The Kolb Diaries: Chapter 10
1930-1950
The Depression Years
At the beginning of the decade the Department of the Interior gave Emery a new concessionaire's agreement to operate his studio at the National Park. He had always attempted to do what he thought was right and tried to cooperate in every way with the rules of the Park, and meet every reasonable demand. However, he felt that if he signed the new agreement he would be "signing away his birthright."[1] The contents of the contract stated that Emery would "provide the [Park] Service at cost photographs as were taken by virtue of the privileges herein granted." This could include every picture he had ever taken or would take in the future, and what would the NPS do with these? According to the contract they would belong to the government who could do with them as they saw fit; sell them, distribute them as educational material to schools, libraries, or even use them in competition with him. The purpose might be commendable and with best intentions, but Emery's feeling of insecurity led him to believe that the NPS would take advantage of him and could undermine his business. Another paragraph stated that all buildings at Grand Canyon belonged to the federal government and were their sole property. This section of the agreement appeared in the agreements of the other concessionaires and brought on considerable controversy. The government quickly eliminated the clause from the contract as it was a matter of confiscation. After several months of debate the government removed the objectionable clause regarding the photographs and Emery signed the contract. He felt secure at the head of the Bright Angel Trail for another ten years.
The depression continued to worsen through 1930 and into 1931. The soup lines grew longer, money grew more difficult to obtain and business around the country continued on a downward trend. Those who had kept their money in banks soon found themselves impoverished as the nation's banks began to close. By 1932 the situation seemed to have reached its lowest point. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president of the United States strengthened the morale of the people and the nation began to recover from one of the worst economic disasters in its history. Emery suffered also, but his money worries were twofold. Besides the shortage of business, he again believed Harvey, working through the National Park Service, was making an all-out drive to destroy him. On 23 January the Park Superintendent delivered a memorandum concerning circulars and personal soliciting. An earlier ruling at the Park had prohibited Emery's announcing his programs using a megaphone, and he had resorted to passing out circulars in the parking lot in front of the hotels and at the railroad station. The new directive stated this also had to stop. As an alternative, Park Superintendent Tillotson planned to print material describing each attraction at the park to give passengers on incoming trains . This was a step in the right direction and showed a sincere effort to iron out the age-old difficulty, but it failed to meet the needs. As Emery's studio was not readily visible to the visitor from the hotels it left him behind.
At the end of the first day after Tillotson published his circular Emery noted that fifty-three visitors came to the Canyon. Out of these, seven in their walk along the rim paths strolled down the trail as far as the studio. Emery and Blanche met each one and asked if they had seen the pamphlet distributed on the train when they arrived. None remembered receiving any information pertaining to the studio and each claimed they knew nothing about the lecture, and had made their walk in that direction out of curiosity to see what was there. After a brief explanation and description of the folder two of the visitors acknowledged that the porter on the train had given them something but they had not looked at it. Under these circumstances Emery deemed it worthwhile to write a letter to Tillotson explaining his situation. His letter began by thanking the superintendent for making an earnest attempt to help but stated that he felt it fell short of its goal. He explained, "close study appears to us, that the visitors and Kolb Brothers will be injured instead of benefited by the new order." His letter continued, stating the tourists would have to go to the Harvey Hotels for food and lodging where their solicitors met every visitor first. The other concessionaires were in plain sight and could be visited by the tourists any time in the day. On the other hand it was necessary to attend his lectures at a given time in a building situated below the canyon rim cut off from view by the Lookout Studio and the corrals across the trail obstructing the passage. Even visitors who were aware of the program frequently found it necessary to ask in Harvey's Lookout Studio for directions to a competitor.[2]
