Linda Lou Lindeman
ot that many folks on the river today remember Linda Lou Lindemann’s smile. She graced the Canyoneers fleet in the early 1970s, cooking and swamping with her husband Dan. Her energy and sparkle were a joy to all who beheld them. In 1973 Linda and Dan wed at the foot of the falls, deep in the back of Travertine Grotto, the roar of the water drowning the voice of the fully-robed minister (who wore cut-offs and sneakers beneath his garments).
Born Linda Robb in Douglas, Arizona in 1950, she earned a BS from Northern Arizona University and later worked as the first woman cook for the Forest Service Hot Shot crew. After retiring from Grand Canyon, she taught Home Economics at Page High School. Her career was cut short when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which, over the following decades, slowly claimed her body. But her mind, spirit, and optimism remained strong until the end.
Like so many of us, the River had gotten hold of her and would not let go. In the mid-1980s Linda found a way to continue her involvement with the river community as she compiled her river guide, Colorado River Briefs for a Trip through the Grand Canyon. First published in 1984, it is now in its ninth printing, fully augmented with drawings by husband Dan, who taught art when not boating.
Linda’s increasing handicap did not keep her off the River. She made her last trip in Grand Canyon in 1981, taking the hike to Stone Creek Falls in an oar-and-lawn-chair sedan. She and Dan also ran Alaskan rivers while spending summers in Haines building a cabin. Her final trip was on the San Juan, where decades earlier she had first learned to row. There, on February 20 at Anticline Rapid, her spirit departed this plane. Her ashes now work their way down that stream, headed patiently past her home and husband in Page, back to Grand Canyon.

Brad Dimock

Garth Marston
arth Marston, son of Grand Canyon legend Otis “Dock” Marston and one of three Marston family members on the Grand Canyon First One Hundred list, died quietly in his sleep in Boston, Massachusetts on March 31, 2005. He died of complications of Parkinson’s disease which he had fought for over 13 years.
In 1942, at age 16, Garth joined his father on a heretofore unknown adventure—running the Grand Canyon on a trip led by another Grand Canyon legend, Norm Nevills. For 15 years following the Second World War and graduation from college (Univ. of California), Garth was a frequent boatman for Norm Nevills and his father. Getting married, having five children, and working for a living did not allow him to become as avid a Colorado River runner as his father.
It is quite likely that, in a secondary way, that Garth actually had a role in Dock becoming introduced to the Colorado River. The Marston’s first trip on the River was purely a matter of luck. Two of Dock’s Bohemian Club friends had found out about Nevills’ new adventure idea and had signed up with their sons for the 1942 trip. One of the pairs dropped out and Dock’s Bohemian friend contacted him about having Garth and his son replace the other father-son team. It is not too farfetched to speculate that Dock may not have gone on the trip if he did not have an athletic teenaged son at the time.
Garth’s first work as a boatman was also an accident. In 1947, Dock Marston returned to river running with Norm Nevills bringing Garth, Garth’s twin daughters Loel and Mala, and Garth’s wife, Shirley, for a Green River trip. Norm Nevills, a world class tall tales teller, exceeded himself on the first night out and one of Norm’s hired boatmen believed him and bailed out. Norm recruited Garth the next morning. Shirley Marston says that watching Garth run his boat through his first rapid was the most nerve racking moment of her life. (This was clearly at a time before outfitters certification and training!!!!!!!)
After the Green River trip, the three women returned to California. Dock’s wife, Margaret (“Mag”), turned over babysitting duties for Garth’s first child, Jeff, to his mother and headed for Arizona where she joined Dock and Garth for a trip through the Grand Canyon. Margaret, therefore, became the third Marston family on the First One Hundred list.
Garth’s three most noteworthy historical trips spanned over three decades. The first trip was in 1957 as a boatman for Dock Marston who guided a Disney film crew trip that shot background footage for what could arguably be one of the worst pseudo-historical movies ever produced, Ten Who Dared, about Major Powell’s first Grand Canyon trip. In addition to guiding the motorized replica boats of the Powell Expedition, Garth and many other boatmen donned 19th century garb and full make-up in the June heat for the filming of authentic rapid-running footage for the movie.
His second trip was in 1960 as a boatman on the down river run of the New Zealand jet boats. He missed the historical up-river trip because he had to return to his job in Seattle. Although he missed the up river trip, both his mother, Margaret, and his daughter, Deborah, rode the Rim as spotters. He and his wife, Shirley, also were on the Old Timer’s/Legends trip sponsored by the us Geological Survey in 1994, along with the Nevills’ daughters, Sandy Reiff and Joan Staveley. This was Garth’s final Grand Canyon run.
Garth and Shirley passed the river running baton and a love of the Grand Canyon to the next two generations of Marstons with many family river trips. The first Marston charter was a 1986 Green River run in Sport yaks. In 1991, Garth and Shirley, three children, two daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren ran the Grand Canyon. In 1997, Garth made his final river run as he and Shirley chartered a Salmon River trip. Although Garth’s Parkinson’s had progressed to the point that he could not join, the Marstons chartered a Grand Canyon trip in 2001. With this second trip, four of Garth’s five children have run the Grand Canyon and all six of his grandchildren.
Over the years, his river career overlapped a pantheon of early river running greats, including the Sanderson brothers and Bill and Buzz Belknap. After the mid-sixties, Garth’s river running focus moved to whitewater kayaking. When he moved to Washington, D.C. in 1973 and then to Boston, he became active in the Appalachian Mountain Club. He became a Class IV kayak boatman and ran many rivers from the Carolinas to Maine.
Garth, the Marston family, and friends have been longtime members of gcrg. Accordingly, the Marston family has requested that memorial donations be sent to Grand Canyon River Guides at po Box 1934, Flagstaff, az 86002. This memorial fund in Garth Marston’s name is being established to promote education on the history of Grand Canyon navigation.

Jeffrey Marston