipping receipt covering the middle section, oars, and strips which we have sent forward to Grand Canyon . . . .
It now seemed everything was in order except hiring the third man. Further correspondence passed between Emery and Evans, and on 24 August Emery wrote:
Yours of the 22nd, is at hand.
Glad we can reach you on short nottice as I have not as yet heard from my brother as to the date we will meet at Green River.
As to the salery we propose to pay as follows. Your wages start from the date you leave San Francisco. We pay your ticket transportation to Green River not including meals or berth.
We are to supply all grub for the trip and pay you on leaving the party $40. per month from the date you leave your town.
If finishing the trip with us to Needles we then will pay your ticket transportation back to San Francisco.
I may join you in your city but in case my brother wants me to meet him in Denver I will forward transportation on to you.
Hoping this is satisfactory to you and that our trip will be as good as we are contemplating, . . . .
On the evening of 28 August Emery left home on the Santa Fe's Grand Canyon railroad for the first leg of the trip to Green River, Wyoming. He wrote a short note to Blanche from Williams and another from La Junta, Colorado, where he had a layover for the train to Denver.
Meanwhile Evans received a civil service appointment that had been pending for some time and at the last minute advised Emery that he would give up the trip and recommended a young man he felt capable of taking in his place. It is certain Emery corresponded with the new man but no letters or record between them exists. Emery's letter to Blanche August 31, states:
Rec'd a wire from Edd on the train yesterday to stop off at Colo. Springs a day or two as some shipments are delayed, but we were past there when I got it. Edd looks ok but a couple of days may do us both good. Just rec'd a message from Evans who has a third man for us . . . . I am certainly pleased with the stereo Edd got, it is a peach. It seems that nothing is here everything delayed except what Edd brought . . . .
The brothers attended to last minute details at Denver and Emery wrote Blanche on 31 August:
Today we accomplished quite a lot, and the world looks brighter. We received today all our films right from Eastmans. We recd a card from Maggie that papa had just shipped our beds to Green River and that they received word from the rest of the people that everything was shipped. We have been shopping all day and are about finished.
Got my red underware, gum soled shoes, 2 flannel shirts duck back pants & coat and what groceries etc. we wanted here. We will likely leave here tomorrow evening for Green River.
We have a swell room with bath & 2 beds at $3.50 per day. . . .
The Denver people are very nice and we just using there place as a storeall until we pack. . . . We have certainly got a mess of stuff to take from here.
We are taking a developing tank so nearly everything in small films on the first part of our trip will be developed as we go. . . .
And again on September 1:
Well this will be my last letter from Denver. We have got everything now except a shutter which can follow. We are going to take a man with us that Evans recomended. He will be at Green River Sunday evening so we will likely leave there on Tuesday if boats and things are O.K. . . . Myers did not mark excess on trunk so we got it here for nothing. That is worth something as there is 72 lbs. excess. . . .
The last segment of the trip to Green River began 2 September, and while traveling on the Union Pacific Railroad's Oregon-Washington Limited between Denver and Green River, Wyoming, Emery wrote a note to his wife:
We are now nearing G. River. Are on a very good fast train. The country we passed through is very uninteresting being sand dunes and dryier than Ariz. The earlier part of the morning was long stretches of plains and good cattle country.
While I think of it have Earnest put a nail above the windows upstairs, his and Edd's room. That upstairs window is too near the trail since I fixed the side to be left open. I haven't had a word from you since I left. Hope there is something here. Evans' man will be here tomorrow night. . . . We are shipping by frt. from Denver our grips which will go with the plates etc. . . .
After one night at the Green River Hotel they loaded their luggage and the freight at the railroad station onto a cart obtained from the livery stable and moved down to the river. As they would be living on its banks for the next several months, they saw no reason why they shouldn't start at once. Emery wrote a series of letters to Blanche while they waited for the boats to be released and their new man to arrive:
Sept 2nd 1911
Green River Wyoming.
Dear Blanche.-
I mailed you a letter just as we arrived but now since we have looked around I can tell you how things look.
I was surprised you had not written to me since I left, still you want me to write twice a day.
The boats are here in good order and are certainly fine. As yet they have not sent the bill of ladin so we can't take them out until receiving this.
We will not get started until Tuesday or Wednesday. Everything is here now except the boxes Which will go to Utah.
We went over to the river which is pretty & clear and as wide as the foot of the trail. It is about 5 ft. deep.