Emery felt that if he did not get the visitors to the studio on their return from the rim drives he would never see them. According to an earlier directive, the busses would stop, and the drivers announce the location to be Kolb Studio, which they did but failed to explain what or where the studio was, and few passengers bothered to get off the bus to find out. With no one to direct people down the proper trail, visitors would as a rule wander off in the wrong direction and manage to find their way back to the hotel, remaining in doubt as to why they disembarked. He asked in his letter "would it not be a logical request . . . that there be a ranger there to direct the confused tourists to our place, if we are not to be permitted to do so. . . ."[3] To this last request the park superintendent replied that it "would be impractical for me to detail a ranger solely to direct visitors to your studio." Superintendent Tillotson seemed to be working out the problem as best he could and agreed to place directional signs at the bus stop as a guidance.[4]
Here the matter seemed to stop. It took the superintendent sixteen days to answer Emery's letter, stating the signs would be put up. On the afternoon of l7 March Emery still saw no evidence of them, so he wrote Judge E. S. Clark in Phoenix regarding his treatment, who in turn notified Tillotson.[5] This brought some action and the two combatants had a talk. Tillotson called Emery to his office where he severely reprimanded him for not taking the matter up with him before contacting his attorney. He then told Emery that every "Tom, Dick and Harry on the street" knew of the problem and stated that Tillotson and the Harvey Company were attempting to run the Kolbs out of business. Emery countermanded, saying he had written a letter and waited sixteen days for an answer. Also he had called on the phone several times and received the impression that Tillotson did not want to go into the matter. Regarding the street talk, Emery said he had learned what was taking place two weeks before he received his notice regarding the solicitation. While waiting for a train, he had overheard a conversation between two Harvey officials discussing a proposal regarding disposition of the Kolb Studio and what the head of the National Park Service intended to do about it. The conversation was exactly in accordance with the directive. This statement amazed Tillotson for it occurred before he received the directive from Washington.[6] Emery further stated that as he had gotten nowhere in his efforts to solve the problem, and with no action taken on the matter he felt it necessary to have someone schooled in diplomacy to do the talking for him. He said he had enough problems trying to make a living and saw no reason why Tillotson should feel resentful because he had gone over his head to the Judge. Emery felt sure that it was this type of oppression that had caused Ellsworth's nervous collapse earlier and he did not want the same thing to happen to him. From this point the park superintendent approached the problem from another angle. Tillotson attempted to use an argument that eighteen percent of the people coming into the Canyon in February came to the studio, more than the percentage who came in the whole season of l930 and l931. "But," Emery explained, "if you take it month by month, in February 1930, sixty-one percent of the people coming into the park attended the lecture and in l931 the percentage was twenty-five percent." "This decrease was because of the depression," expounded the superintendent.[7]
Emery carried his case to Horace M. Albright,[8] director of the national parks. He traveled to Washington for a meeting with the director, which he felt accomplished little and wasted his time and money. Albright set up a meeting at Grand Canyon for the following June and instructed Tillotson to try another way to notify visitors. Tillotson did nothing and the situation remained the same.[9]
June came and passed with no sign of the park director. In the middle of July Albright arrived, and then the management of El Tovar kept him busy. Emery made an appointment scheduled for two o'clock and arrived at the hotel where he waited an hour and a half before the clerk at the desk advised him that Albright attended a picnic given by the management of the hotel. The director at last gave Emery a fifteen-minute interview as he boarded the train to return to Washington. Albright told him at this time "Do not bite the hand that feeds you" or as Emery stated later in a letter to Gifford Pinchot, ". . . keep my mouth shut concerning my grievances."[10]
Still certain that Harvey Company had caused the entire problem, he wrote a letter to a friend in Minnesota relating that three trains had come into the Canyon carrying 270 people. These special trains arrived at 10 A.M., too late to take the morning drive along the rim, but leaving plenty of time for the visitors to attend the lectures. Just before time for the morning lecture Harvey staged an Indian dance at the Hopi House across from El Tovar, an event normally performed later in the day. This attracted all the members of the excursion and not one person came by the studio. The same day nine busses took the afternoon Hermit Rim tour and on the return the drivers did not stop at the head of the trail as per the order of the park superintendent. Only ten people of the group came to the studio for the afternoon lecture plus some travelers who had arrived by auto.[11] To cause further problems, Harvey had instituted free lectures in the Music Room of El Tovar Hotel each evening showing lantern slides and movies. On days with bad weather they moved these programs to the afternoon so they would begin just before the Kolb program.
