Historical photographs from the Grand Canyon
October 2, 2015 2:57 AM   Subscribe

Here is a big collection of old photos from the Grand Canyon. Among others, there are photos from John Wesley Powell's expeditions down the Colorado river in the 1870's. Pictures of people touring the canyon rim by car in the early 1900's, and ladies going down into the canyon by mule in 1909 wearing very nice hats. There are pictures of Hopi dancers on the rim from the 1940's. And there are pictures of park rangers leading fishing trips down into the canyon in the 1940's, and pictures of the early commercial Colorado River trips in the 1930's through the 1950's.
posted by colfax (5 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's hard to correlate these scenes with the bustling crowds at the park today. You have to go to great effort to get into the wild there now. It still looks pretty grand though.
posted by Bee'sWing at 7:10 AM on October 2, 2015


Before the "papers please" law was passed in Arizona, I went to the Grand Canyon every winter. It is serene and there are no crowds to speak of. I would rent one of the Bright Angel cabins and knit and hike and read and drink tea all day.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:04 AM on October 2, 2015


I took a rafting trip down the Colorado circa 1980. It remains one of the most memorable weeks of my life. Read Powell's book at night in camp. It was great.

If you look at the cars link, it was crowded from the beginning. Sure, more so today, but that is a function of more people in the country and world, easier, less costly transportation and technology.

Anyway, I love these old pictures. They are especially neat when you have done the same thing or been in the same place. Thanks for posting!
posted by AugustWest at 8:29 AM on October 2, 2015


I'll have to check these out later and see if there are any new ones of my great-uncle Preston. He was part of the two mapping expeditions of the Grand Canyon in 1920 and 1923.

He also apparently fell a lot...
posted by tavella at 4:18 PM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


er, great-uncle Roland. Preston was his son.
posted by tavella at 4:21 PM on October 3, 2015


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