We are staying at the UP. Hotel but is 2nd class.
Ellsworth just got some postals of the town so I will send you
one. Now you can write us to Jensen Utah which is on the river 12
mi. from the river Vernal. Then any mail you
want us to look over to answer or anything write us to Green
River Utah and on all mark Hold until called for.
We will be there in about 20 days we think although Stone took 28 days for that distance When we get that far we will likely wire you. . . .
The weather is cloudy and cool looks like storm.
When we got down to the river and saw fish we felt like when we were kids, and wanted our boats right away. They are certainly fine and much better than stones. They are certainly decked right and could hold as much luggage again as we are taking.
The river is extremely low and people say is too low for boating. We see the remains of a steam boat on the shore and the store keeper has a motor boat. I would like to have an engine in ours for a while although going down stream we will not need one. . . .
Sep. 5th 1911
Dear Blanche.
Just sitting down in a Chink resturant. Used pears soap this morning and washed in the Green River. Yesterday afternoon we took all but our boats set up our tent and started to straighten things out.
The tent is a pale green, does not hurt the eyes and can not be too highly recomended.
We put our dark room up and loaded our plates. Got our focal plane and other shutters on our cameras and everything is just dandy.
Our folding table and shelves are great, so is everything else, and if you were to see the downy blankets and our sleeping bags which we occupied last night, there's no use talking you'd be jealous. Everything is just swell and no millionair could be fixed nicer.
We are in hopes we receive word from Racine today so we can get out our boats.
We have plenty clothing etc. in fact I believe we will be sending some of our stuff back from Utah. Now if our moving picture camera works right everything will be lovely. Not a thing was broke in all our express or baggage.
The setting of our camp with the balmy air and the glimmer of the moon on the water beside our camp gave a picture and feeling I'll not forget, just wished you was here to enjoy it. . . . We have a dandy hand tool out fit and was simply great in fixing up our lenz flanges etc.
My hot cakes are on now so I will close. Will write you this afternoon again.
Later in the day Emery wrote :
Dear Blanche.-
. . . It is blowing to beat the band and feels like snow so I put on my red underware. They are not as heavy as I thought they were but heavy enough.
I am certainly fixed fine and warm in every way so no matter what the weather is like I cannot get wet or cold. I have woolen shirts & socks beside sleeping socks and those wrestling pants and two swetters. The hunting suit I got is supposed to be water proof, beside Edd got those thin rubber shirts that go down to my feet.
This tent is a dream and if it stands the wind we are having now it will go through anything. We have certainly got a camp outfit. The dark room would be most too heavy to pack over the desert. It is three ply heavy cloth, over six ft. high and is long enough for two to sleep in. We would not have needed any other tent having it if the out cover had been water proof. . . .
Edd just got back from town and nothing doing yet. I can't think up a long letter in a month and don't see how you expect me to write two a day. Morris has a graphaphone like ours and it made me homesick for ours so I went to the store and bought a mouth organ and will have a band by myself. . . . We are fixed nicely to develope films or plates just as easy as if home and with our new lenzes and shutters we should work wonders. . . .
. . . It is raining and blowing to beat the band but I would rather it would rain today than tomorrow for if everything goes right we will start tomorrow noon. We don't want to start If dull as we wish to make a moving picture of our start. I got some gloves this morning so not to spoil my lily white hands with the oars. I have at my right hand side the book of The Desert as well as Edd's feet with the marvelous effect of green socks.
We have a large alcohol stove and 1 gal. grain alcohol in qt. cans. also cigar lighters.
Well the wind and rain now ceaseth and as my stomach feels the need of a beef stake.
I will write tomorrow and let you know how things are. . . .
After the storm the night before the weather turned cold and, hoping to find some protection from the wind and to get away from the hobos, they moved their camp to the west bank near some cottonwood trees. Although this maneuver improved the situation slightly the wind blast continued all night long flapping the canvas incessantly.
James Fagan, their third man arrived at 3:10 in the afternoon 6 September. They could easily recognize him, a twenty-two-year old man of Irish descent with an oval shaped face, clean shaven, with black hair and dark brown eyes, handsome and full of vitality. He stepped off the train onto the platform dressed in a new black suit, white shirt with a celluloid collar and bright red tie. On his head he wore a new felt hat. The young man's appearance and his personality impressed the Kolbs.