The old boat placed near the path by the corral and the Lookout again came into play. A Harvey photographer, after his resignation from the company, told Emery the management of the hotel had instructed him to get all the photographs and information he could about the river trip this wreck of a boat had made and lay it before the public to lead visitors to believe it to be the one that the Kolbs used for their trip through the Grand Canyon.[12] Emery wrote in a letter to Muriel W. Sweet, "As the matter stands now, the Park Service sees to it that we do not mention our lecture outside of our studio and the Harveys see to it that the people do not reach our Studio."[13]
As the depression wore on Emery became desperate. Unless his business improved he would be forced to close the studio. His daily income had dropped to as low as two dollars a day, and it took at least ten dollars to cover his overhead.[14]
Believing a change in the administration in Washington might be to his advantage, Emery started a campaign to get some action. He wrote to various influential people involved in the political situation and whom he considered his friends asking them to intercede for him in his struggle. John A. Mathews of Newark, New Jersey, took up the cause by talking to Postmaster General James A. Farley. Governor Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylvania, a friend of Roosevelt, added his bit to the ear of the new president. Julius Stone and others did their part. The campaign caused the Department of the Interior to make an investigation. Out of this came a recommendation that the parties involved accept a plan proposed by the management of El Tovar. Mr. Patrosso, who proposed that he would be more than willing to display on the desk of the hotels at El Tovar and Bright Angel literature furnished by all the concessionaires. The pamphlets would be displayed in holders which Harvey Company would supply. They also would place signs advertising the firms of Babbitts, Verkamps and Kolb's Studio at conspicuous places in these hotels. [15]
A new regime had taken over for the Harvey Company with Byron Harvey, Jr. now president. To Emery's surprise, Harvey came to the studio for a visit and asked to see and hear the lecture that had so long been controversial. After the entertainment Emery gave him a tour of the studio and his home. Both parties were congenial and showed definite signs that the investigation had some impact on the problem. The depression waned, business picked up and with the relations with Harvey greatly improved the situation looked brighter.[16] The Park began constructing a new trail that would run from the Lookout curio shop and the mule corral past his studio. Emery felt thankful for this change as it would at least allow tourists to locate him.
When business grew slack at the studio, Emery took time to run errands, occasionally going to Flagstaff or Williams. He would drive into either town, conduct his business and return in time for his morning lecture. It was no uncommon thing for him to drive at great speed. On one occasion the phone rang at the studio at five minutes after eleven with Emery on the line. He stated emphatically, "Don't start the show until I get there."
"Where are you?" came the reply from Grand Canyon.
"I am in Williams."
"Mr. Kolb, it is five after eleven and the show starts at eleven-thirty, that is over fifty miles. You can't get here in time."
His answer was definite and to the point, "I said don't start the show until I get there."
The audience, seated in the folding chairs waited. The staff watched the minutes tick by on the clock. Eleven twenty-five, eleven thirty, eleven thirty-one, and in walked Emery, calm and collected. Without a word he marched down the stairs to the landing in the auditorium where he always stood to give his introductory speech. Blanche followed a moment later, trembling so she could hardly stand. Grasping the hand of the employee in the gift shop she finally gasped "Emery nearly scared me to death."[17]
The hard times of the thirties brought out the adventuresome spirit of some people. Daring stunts and record-breaking endurance feats were in vogue with flagpole sitting probably the most popular. Scientific minds in the country turned to more practical pastimes; the exploration of Shiva Temple in the Grand Canyon received the attention of one scientist. The canyon formation acquired its name in 1881 when Clarence E. Dutton, working for the USGS, made a survey. Dutton, with a fascination for oriental religion, named various sites in the canyon to reflect his interest, among them Hindu , Vishnu and Shiva Temples. These designations, their lofty heights and apparent inaccessibility gave the formations an air of mystery.
