The History Behind the Histories

Oral history interviews have become the hallmark of each issue of the boatman’s quarterly review and with good reason—they exemplify and capture the very spirit of river running culture in Grand Canyon. We feel that it is our responsibility to “crystallize” that essence, as river running has indeed forged its own traditions and created new ones, building its own colorful culture over time.
A decade ago, gcrg worked with Northern Arizona University’s Cline Library and the Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation to tape, record, and transcribe over eighty interviews. Those interviews run the gamut of some of the wildest and most incredible river stories imaginable, coupled with broader themes—How did river running as we know it start out? Where did it go? What is the significance of Glen Canyon Dam? What happened during the big flood of 1983? When it comes to management, where do we go from here? These oral histories connect us to the river running community, they provide us with much needed historical perspective, and they teach us respect for the Colorado River and for the intrepid individuals who are irresistibly drawn to it time and time again.
The initial funding gave us the big push we needed to dive in and capture those memories before they were lost. We were so very lucky to be able to interview such amazing individuals as Georgie White, Tad Nichols, David Brower, Bill Beer, and many others. While still focusing on “historical figures,” we have also broadened our focus to include more contemporary river runners, hoping to demonstrate some of the changes and as well as the continuity over time. After all, each new generation of river runners demonstrates “history in the making” and they all have new stories to tell.
To our knowledge, there exists no other river running oral history compendium of such depth as is continually presented in the boatman’s quarterly review. This is primarily due to the exhaustive efforts of Lew Steiger, who has plied countless interview subjects with plenty of beer, lots of laughter, and probing questions. His expertise and that of Brad Dimock ,who conducted many key interviews himself, has made our Oral History Project what it is today. Our editors, Mary Williams and Katherine Spillman, play no small part as they take these disparate submissions and magically turn them into a fabulous publication. What utterly talented individuals all of these folks are. We’re so lucky to have them working on our behalf.

Ggrg has been able to forge ahead with our Oral History Project due to generous support from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, and most recently, from the Arizona Humanities Council. This funding allows us to bring these oral histories to you as a regular feature in the bqr, while nau Cline Library Special Collections Department continues to serve as the archival repository for the tapes, transcriptions, and safety dubs. In fact, many of the transcripts can be accessed on nau Cline Library’s website, www.nau.edu/library/specoll and some online sound recordings are available where narrator permission has been granted. This broadens public access to these interviews as the website and digital archives are regularly used by researchers, students, tourists, and river history aficionados. And of course, most issues of the boatman’s quarterly review are posted in a searchable format on gcrg’s own website, http:www.gcrg.org/bqr. If you are a recent gcrg member and have a desire to wander through past issues, this is an easy way to do it.
As yet another way of sharing these oral histories with you, gcrg will include a presentation at our Guides Training Seminar Land Session, (March 26–27, 2005) to summarize the findings of our Oral History Project. This portion of the event will be sponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council as part of our public outreach component. Look for more details in the next issue of the bqr.
It is our hope that these oral histories will instill a sense of stewardship and advocacy as they provide wonderful opportunities to vicariously share those experiences and that same sense of wonder and awe for Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. The deep love of the place shines from these interviews; and it is a love we all share. Our partners in this endeavor believe as we do that these interviews provide a freshness and sense of immediacy that more static biographies lack. The secret is, of course, that river runners spin the best stories of all…

Lynn Hamilton