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Monument Valley expeditions of 1933-1934 photograph albums
(part of
Collection P 009: Ansel Hall photographs)

Years this material was created: 1933-1934
Quantity: 917 photographs in 9 albums

 © 2003  by Fort Lewis College Foundation, Center of Southwest Studies account


Links to contents

Preface

Administrative information

Introduction/ Scope and contents

Links to digital images by volume

 Links to images through the itemized list of photographs 
Center of Southwest Studies collection inventories
Center of Southwest Studies

Related collection elsewhere


Introduction/ Scope and contents

The Center of Southwest Studies has provided digital access to the pages of  photos in nine albums documenting Ansel Hall's Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expeditions of 1933-34 (approximately 2,000 sepia toned black and white photographs).  These photos present an Anglo pioneer's early view of indigenous Native American life in the Four Corners region.  The photos show the young white men who went on this expedition (funded by the Ford Motor Company), and they also show Native Americans in pre-Western settings.  (Click on the image to the right to view a photo from this collection: Everett Ruess and an unidentified shirtless man tugging a burro at Monument Valley, circa 1934-36.)

Ansel Hall (1894-1962) probably contributed more than any other individual to the formation and early growth of the interpretive work of the National Park Service.  He left the Park Service in 1938 to operate the concessions in Mesa Verde National Park.  William and Merrie (daughter of Mr. Hall) Winkler donated this collection to the Center of Southwest Studies on September 17, 1992 (accession 1992:09003).

Through its partnership with the Colorado Digitization Program (CDP -- now the Collaborative Digitization Program) the Center of Southwest Studies has digitized many thousands of images selected from a number of collections, for viewing on the Web for educational purposes and research.  To search for digital images at the Center of Southwest Studies and elsewhere, go to Heritage West.

 


The CDP is supported through a National Leadership Grant to the University of Denver Penrose Library from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (a federal grant-making agency in Washington, D.C., which fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, by supporting museums and libraries) with additional assistance from the Colorado State Library, and the Colorado Regional Library Systems.

The Center chose these photo album pages for digitization because of their national significance and due to the preservation problems they face.  Many decades ago, the Rainbow Bridge photos were glued to acidic pages using rubber cement.  As those photos fall off there was a danger of losing the identifying descriptions that were written on those pages.  The remainder of this collection has been reboxed archivally. 

Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition photo albums overview and entry points:

Vol. 1  Photos by Robert B. Branstead, starts with page 7 (we did not scan the preceding pages, which were stuck together as a result of  water damage) through page 98.

Vol. 2  Photos by Robert B. Branstead, continues from Vol. 1 with with page 99 and goes through 168 (we excluded pages 169 and 170, which were water damaged and illegible)

Vol. 3  Photos by Robert B. Branstead; the pages were not numbered originally; we have numbered the pages starting with page 1 and going through the last page [82].

Vol. 4  Leica photos by Clifford Bond, starts with an introduction page, then page numbers 1 through 106.

(We have no Vol. 5)  -- but see also Air views of Monument Valley and Navajo mountain region by F. Linden Naylor, pilot for the expedition.  This volume, donated by his grandson Doug Levy, contains 44 distinct aerial photos taken during the Expedition of 1933.  Mr. Levy wrote (email on November 6, 2002 to Todd Ellison) that “My grandfather was quite a pilot--he and my step-grandmother made a trans-continental flight in an open cockpit bi-plane.  Somewhere in Arizona there's a Naylor Field.  He served in Morocco in the early years of World War II as a colonel in the Mediterranean Allied Air Force.”   The photos are numbered and captioned.  (See list of titles, below.)  Each photo measures 160 x 120 mm.  The album contains a total of 71 photoprints, including duplicates.  Not yet digitized.  (Accession 2002:11004)

Vol. 6  Aerial photos by Thorn L. Mayes, starts with page 491 and goes through page 629.  Thorn Mayes (1903-ca. 1988) "headed the mapping efforts of the expeditions.  His aerial photography was as significant an innovation as Robert Brewster Stanton's photography of the Grand Canyon when surveying his would-be route for a rail line." (per email 1/17/2002 from Alfred E. Holland, Jr., History Department, California State University, Sacramento)

Vol. 7  Photos by Clifford Bond dated 10/23/1934; the pages were not numbered originally; we have numbered the pages, starting with page 1 and going through the last page (82).