Shiva is clearly visible from the South Rim from almost every viewpoint and appears as a landlocked peninsula jutting off from the north rim. This is not entirely so. Instead, it is a tree-covered mesa towering over a mile above the floor of Grand Canyon, connected to the Kaibab Plateau by a narrow saddle 1,300 feet below the top. Sheer, nearly vertical walls at the connecting point make access by climbing or with pack animals appear an impossibility. In 1937 Dr. Harold Anthony of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, became intrigued with Shiva Temple. Gathering what information he could about it, he made plans for an expedition to scale the walls and explore the area. He knew the mesa had separated from the main rim of the canyon 35,000 years before, and this offered the possibility that some type of plant or animal life existing on the top could show an earlier form of evolution than that found on the Kaibab Plateau. Dr. Anthony believed that animals living there at the time of the isolation would have propagated and the species would still exist as it had 35,000 years previously. Hoping to publicize the expedition, he gave the story of his planned trip to the press. He did not expect the sudden explosion of interest it caused when the idea caught hold and instantly became a spectacle in the mind and conversation of the entire country. Stories of finding prehistoric monsters roaming around on top of this isolated mesa towering a mile in the sky filled the imaginations of old and young alike. This was not Anthony's intent, and the publicity soon overshadowed the scientific event itself.
Not everyone agreed with the theory. The Coconino Sun on 24 September 1937, quoted Dr. Homer Leroy Shantz, in charge of National Forest and Wildlife Management for the United States Government and a former president of Arizona State University, saying that he "was inclined to get an iron lung and a few dozen tanks of oxygen and take them to the top of Shiva Temple, Grand Canyon, to maintain life in Dr. Harold E. Anthony while he sits with his 16-gauge shotgun waiting for prehistoric monsters to rear their ugly heads." Shantz, a world traveler, had investigated isolated plateaus similar to Shiva at various places in the world and the evidence of wildlife he found were "deer and even a few cow chips." He, like many others, was not taken in by all the ballyhoo as evidence showed it to be a winter feeding ground for Kaibab deer. The New York Times picked up the story and in an editorial expressed the thought that a period of 35,000 years would hardly be long enough for any drastic changes to take effect in the evolution of the species living on top of Shiva Temple.
Emery had his doubts also, but always ready with his vast knowledge of Grand Canyon, he offered his services to Dr. Anthony as guide and interpreter to lead the party. Anthony wanted the show to be his alone, and not willing to be overshadowed by the popular and famous Canyon explorer, wrote a letter refusing Emery's offer. Not one to take such a rebuff, which Anthony's reply clearly was, Emery began thinking of a trip to the top of Shiva himself.
He and Ellsworth had discussed climbing the temple in the past, but had never found the time. In 1916 he and John Ivers, a young friend,built a lightweight canvas boat and one morning after a trail party passed the studio the two left the rim carrying the boat on their shoulders headed to the river. They rode the currents down-stream, portaged the fragile craft around Horn Creek where they left it and climbed a trail in a small canyon past the mouth of Trinity River and up the Redwall between Isis and Shiva Temples to the saddle that connected the north rim and Shiva.[18] Here they discovered deep rain pockets on the south end of the saddle and deer tracks heading in the direction of Shiva Temple. With insufficient time to explore farther they returned home.[19]
Now was the time to make another attempt. Emery suggested to Eddie McKee, Grand Canyon park naturalist, that he should be the first to go to the top and offered to take him, but McKee, fearing he would not be permitted to go with the Anthony expedition, or worse, he would lose his job, declined.