Sep 6 11.
Dear Blanche.
I guess this will be the last few lines for a while. I will also wire you a night letter this eve. We have been held up on account of several things but all is ok. now.
Our man from Frisco will be in town in an hour and a half and then we will pull out of town right away unless something else comes up. Everything is lovely and we are certainly busy bees getting things together.
I will write in about a week from Linwood as I think there is a P.O. there then from Jensen via-Vernal, Utah, and then Green River, Utah, so you see it won't be so bad after all.
We set up our darkroom this morning and snapped some pictures and developed them as well as motion, just to get our times right.
We moved our stuff accross the river so there wouldn't be so many bums hanging around. We have an awful lot of work yet in fixing up places for extra oars etc. and may just get out of town for a little way so we wont be bothered and then make our real start tomorrow.
Now dear don't you worry about me one bit cause all our stuff is just right and at this stage of water it will be next to impossible to have any misshaps and even so it could only be a delay on our boats. It has been mighty cold and I got a little of it but is fine and warm now. . . .
The big day arrived, Friday, 8 September 1911. It was a beautiful sunshiny day, a little cold but not bad enough to keep the townspeople from coming down to see them off and have their pictures taken with the new machine. Some came to wish them well, others out of curiosity, and some just to remind them they would never make it through alive as they had never heard from those who tried it. Emery ground away at the camera recording for the first time on motion picture film the departure down the great Green River. Ellsworth pushed his boat off the shore with Jim sitting on the bow deck waving his new hat to the onlookers.
The Coconino Sun on 8 September 1911 gave a front page write-up of the trip:
HAVE COMMENCED PERILOUS TRIP
KOLB BROTHERS STARTED ON LONG DANGEROUS TRIP
THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON BY BOAT
The following letter was received this week from Kolb Brothers, the two daring young photographers on the eve of their departure down the Green River into the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon by boat. Since Major Powell first made this trip years ago, in boats built by the government especially for the trip, no white men have attempted this passage. Many persons have been down the Colorado River, the most treacherous stream in the west, and their bodies never recovered.[13]
Green River, Wyoming
Sept. 2, 1911.
Mr. F. S. Breen, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Dear Mr Breen:
Some weeks ago you gave notice in your paper of our contemplated trip for still and motion pictures through the Green and Colorado rivers, so we thought you might be interested in knowing the time of our departure is at hand.
We have everything gathered together including our boats and moving picture cameras and all looks satisfactory. We expect to leave Wednesday Sept. 6th, and if we get through the 1400 miles successfully will arrive in Needles before the new year. The town people here look on us as a physician might a hopeless case and then relate weird stories of others who attempted the voyage and were never heard from again.
The town of Green River may be compared to Winslow, being a railroad town with bleak sand domes in the distance.
The beautiful water of the Green River aids to attract the place but we are glad to be on our way back to the towering walls and the aroma of pine in northern Arizona
Your Truly
Kolb Bros.
The water was clear and so low that on several occasions the boats ran onto shoals, compelling them to get out and push. Along both sides of the river flat grazing land stretched for miles. Close to the banks where farmers irrigated the land patches of green cultivated crops broke the monotony of the landscape. Here and there a few cabins with fruit trees grew, different from what Dellenbaugh described in his book, A Canyon Voyage. [14] In the far distance to the southwest the purple haze of the mountains broke the skyline. As the day wore on it became warmer. Everything was lovely until they reached the first stretch of swift water. The river divided and the channel they chose proved to have the smaller amount of water and the force of the current ran to a sharp curve and pushed the boats against the bank. A large cottonwood tree submerged below the surface caught Ellsworth's giving him a jolt and tilting it over, nearly knocking Jim from his seat.[15] At first it appeared Ellsworth would be in trouble but by applying the oars he came out safely. Twelve miles downriver they pulled to the right bank at the Logan ranch. The Logan boys, true to western custom welcomed the travelers and invited them to come to the house for dinner, an invitation they accepted.
The men spent the next day working on the boats completing tasks they felt couldn't be done well at Green River with people about. They made some adjustments the factory should have done, fitted new oarlocks purchased at Abercrombies and prepared a place to carry extra sets of oars where they would have quick and easy access. The Logans offered the use of their blacksmith shop, a wonderful help in accomplishing the work in a short time.
