Historic Boat Project

Masquerade Ball

As you have read over the past year, the Grand Canyon Historic Boat Project has been extremely successful in beginning the move toward preservation and first-rate display and interpretation of our river heritage. Many of you have joined in moving the boats and volunteered time to help in the tedious process of cleaning. As of this month the full fleet is scheduled for stabilization over the winter. By this fall we hope to have one or more back in public view at the South Rim. It has been a monumental undertaking and would be nowhere without enthusiasm and support from the river community and the National Park Service.
As we look forward to the completion of the “Save the Boats” phase of our project, the larger project comes into clear focus. That is, the state-of-the-art display and interpretation of the boats and the legacy they represent—not only the evolution of a craft and technique for running Grand Canyon, but the birth of a particular type of person that chose to attempt this river, and the transition into the tight-knit river community of today.
Our sights are focused on the old historic Laundry Building, just across the train tracks from the Bright Angel Lodge. It is a beautiful, open building, ideal for the boats and a few hundred paces from the rim, where literally millions of tourists visit every year. The opportunity to tell the river story to this vast new audience, and build support for the river and its values, is nothing short of amazing. But…Here is the big catch: all this is going to be kind of pricey. We need all your help to do it. So now that we have movement and direction, we are having our first major public event, to tell our story, to raise awareness, to begin raising funds, and mostly to have a great time. Beginning at 7:30 on October 30, following Grand Canyon River Guides Fall Meeting, we are throwing a gala Masquerade Ball at Joe’s Place, 202 East Route 66, in downtown Flagstaff. The costume theme is boats, boaters, rivers, river trips—one person said she is coming as her favorite river meal. Anything goes. Arizona’s greatest dance band, Limbs Akimbo,will be playing. There’ll be, door prizes, raffles, and a silent auction of rare river literature and art. (Let us know if you’d like to contribute!) The event is open to the general public, so bring everyone you can. Call or email about donating auction or raffle items: (928) 774-1760, fran@gcnpf.org
Please consider the cover charge of $10 (in advance) or $12 (at the door) as a bargain donation to a very worthy cause. And come ready to meet the folks leading the project, learn more about the successes and goals, bid on great river items, and dance until dawn. Well, until they throw us out.
Brad Dimock

All the People Come Together
for the Right Purposes

The second public move of Grand Canyon National Park’s historic boats occurred on June 8, as Norm Nevills’s WEN, Martin Litton’s Music Temple, and Ed Hudson’s Esmeralda II escaped the confines of the courtyard at the old visitor center. This required the temporary removal of the front glass panels and doors. But, as Superintendent Joe Alston stated, it’s “just been one of those wonderful days when all the people come together for the right purposes.”
Another of the right people was Deputy Superintendent Kate Cannon. Both were found pushing cradled boats and, late in the day, at the warehouse to see the craft in their temporary location for conservation work (that is, stabilization, not restoration). One of the Advisory Committee (ac) members stated: “For the river running community, these are our traditional cultural properties” (tcps). Whether they technically qualify as tcps will be left for a future article. That statement, however, has already kindled lively discussion with the ac members and three local archaeologists.
Quiz question (answer at the bottom): how much does the Esmeralda II weigh, including motor?
The line drawings for the WEN and the Galloway boats have been completed by Todd Bloch of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (nhp). As Anne Whiteman, who cleaned the boats in their courtyard days, told ac member Brad Dimock, “It was one of my favorite assignments...Wouldn’t it be great to recreate some of them and go down river again?” Master mariner Dimock is already working on it.
We’ve also talked to Bill Doll and John Muir from San Francisco Maritime nhp, the guys who designed and built the original cradles and wrote a condition report. Bill remarked that it’s wonderful that we have so much information on the boats. They have 125 boats in their collection and they know very little about them; oftentimes their donation is discovered literally on their doorstep in the morning.
Ken Hord, a neighbor of Ed Hudson, and a river runner himself who watched Ed Sr. build the Esmeralda II, contacted us to say he’s spoken with Ed Jr., who still has his dad’s movies. All of these contacts are reminders that part of this project is to collect oral histories of folks involved with the historic boats. When the Colorado River Running Museum is ready for the boats to be on display, we will have movies and stories about river runners in addition to boat history.
Another new ac member from the Upper Basin has joined us. We’d like to welcome Larry Hopkins of Telluride. A young Larry and his parents boated with Alexander Zee Grant, Grand Canyon’s first kayaker, and a fellow boater of Walter Kirschbaum’s mentored him in kayaking. He also was on trips with Georgie and works for Canyon Explorations.
After having several articles requesting input and opinions on the future of the historic boats, particularly the two left in the Canyon, Ross Wheeler and Bert’s Grand Canyon, printed in four boating, backcountry hiking, and historical publications, the ac is stunned that we have yet to receive any comments. The ac and Park Service hold a variety of opinions that run the gamut. However, we would appreciate your thoughts for our strategic debates; you may have the perfect answer, one that we have yet to explore. We need your help, ideas, and enthusiasm. A fundraising party and general all-around good time will be held right after the Fall Meeting October 30. Read about it in an accompanying article.

Richard Quartaroli