The museum selected a number of scientists and renowned mountain climbers with experience in all types of terrain for the expedition. Anthony, a veteran of a number of such trips, headed the exploration. Because of his prestige, Anthony invited George B. Andrews, son of the director of the American Museum of Natural History, to join the party. Walter H. Wood, Jr. of the American Geographical Society and his wife were to be in charge of the climb to the top. The expedition also included a pilot, Amy Andrews, who offered her services to drop supplies from her airplane to those who remained on the mesa, and of course they included the necessary personnel to portage the supplies and equipment needed on the excursion.[20]
At this time young Gordon Berger worked for Emery. Berger, an avid hiker, spent his free time making his way over the trails of the Canyon and always hated to return to the east coast in winter where he lent his deep baritone voice to Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians. He and Emery had taken a number of hikes together. One morning the two met on the walk by the studio and after the usual greeting Berger asked, "Mr. Kolb, why don't we climb Shiva?"
"I've been thinking about that," Emery replied. That started them making plans for the assault and on a bright sunshiny day in August he and Berger set out for the north rim. The two spent the night just above the saddle where early the next morning they began their climb down to the connecting land bridge. Walking cautiously over the stone rubble, and sliding sometimes several feet on loose rocks, they arrived at the base of Shiva in a few hours. At this point Berger sat down to rest a bit while Emery, determined to get to the top, went on. He gazed upward, scanning the 1,300 feet of sheer rock wall that rose before him and found no way to gain a handhold. He followed a narrow ledge and climbed the next slope and again stopped to survey the wall. There he found a large crack in the Coconino sandstone extending all the way to the summit. His call to Berger echoed between the walls of the canyon. The two inched their way up until they came out on top of what everyone thought to be an inaccessible mesa in the deep gorge. Disappointingly, they saw little of interest, only evidence of rabbits, deer and possibly a mountain lion. At one place they found the remains of two bucks who fought to the end, their antlers locked together in a bitter struggle of nature.
Emery knew the museum party would include a woman who would claim to be the first female to ascend Shiva, therefore he decided to make a second climb. Blanche was not in condition to make the trip, and would not have attempted it had she been. He knew Edith could be persuaded to go and perhaps Ruth Stephens. The fact that Ruth's father worked for Harvey would be the only drawback to taking her. If information leaked about the trip it would naturally get to the park superintendent. Even so, Emery thought Ruth would be loyal to him as she always had been, and would refrain from mentioning the trip to anyone. He and Berger would return to Shiva with the two young ladies. They made their plans with a dramatic flair. Emery persuaded Blanche to sew a simple type parachute from old burlap bags for dropping supplies to the adventurers when they reached the top to relieve them of carrying food up the side. He then arranged with a pilot friend at the airport to fly them across to Tiyo Point on the north rim where they could spend the night. The party consisting of Emery, Ruth, Edith, Berger and a visiting photographer friend of Berger's, Ralph White, set out.
They camped near the rim at Tiyo Point and dawn found the intrepid explorers on their way down to the saddle. Though the trail left by Emery and Berger earlier made traveling a little easier, they slid and slipped on the loose gravel and small rocks in places. Ruth strained a muscle in her knee that caused her some discomfort but she continued on. By 10 A.M. the assault on Shiva began. They were on the north side and could not be seen by anyone who might by chance be looking through the telescope at Harvey's Lookout, a possibility as the formation had been so much in the news. They stashed supplies under a rock overhang near the pools of water on the saddle and started the climb.