Jimmy, unfamiliar with boats and rivers, helped with loading and packing the equipment, and could hardly wait for Emery and Ellsworth to start. He vowed he would stick with them to the end of the trip. By sundown Saturday the three men had completed all the work. Emery took time to write a letter to Blanche that the Logans mailed:
I suppose you will be surprised to hear we are only 10 or 12 miles down the river. We had so much to fix with our oar locks and places to carry extra ones that we stopped here yesterday afternoon finding two agreeable fine fellows here who offered us their black smith shop and everything else which would have taken us 3 or four days anywhere on our trip and then not so satisfactory.
So we will stay here tonight and tomorrow Sunday just move on a little so not to impose on good nature.
Now have Earnest do up a three dollar book and a cloud [photograph] and duplicate and mail to Dave Logan Green River Wyoming. We had a nice little run down here and feel great confidence in our out fit. Our Frisco man is Jimmie Fagan and is certainly the man. He is a kid 22 years husky. neither drinks nor uses tobacco and the greatest trouble he wants to do everything himself. He is certainly ok and says he will stick as long as we do.
I got a duck shortly after we left town and roasted it here last night. We see fish by the thousands some very large. The river is so clear one can see 10 ft. down.
The river is very low and we have to get out and push the boat off the shoals.
It will be quite slow work for some time on account of the low water. We will get new supplies at Linwood there is a post office there and is in Utah but you will not have time to write there Jensen is the place for you to write via Vernal, and be sure to send us some money to get supplies and take our freight out for we just have five dollars.
This is one of the prettiest places you can imagine.
The log cabin is located under a grove of large cottonwoods and is flat, then the river passing within 50 ft of the house. We paid $6 for our shotgun and I got a duck the first shot.
Well dear I guess this is all this time and I will write to you as soon as we get to Linwood Utah. Love to you all. Your own hubby.
Emery
The river continued to run shallow and rowing in the sluggish current was difficult. Emery enamored with the vast quantity of fish visible in the clear water yielded to temptation and set his line and within an hour caught a fourteen-pound river salmon that made good eating for their supper.[16]
On Wednesday, l3 September they made a good run to Henry's Fork. Rain and a gusty wind blowing upstream "made waves like the ocean" and slowed their progress and made rowing more difficult than it would normally have been. It was mid-afternoon before they stopped for their noon break a short distance from the town of Linwood. After lunch Jimmy remained with the boats while the two brothers walked to town to purchase provisions. Emery again wrote Blanche:
Here we are down to Linwood and I have walked five miles to
drop this letter The store keeper just said 6 mile. Well we have
had a fine trip. All the way down are just the places that my
heart allways pine for. We have all the fish and ducks we want
and could have more if we needed it. We are now in Utah and while
I stand at the window of the P.O. write writing
you it is just pouring down rain. This little country village is
right in the Uinta mountains and is surely beautifull along the
Henry Fork creek. We just got about 20 lb. of provisions to last
till we get to Jensen Utah where you are to send us ten dollars
or so and be sure to have $100.00 or so at Green River Utah. We
will we will be to Jensen in 10 to15 days for certain. Our helper
is an Irish good natured kid. On two occasions we have been the
guests of ranchers. The last one we struck was a man and wife
with two girls visiting. There we found a piano and one of the
girls was a dandy player. Jimmie is a fine singer and we just had
a dandy time enjoying it with fresh buttermilk. It is anything so
far but what we expected as we have struck nice ranches all the
way. Be sure to write me a nice letter to Jensen and another to
Green River.
Due to the storm the dry roads and paths they had taken into Linwood turned into a marshy swamp when they returned. A big Swede named Ole Nielsen traveling in their direction obligingly took their load on his horse until they reached the path through the field leading to the river.[17] They bid the talkative old gentleman farewell and trudged on in the downpour. Night had fallen before they arrived at camp and they lost their way, so that when they reached the river they wondered if their camp was upstream or downstream. Emery guessed they were downstream from where they left Fagen and using his guess they walked upstream a few feet back from the water. From time to time they called out to Jim but received no answer and continued walking. Their helper's snoring led them to camp. Drenched to the skin, they changed clothes and crawled into their sleeping bags.[18]
From the town of Green River, sixty miles to the north, the river flowed almost directly south paralled by the mountains in the distance. During the past few days the river approached closer to the mountains and they now lay directly in front of them. Here the river took a decided turn to the east and flowed between downward sloping walls creating the first canyon they were to encounter.