Vol. 8  Leica photos by Clifford Bond dated 10/19/1934; the pages were not numbered originally; we have numbered the pages, starting with page [0] and going through the last page (91).

Vol. 9  Photos by [Grace?] Hoover, 1934, pages not numbered; we have numbered the pages, starting with page  #1 and going through the last page

Vol. 12  Aerial photos by Ansel Hall, 1934, pages not numbered; the pages are numbered by the Center of Southwest Studies starting with page #2 and going through the last page

.



List of photographs in the albums

Monument Valley Expedition albums photos titles with URL links

ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY CAPTION IN PHOTO ALBUM

Search suggestion: you can search this web page by name using the Edit-> Find in Page (Ctrl+F) feature on your Web browser.
Click on the web page address in the right-hand column to see the digital image.

Photograph title

Vol.#

Page#

Photo#

Click to see digital image

A beautiful reason for cliff dwellers; cliff directly opposite Kit Seal

1

29

28

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0081029Page.htm

A common experience

1

96

387

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0081096Page.htm

A rainbow seen through Rainbow Bridge

2

126

127

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0082126Page.htm

A rest in Kit Seal Canyon

1

27

25

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0081027Page.htm

A smoke while resting

2

111

445

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0082111Page.htm

Aglatha and Owl

6

625

625

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0086625Page.htm

Aglatha Wash?

6

542

542

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0086542Page.htm

Aglatha Wash?

6

543

543

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0086543Page.htm

Aglatha?

6

540

540

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P0086540Page.htm

Air view down forbidding Canyon

12

53

29

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812053Page.htm

Air view down forbidding Canyon looking south

12

54

25

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812054Page.htm

Air view down Glen Canyon

12

39

5

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812039Page.htm

Air view down on Channel Beds

12

48

28

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812048Page.htm

Air view down on Channel Beds

12

49

23

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812049Page.htm

Air view down on northwest of Navajo Mountain

12

67

24

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812067Page.htm

Air view from Agathala Needle from east

12

12

12

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812012Page.htm

Air view from Agathala Needle from southwest

12

13

13

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812013Page.htm

Air view from Brier Valley

12

14

17

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812014Page.htm

Air view from Comb Wash

12

18

23

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812018Page.htm

Air view from Rainbow Bridge from north

12

62

18

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812062Page.htm

Air view of Comb Ridge

12

9

9

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812009Page.htm

Air view of Comb Ridge

12

19

28

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812019Page.htm

Air view of Comb Ridge from about 3000 ft.

12

10

19

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812010Page.htm

Air view of country of Navajo Mountain

12

38

4

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812038Page.htm

Air view of country of Navajo Mountain

12

40

2

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812040Page.htm

Air view of Cummings mesa

12

68

28

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812068Page.htm

Air view of forbidding Canyon looking south

12

55

17

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812055Page.htm

Air view of Monument and Comb Ridge

12

21

2

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812021Page.htm

Air view of Monument Valley

12

20

29

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812020Page.htm

Air view of Monument Valley and Agathala Needle

12

22

8

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812022Page.htm

Air view of Monument Valley and Comb Ridge

12

31

21

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812031Page.htm

Air view of monument Valley from west

12

23

9

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812023Page.htm

Air view of Navajo Mountain looking northeast

12

37

31

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812037Page.htm

Air view of Northwest flank of Navajo Mountain looking east

12

36

21

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812036Page.htm

Air view of Owl Rock and surrounding country

12

11

11

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812011Page.htm

Air view of Rainbow Bridge form northeast

12

63

13

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812063Page.htm

Air view of Rainbow Bridge from south

12

60

16

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812060Page.htm

Air view of San Juan Canyons

12

34

24

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812034Page.htm

Air view of Skeleton Mesa

12

50

22

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812050Page.htm

Air view of Totem Pole region

12

25

12

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812024Page.htm

Air view of Totem Pole region of Monument Valley

12

26

10

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812026Page.htm

Air view of Totem Pole region of Monument Valley

12

27

16

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812027Page.htm

Air view of Totem Pole region of Monument Valley

12

28

17

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812028Page.htm

Air view of Totem Pole region of Monument Valley

12

29

19

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812029Page.htm

Air view of Varato Mountain Cliff

12

43

19

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812043Page.htm

Air view over country northeast of Navajo Mountain

12

64

10

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/P008/P00812064Page.htm

Air view over Monument Valley