With the aid of a push from below Ruth Stephens became the first white woman to climb out of the crevice onto the summit a few minutes before noon as the pilot of the plane circled the area looking for the red shirt Ruth wore as a signal. Standing on a high open promontory, they waved as the plane flew over. Dipping his wing in acknowledgement, the pilot circled again and dropped the homemade parachute with their lunch that included four cans of tomatoes. All had gone as scheduled. Emery tied the empty burlap bag to a dead yucca stalk near the point on the south side where it could easily be seen from the studio if one knew where to look. The climbers devoured the lunch and stashed the tomato containers where they would be found by the upcoming expedition and for good measure Emery left a few Kodak film boxes. Ruth left some tissues with lipstick on them to show that a woman had been there as well. They made the descent and spent the night at the water holes near the rock overhang. Emery swore the members of the party to secrecy for they knew he would be in danger of losing his concession if the park superintendent learned about the ascent. No one said a word. [21]
Meanwhile the scientists in New York made their final plans. The party would fly to the north rim and establish a base camp from where they would proceed with the attack on Shiva, the "Island in the Sky," as the press had dubbed the canyon formation. On arrival at Scenic Airways Airport at Grand Canyon they discovered the airport at north rim too small to accommodate their plane, and altered their plans and made the trip by truck.
Interest in the expedition ran high and rumors still circulated about what would be found on top of Shiva. Emery received an inquiry from a Flagstaff attorney asking if he had climbed to the top of the mesa. The attorney understood he had, and left his name in a bottle, and that the NPS had ordered him to return and remove the evidence before the expedition arrived. Emery replied that no one involved in the Shiva expedition or anyone of authority had questioned him regarding climbing Shiva, and further, he had not left his name in a bottle there or anyplace else. "There have been various rumors as to a part I have played with Shiva" he continued, "she is a tall girl, though not difficult to reach, but unless someone desires to get me in difficulty with the powers that be, I am anxious that my name be left out of the rumors, especially where it might reach the press."
The group of scientists reached their base camp with a party that by this time had grown far beyond what Anthony intended. The representatives of the major newspaper syndicates, motion picture and radio people, swarmed over the area close to Tiyo Point where the trip would begin. Anthony invited Superintendent Tillotson and Edwin McKee to go along. Wires, pulleys and ropes were strewn everywhere; short wave radios with bristling antennas made the airwaves crackle with news concerning the exploration. All the major newspapers in the United States carried the story on the front page, and the event preempted scheduled radio programs for broadcasts direct from the site.
On Friday morning, l0 September the motion picture cameras ground away as the party started their descent to the saddle below. Porters had strung ropes and tackle along the way that made a good show for the public and the party worked their way across the saddle. Using the mountain climbing expertise of Doctor Wood and his wife they began the ascent. Although no one had proof of the Kolb climbs when they reached top of Shiva Dr. Wood patted his wife on the back and stated, "Emery Kolb might have been here first, but you are the first woman to make the trip." Anthony and McKee remained on top while the rest of the party returned to base camp. Tillotson radioed the world that they had completed the ascent and found evidence of wildlife. He added that animals living there no doubt had developed a way to exist on moisture from plants and the sparse rainfall of the area because no water existed on Shiva. The two scientists stayed on top for ten days during which time they collected specimens that proved no different from those on the north rim in the Kaibab Forest. They noted the deer antlers locked in their bitter struggle, some small animals, and a few Anasazi Indian artifacts. Anthony's report never mentioned the most important find: the empty tomato cans and the Kodak film packages.
A correspondent for the New York Times wrote: "Scientists have scaled Shiva Temple in the Grand Canyon. Our own hazardous guess would be that the first specimen of animal life they will encounter on Shiva Temple is a man who used to run a lunch wagon in Altoona, Pa." This correspondent had no idea how close he was to being right. While Emery never ran a lunch wagon in Altoona, his home state was Pennsylvania.