The men struck camp at Henry's Fork at about 9:20 A.M. under grey skies.[19] The river made an eastward bend toward the mountains as it entered the Flaming Gorge. It was their first canyon and Emery pulled his boat to the bank to make a moving picture. At the beginning the river flowed slowly, but within a quarter of a mile the current picked up and they encountered and ran an easy rapid. After a little break they came to another similar bit of rough water. This was their initial experience at running rapids and gave them practice for what was to come.
The river again slowed. The movement of the boats was so quiet that two beavers working on small trees close by took no notice of the passersby. At noon they stopped close by a ranch where their presence attracted no attention from the inhabitants if any were there. It had been a good day's run and all three of the men were ready to make camp by 4 P.M. at a spot with a beautiful view of three tall peaks on the right that Ellsworth recorded in his journal as looking like "The Three Brothers" in Yosemite National Park.[20]
The next day was very hot. It was nearly ten o'clock before Jim finished the camp routine while Emery took a short excursion up Sheep Creek and returned with two big trout. The river remained low even after the rainstorm of the day before, but the water no longer retained its usual clear green color for muddy water from the creek had turned it red like the Colorado River at home. Sandbars caught the boats a few times as they journeyed on. Several small rapids gave them practice for a big one near an old boat landing. When they stopped for noon break they removed the skags from the bottom of the boats as the river was getting rough and it appeared there would have no further need for them. They never put them on again. The river began to descend swiftly and the rapids became more formidable.
At five o'clock in the afternoon they passed Kettle Creek and then encountered more rapids, one they thought looked dangerous proved easy. Emery took the lead with Jim in the boat and headed down the chute. Ellsworth followed. At the foot of the cataract Emery set up the camera while Ellsworth and Jim pulled the boat back upstream to run the rapid a second time to record the action on film. This time Ellsworth was unfortunate and the current pushed him to the wrong side of the river and he was unable to land easily. He hit a couple rocks but went through safely.[21] Since the danger was over both brothers were pleased for it was an opportunity for a good picture.
Ellsworth recorded in his journal ". . .We proceed very cautiously and don't make much time. Keep looking for Ashley Falls but do not reach it. Camp at a nice open spot on the north side at a side canyon with another on the south side with a small stream. All of us very weary. Glad tomorrow is Sunday."[22]
Sunday morning was clear and cool and they slept late. Emery and Ellsworth climbed an old deer trail on the north side of the canyon for a good view of the mountains with the river, again its usual emerald green, winding through the canyon. Pine and fir trees contrasted their color with the red rocks. A deep blue cloudless sky added to the grandeur of the entire scene. From this vantage point they saw a ranch on the other side of the canyon that offered an opportunity to send letters home.
All three wrote letters: Ellsworth wrote home to Pittsburgh, Jim to San Francisco and Emery a letter to Blanche:
Red Canyon Sept 17 1911
Dear Blanche,-
This is Sunday and I am sure glad for I was tired. The water is so low that it takes more work and more time too, to get through and we may be a few days longer getting to Jensen than we expected.
Ed & I climbed a hill this morning and saw a ranch so decided to go to it and see if we could drop this note with them.
Everything has been going fine but good hard work.
Got a rabbit this morn and will stew it with rice for the boys when they get back.
If we don't get through just as quick as we expected don't get alarmed as the low stage of water makes it more work.
We had some fine trout yesterday plenty duck and today rabbit. We see many deer track but have not seen any as yet. I hope you and E.V. are getting along OK with the work. I think of you all the time and hope you are not worring. We wear our preservers all the time even though we don't think it necessary. . . .
After lunch Jim and Ellsworth took the letters and headed toward the ranch. They spent two hours climbing to the rim of the canyon over loose rock, considerable underbrush and small trees. They found a woman and four children working in the garden close to the cabin. Upon their approach the woman became frightened for in this area people looked upon strangers with suspicion. After advising her of their purpose she explained that cattle and horse thieves and other dangerous outlaws frequently appeared in the area. She said she would be glad to send the letters to the nearest post office at Vernal, Utah, thirty-five miles away. The two returned to the river by a different route, still with the same type terrain but taking them only an hour.[23]
The aroma of rabbit and rice cooking over the campfire picked up by the wind drifted across the river and up the canyon, intensifying the hunger pangs of the two men and by the time they arrived at the river they were ready to eat. The three men weary from the days activities, left the cooking pot until morning and crawled into their sleeping bags for warmth, as after the sun went down the weather turned cool. Sleep came easily even with the constant roar of the water rushing over the cataract a few hundred yards downstream.
