The Grand Canyon: Myth vs. Reality

1. The Grand Canyon:Myth vs. Reality Abby Freed HST 300 Wood Spring 2009

3. The Grand Canyon Myth Reality • Wide open spaces • Beautiful formations • Freedom • Possibilities • New life • Harsh living conditions • Small population • Extreme weather • Different culture • Dangerous

4. William Wallace Bass and Family

5. W. W. "Bill" Bass • Curiosity with Havasupai Indians • Developed life-long friendship with tribe members • Prospecting for minerals • Experimented in tourism • 1885 built tent camp 25 miles west of Grand Canyon Village • Camper’s Paradise • Bass Camp in 1894

6. Bill Bass • Built many roads, camps, trails • Helped with tourism • Often worked alone • 1885-Led tourist trips from Williams to Bass Camp • When tourism slow, returned to prospecting

7. Ada Diefendorf Bass

8. Ada Bass • Journal • 1895 • Dec 30- “By God, here we go back to Ashfork.” • Dec 31- “To Prescott again, round trip on pass. Thus endeth this horrible year, can the next be worse? ‘Just Listen’” • 1896 • Jan 1 to 14- “Lived in the ‘Hitt’ cottage doing nothing • Mar 18-20- “Just trying to exist in the Hitt House • Mar 21-23- “Will has another cold…Our money is all gone…’God Help Us.’”

9. Pictured Ada Bass, William G., Mabel, Hazel and Edith

10. Bill and Edith Bass near Bass Camp, circa 1911

11. Myth or Reality? W. W. Bass- Myth Ada Bass- Reality • Adventurous nature • Business prospered • Revered in community • Hard adjustment to frontier life • Frequently left alone • Harsh conditions at times too much • Homesick • Isolated

12. The Harvey Girls

13. Harvey Girls • Single, between 18 and 30 years old • Most motivated by economic hardship • From farm towns in Midwest and South • Looked down upon to be waitress • Decision to go West not universally supported • Civilizers of West • Indians and Hispanics “not civilized”

14. Harvey Girls • Bertha Parker • Grand Canyon, AZ • “Arizona was even closer to California, so off I went.” • Married and remained at Canyon • Lived in canvas tent on rim • Myth • Comfortable life • Spared from most hardships • Husbands • Gained independence

15. The Kolb Brothers

16. The Kolb Brothers • Myth • Adventurers through and through • Never discouraged by failure • Lived to capture for others the beauty and wonder they always saw in the Canyon

17. Did settlers lives support the myth or the reality of the Grand Canyon? • Success at the Grand Canyon depended on the person • Some stories support the myth, others the reality • Depends on… • attitude • personality • sense of adventure • outlook on life • strength to survive

18. Bibliography Bass, William G. William G. Bass Collection, 1890-1970. Northern Arizona University: Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department. (accessed March 18, 2009). The collection contains images most likely taken by the Bass family of the area in which the resided around and in the Canyon. Biography of Ada Bass. Arizona State University: Hayden Arizona Historical Foundation. FB BIO B-36. (accessed March 26, 2009). Contains the journals of Ada Bass and other personal documents. Biography of William Wallace Bass 1849-1933. ASU: Hayden Arizona Historical Foundation. FB BIO B-38. (accessed March 26, 2009). Contains newspaper articles about W.W. Bass from the time and other personal documents. Castle, photographer. “[Grand dad Bass [William Wallace Bass]” Photograph. Item 3919. From NAU Cline Library: Lauzon Family, 1910. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_n um=391 9 (accessed April 7, 2009) “Harvey Girl Training [hostess manual]” Item 65751. From NAU Cline Library: Fred Harvey, Inc. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control _num=14394 (accessed May 3, 2009) Primary:

19. “Harvey Girls” Grand Canyon Railway Photos-Historical Photos. Grand Canyon Railway. http://www.thetrain.com/news/photos/historical.cfm (accessed May 4, 2009) Kolb Bros, photographers. “[Edith Kolb with three girls a dog and horse]” Photograph. Kolb Brothers Studio, 112090. NAU Cline Library: Kolb Bros. 1917-1923. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/ recdisplay.cfm?control_num=18891 (accessed April 7, 2009) Kolb Bros, photographers. “[Grand Canyon scenic view looking east]” Photograph. Kolb Brothers Studio, Item 112470. NAU Cline Library: Kolb Bros. 1902-1976. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/ recdisplay.cfm?control_num=19042 (accessed April 14,2009) “ ‘Now for a Fish Story.’ Ellsworth Kolb on Left and Emery Kolb on Right, after Less Than One Month on the River.” Item 96970 NAU Cline Library: Kolb Brothers. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_ num=15725 (accessed May 4, 2009) Unidentified photographer. “[Ada Bass with baby Edith]” Photograph. Item 3954. NAU Cline Library: Lauzon Family, 1896. http://www6.nau.edu/library/ scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_num=3954 (accessed April 7, 2009)

20. Unidentified photographer. “[Bill and Edith Bass, Bass Camp 1916. [Probably 1911.]]” Photograph. NAU Cline Library: Lauzon Family, 1911. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_ num=4078(accessed April 14, 2009) Unidentified photographer. “[How a Difficult Photograph is Secured]” Photograph. Item 99190. NAU Cline Library: Kolb Bros., 1902-1913. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/imagedisplay.cfm?item_ num=99190(accessed April 26, 2009) Unidentified photographer. “[Mrs. Bass, Willie Bass, Hazel, Mabel, Edith. Oct 30, 1915]” Photograph. Item 3956. NAU Cline Library: Lauzon Family, 1915. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_ num=3956 (accessed April 7, 2009) Unidentified photographer. “[W. W. Bass and tourists in wagon]” Photograph. Item 3859. NAU Cline Library: William G. Bass,1920. http://www6.nau.edu/library/scadb/recdisplay.cfm?control_ num=38 59 (accessed April 14, 2009)

21. Secondary: Anderson, Michael F. Living at the Edge: Explorers, Exploiters and Settlers of the Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon Association, 1998. This textbook gives an extensive look at the history of the Grand Canyon and its people. Chappell, Gordon. "Railroad at the Rim: The Origin and Growth of Grand Canyon Village." Journal of Arizona History 17, no. 1 (1976): 89-107. It traces the history and development of Grand Canyon Village with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad and the Fred Harvey Co. that established the South Rim as a major tourist destination. Madsen, Lisa. “The Grand Canyon Tourist Business of the W.W. Bass Family,” M.A. Thesis, University of New Mexico, 15-16. 1980. A paper about the Bass family, the first white family to live at the rim. Poling-Kempes, Lesley. The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West. New York Paragon House, 1989. This is a book about the Frank Harvey Co. and the women who traveled to places like the Grand Canyon in order to work for his company as a waitress and seek adventure in a new territory.

22. Rothman, Hal. Devil’s Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth-Century American West. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Several chapters from his book discussing tourism in the West, especially the Grand Canyon, and how it has changed the area. Schaafsma, Polly. "On the Edge of Splendor: Exploring Grand Canyon's Human Past." New Mexico Historical Review 67, (1992): 195-196. This article discusses people who lived at and shaped the Grand Canyon into what it is today. Includes the Basses and the Kolbs. Suran, William C. The Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon Natural History Association, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 1991. A booklet about the Kolb Brothers and their life at the Canyon.

23. About this project • Abby Freed created this powerpoint for HST 300 at Arizona State University. • All rights reserved; fair use is allowed for educational purposes.