Although no concrete evidence actually tied Emery to the climb, Tillotson upon his return furiously confronted him. Emery meekly submitted to a well-deserved tongue-lashing, and later wrote a note to the park superintendent, probably with tongue in cheek, ". . . I deeply regret it and wish to express my humble apologies." It was eleven years later that Edwin Corle in his book, Listen, Bright Angel, revealed the story of Kolb and his party's being the first to climb Shiva Temple.[22]
In 1937 Grand Canyon again became the focus of attention by the radio listeners of America. Robert Ripley of Believe It Or Not fame presented a broadcast from the bottom of Grand Canyon. Broadcasting such a feat took considerable preparation as it was the first attempt to try it from the depths of the gorge. The New York based network producing the show contacted Emery regarding the program and after considerable correspondence Emery arranged for a special boat to be made and hauled to the foot of Bright Angel Trail to carry him as boatman and Barry Goldwater,[23] the radio announcer, through the rapid there, Goldwater making the commentary as the trip progressed. The evening before the broadcast Goldwater and Emery made a trial run with the river moving at 30,000 cubic feet per second. The water in the center of the channel at this time was comparatively smooth but flowing fast. The river, a changeable lady, could not be depended upon to remain the same. On the night of the broadcast the river's personality took on a different aspect. With a rise of about ten feet in the water the flow increased to 45,000 cubic feet per second, the center channel now churned with waves eight to ten feet high, but the show must go on! Ripley and the announcer on the veranda of El Tovar Hotel came on the air at the appointed time with the usual fare of the program. The announcer, after the sound of drums and an Indian war cry stated, "Believe it or Not--Bob Ripley." With this, Ripley introduced the program with his customary "Greetings, everyone, and welcome to the Grand Canyon! This is Bob Ripley, speaking to you one vertical mile deep at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the most awesome handiwork of God! . . ." 24 On cue the engineer connected the equipment in the boat on the river a mile below to the broadcast air waves. Goldwater came on clear with his dramatic description of the waters and what was taking place. The technicians at the river pushed the boat carrying him and Emery into the fast-moving water where it headed for the high waves in the middle of the channel. The swell of the first wave lifted them high, taking the bow of the craft out of the water at the crest and dipping her down into the trough of the next, Goldwater maintaining his commentary throughout the breathtaking ride. Radio listeners over the nation sat on the edge of chairs.
The next wave loomed even larger, but as the boat began to rise again to the crest the wave broke and water plummeted down over them. The radios across the nation were suddenly silent. Unaware that the water had drowned out his equipment Goldwater continued undaunted. Ripley filled the silence with "Well something has happened, folks," and the broadcast continued with ad-libbed commentary until information could be obtained about the difficulty. Young and old alike remained glued at their speakers awaiting the outcome, hoping there had been no tragedy.
Emery and Goldwater navigated their waterfilled boat through the balance of the rough water and to shore, soaked to the skin and carrying the dripping radio equipment. It took a full twenty minutes before the listeners could be informed of the outcome. All came out well and the first attempt to broadcast live from the bowels of the earth ended a great success with considerable excitement not contained in the script.
Norman Nevills, from Mexican Hat, Utah, and not new to the rivers of the Southwest, embarked on a trip in 1938 with Eugene Atkinson, professor of geology at the University of Michigan; Don Harris, an employee of the United States Geological Survey from Soda Springs, Idaho; and W. C. Gibson, an artist and photographer from San Francisco. Two women completed the party: Elzada Clover, a forty-year- old botanist from the University of Michigan and her twenty-five year-old assistant, Lois Jotter. The group left Green River, Utah, in the early summer on their way to Lake Mead in untried, homemade motorless boats, to study the natural phenomenon of the Colorado River canyons. They arrived at Lee's Ferry on 8 July and the next day continued on through Marble and Grand Canyon. At the foot of Bright Angel Trail they paid a visit to the old time river runner, Emery Kolb. Nevills invited the old riverman to join them as a guest and it took little persuasion to get an acceptance. Once the muddy water of the Colorado is in your blood you never get away from it. Emery found the river still offered the thrills as in the past and during the evenings he entertained the group around the camp fire with the tales of 1911 and l923. At Diamond Creek he returned home while the rest of the group continued to Lake Mead, Jotter and Clover becoming the first women to make the entire trip through the treacherous waters of the canyons.