The river still had a speedy fall but Emery and Ellsworth were learning how to run rapids and getting through them fairly well. Jim rode in Ellsworth's boat during the afternoon while the boatmen ran five rapids in quick succession. The river changed its character and seemed to slide along like oil with a tremendous force behind it. At times a rock would seemingly jump up in front of them an inch or two below the surface of the water. The boat appeared not to move with the rock coming toward them like a shot. Ellsworth wrote:
You watch it fascinated as you are drifting down stern first, the bow pointed a little one way or the other and you only dip your paddles to keep the boat under control. Suddenly you realize you are on top of the rock the stern has passed but the bow will surely strike. You spring into action and give a strong pull on the off side oar, and if you have time backwards with the other then lift it quickly over the rock to strike it again as rocks are jumping up all around you and it is dodge here and swing there, and you involuntarily lean to one side when you find you are at last drifting broadside towards a high one. You strike and the boat shivers and swings around with the bow out. If the current is strong you may drift or you may have to push it off with an oar or pole, or even get out in the water and lift if it is not too deep and swift. Then a long smooth stretch and you give a sigh of contentment and lean back on your oars or even in the long rapids after passing a swift rapid past a rock you will drop into the lee way below the rock and rest undisturbed and find it is hard work sometimes to get the boat into the current.[24]
They ran sixteen rapids by 2:30 that afternoon when at last ahead of them they heard the roar of the rapid they had been dreading for two days: Ashley Falls. A dozen immense boulders fallen from the right side of the canyon appeared to block the watercourse completely, but upon closer examination they found a crooked channel twelve feet wide that a boat could navigate. Emery made moving pictures as they approached then he set the cameras up below the rapid to catch the best view of their run through the narrow gap. Powell had portaged the rapid on both of his trips when there was higher water but the Kolbs decided to run it. Ellsworth started through first, swung a little too far over and could not use the right oar. When he had space to maneuver he pulled hard on both oars and managed to straighten out, but the full force of the river, pent up in a twelve-foot channel, forced him against the huge boulder in the center of the river. This jolt loosened one of his spare oars from its holder and caused it to fall into the maelstrom. In an attempt to retrieve it he lost control and the bow of his boat struck another rock. For a few seconds he bounced back and forth like a ball. The other spare oar went the way of the first. After fighting the swift current for what seemed an eternity he managed to pull to the bank. The lost oars floated aimlessly in the eddies below the falls where he could pick them up at his leisure. Looking upstream he could see his brother coming through cool and collected, just touching a rock that swung his boat around bow first then straightening out, allowing him to come out smiling. Jim took a motion picture of the whole escapade.
In 1869, when Major Powell made his trip through Red Canyon he found the name "Ashley" painted under an overhanging rock on the left side of the river. Underneath the name was a date that was hardly discernible. Frederick Dellenbaugh, who accompanied Powell on the second trip, determined the date to be1825. Colonel Ashley, a distinguished fur trader, made the trip through the canyon with a group of trappers and left this bit of history. Emery and Ellsworth located the name, now more faint than before. All that remained of the record was a trace of the first three letters A -S -H and a few black dots below.[25] Wind and water had erased all but this fragment and even that was soon to pass.[26] Just above the inscription was the trail Powell's men made to portage their boats in 1869 and 1871.
While at Ashley Falls Emery named his boat "Edith" for his four-year-old daughter, painting the name in black on the bow. With the same paint they wrote their names in black letters on a stone near the falls beneath those of Stone and Galloway who had passed that way a few years before.
