Sanderson and Sparks:Where it all Started

A panel discussion recorded at the GCRG Guide’s Training Seminar in Page, Arizona, at the Wilderness River Adventures warehouse. Spring 1992. The moderator is Tim Whitney.

   Jerry Sanderson: You caught me off guard. A lot of beautiful people here today. Brings the old river business back. I’ve been out of it for a number of years, but I still have a great love for that Canyon. I’m planning on getting down there this year.

   We started back with my dad [Rod Sanderson]. I guess it all began back in 1947. It started out kind of as a hobby. I was not involved personally, myself, until 1959. Dad made quite a few trips down in the past, with old Dock Marston, and Jimmy Jordan and a bunch of them.

   Whitney: Willy Taylor.

   Jerry: Willy Taylor. He’s still down there. In fact, I think he’s the last person that was authorized that we can. . . . that died, was buried in Grand Canyon. From then on, everybody had to be brought out of the Canyon.

   Whitney: Last one.

   Jerry: Last one. Willy was an old bachelor. He never had no heirs, and he had made several trips through the Canyon with Dock Marston and Dad. He had a heart problem. Every trip he’d go down, he’d say, “Dock, if the old ticker gives out, this is where I want to stay. This is my home.” Well, one night he didn’t wake up. And so they all took a secret ballot vote— there was nine people on that particular trip, and it was like the case of the...

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