A little excitement occurred at the studio the last of October in 1938. During the afternoon lecture a small fire broke out in the projection booth. The quick thinking of the projectionist hastily extinguished the blaze and the show went on with little delay. The incident alerted Emery to the possibility of much greater damage and he set out to correct the problem. A fire in the studio would be disastrous not only to him financially , but to the people who might be in the building at the time, as no fire escape led from the auditorium. The old wooden building, part of which had been standing since 1904, and the countless inflammable nitrate negatives stored there, could develop into a major blaze in a manner of minutes. A short note in the Coconino Sun, Friday, 11 November, stated: "Emery Kolb of the Grand Canyon who had a small fire in his projection room at the studio a couple of weeks ago, has lined the site with galvanized iron and asbestos so to make it doubly safe in case of another fire."
In 1938 the world became aware of trouble in Europe. Adolph Hitler had amassed his armies and had begun the invasion of the countries surrounding Germany. By 1939 England became involved in the conflict while Americans, like ostriches, stuck their head in the sand, and thought "it can't happen here." The story changed abruptly on 7 December 1941. While the Japanese envoys negotiated at the White House in Washington their aircraft flew south eastward across the Pacific Ocean to drop bombs onto the ships anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. America was at war. While the rest of the country geared for war and money again became plentiful, which could have been a boon to the concessionaires at Grand Canyon, travel restrictions and gas rationing took their toll of tourist traffic and again business slowed.
The end of the war in 1945 brought better times. Emery had apparently won out over his adversaries, Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railroad, but other problems plagued him. The war had changed the thinking of the public. They came to the Canyon now with their cameras loaded with color film. Black and white pictures were no longer of interest. Letters of complaint arrived at the office of the park superintendent stating that the lecture and the pictures at the Kolb Studio were a misrepresentation and saying they were not worth the fifty cents admission charge. Granted, the jumpy flickering old black and white film that Emery had shown for years did not compare with the new color productions from Hollywood shown in the movie houses around the country. Still, the adventure of 1911, the thrill of seeing the old movie and hearing the tale of one who had run the river in the small wooden boat fascinated many. Post war business increased and trouble diminished. The world looked brighter and Emery again had a broad smile on his face.
A telegram sent in 1950 reads:
It is with the greatest pleasure that we of Fred Harvey extend our heartiest congratulations to you on the Golden anniversary of your coming to the Canyon. You and your epic trip down the Colorado have made a memorable contribution to the community and to many thousands of canyon visitors. We hope that you will continue your important role for many years to come.
Byron Harvey Jr.
Emery Kolb's perseverance had won.
[C]hapter 10
1 Letter to Horace Albright, United States Department of the Interior 30 June 1930.
[2] Letter to M. R. Tillotson 28 January 1932.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Letter from M.R. Tillotson 12 February 1932.
[5] Letter to Judge E.S. Clark 19 March 1932.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Undated list showing attendance comparisons over a three-year period.
[8] Letter to Horace Albright 23 March 1932.
[9] Letter to P. A. Young 14 June 1932.
[10] Letter to Gifford Pinchot 24 June 1933.
[11] Letter to Dr. George E. Brown 14 June 1932.
[12] Letter to Muriel W. Sweet 14 June 1932.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Letter to John A. Mathews 27 January 1933.
[15] Memorandum to the United States Secretary of Interior 29 September 1937.
[16] Letter to John R. Murdock 21 September 1937.
[17] Interview with Thelma Self 5 November 1988.
[18] Emery's answer to questions asked by Otis Marston. Marston Collection-Huntington Library, Huntington Beach, California.
[19] Letter to author from Harvey Burchart June 4, 1990.
[20] The Arizona Republic 26 September 1937.
[21] Oral History Tape No 23, National Park Service, Ruth Stephens Baker interviewed by Julie Russell 5 November 1978.
[22] Edwin Corle's Listen Bright Angel published 1946.
[23] Barry Goldwater later became United States Senator from Arizona.
24 Radio script for Ripley's Believe It Or Not broadcast.