Not too far downriver they again encountered civilization when through a break in the canyon wall they spotted a cabin occupied by an old timer and his three sons that offered a chance to buy provisions. Pulling to the bank they hailed the man in the open door of the cabin. The fellow, about fifty years old, with a weathered face and a graying mustache, sauntered down from the lean-to porch toward the visitors while the three sons strolled off into the woods in another direction. Ellsworth noticed they all carried rifles. At first the man seemed friendly and agreed to sell them sugar and a little flour. In return he asked if they would give a hand in swimming some horses the other side of the river. He explained that high water had taken his boat sometime before. The three travelers helped with rounding up the horses corralled in a hidden valley and driving them through the water. The task finished, their host's attitude changed. He began asking questions that indicated suspicion about their purpose in the vicinity. A few days later the Kolbs learned they had been unwitting accomplices in a horse-stealing episode and had aided in moving animals stolen from a rancher in Ashley Park a short distance below a few days before .[27]
Wednesday, 20 September, a clear day, brought them out of Red Canyon. Trouble with the motion picture camera delayed them until early in the afternoon, but after running fourteen rapids, the three took time out for lunch at Ashley Park and enjoyed a great view of the mountains in their fall dress. Aspen trees were at their height of color and blended with the greens of the mountain firs and spruce.
The area was noted as a hideout for men wanted by the law, some of them with a price on their heads. Their camp that night about two miles below the canyon at Brown's Park in front of a deserted ranch house brought the matter home.[28] Exploring the building, they discovered the door open. Inside the furniture remained in place, even pictures of the rancher's wife and family still hung on the wall. A very knowledgeable person apparently had lived here as there were books on astronomy, Shakespeare and the like scattered about. They learned later that a migrant sheepherder murdered the rancher, placed his body in his boat and pushed the boat into the river. Men in the area found the body about fifteen miles downstream near the entrance of Lodore Canyon several weeks later.[29] The woman they had given the letters in Red Canyon had good reason to fear strangers.
[C]hapter 2
1 Letter from Charles S. Russell, 17 March 1908.
[2] Letter from Charles D. Lunden 4 April 1910. Letter from R. & S. Film Exchange 3 June1910.
[3] Letter from Julius Stone 20 April 1911.
[4] Letter from Ellsworth Kolb 18 August 1911. Here was another indication of trouble between Kolb Brothers and the Harvey Corporation. Harvey at this time sold their own version of views of the Grand Canyon, an apparent duplicate of the Kolb's using photographs and titles as near the same as possible to obtain.
[5] Dave Rust, of Kanab, Utah, Established the Rust Camp at what is now Phantom Ranch and later built the tramway across the Colorado River.
[6] Nathaniel Galloway. During his lifetime he was considered to be King of the Colorado River.
[7] Letter from Ellsworth Kolb to Emery dated 10, August 1911.
[8] The first page missing from the file.
[9] Frederick I. Monsen, from whom the motion picture camera was purchased.
[10] Referring to beds.
[11] Metropolitan Air Goods Company, Reading, Massachusetts.
[12] Green River, Wyoming.
[13] One cannot but wonder how many calls the editor got for this bit of misinformation regarding those trips down the river after Powell and before the Kolbs set out.
[14]Frederick S. Dellenbaugh's A Canyon Voyage p.10 reprinted by University of Arizona Press 1988.
[15] ELK and ECK journal entrees Sept. 8.
[16] ECK Journal entry for Saturday Sept. 9.
[17] E. L. Kolb, Through the Grand Canyon From Wyoming to Mexico , page 20.According to a letter written by Kerry Ross Boren 13 December 1968, the name of the Swede was Ole Nielsen, an early pioneer of the area.
[18] E. L. Kolb,Through the Grand Canyon From Wyoming to Mexico, page 21.
[19] ELK journal entry Thursday Sept 14.
[20] Ibid
[21] ECK & ELK journal entry Friday Sept 15.
[22] ELK journal entry 16 September 1911.
[23] ELK journal entry 17 September 1911.
[24] ELK journal entry 18 September 1911.
[25] E. L. Kolb,Through the Grand Canyon From Wyoming to Mexico , page 39.
[26] Red Canyon is now part of the Flaming Gorge Recreational Area. Ashley Falls is now submerged under the backwater from the Flaming Gorge Dam.
[27] This episode is not recorded in either Ellsworth's or Emery's journal of the 1911 river trip, but is mentioned in Ellsworth's book, Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico, page 40. Emery also related the story in his lecture where he accuses the Chew family as the culprits.
[28] E. L. Kolb, Through the Grand Canyon From Wyoming to Mexico , page 40.
[29] Emery Kolb's journal entry 20 September 1911. The cabin belonged to John Jarvie who operated a store and trading post at Brown's Park. His wife died of tuberculoses in 1895. George Hood murdered Jarvie in 1909. Cultural Resources Series No. 7 Bureau Of Land Management, Utah-John Jarvie of Brown's Park.