Galloway style river boat, the 'Edith' Built

The Kolb brothers, Emery and Ellsworth, came to the Grand Canyon long before it was designated a national park in 1919. In 1903, they built a home and photography studio right on the edge of the great chasm and made a living selling photos of mule riders and scenic vistas to visitors.

Known for their fearlessness when it came to procuring good photos, the Kolbs explored remote parts of Grand Canyon whenever business was slow enough to give them a break from the studio, lugging a bulky 8"xl O" camera and glass plates with them. They became known as the 'daring photographers of the Grand Canyon'.

In 1911, with little boating experience, the Kolbs decided to retrace the 1869 expedition of famed explorer John Wesley Powell down the Green and Colorado rivers. They left Green River, Wyoming on September 8 in two wooden boats built for the journey using plans from an earlier expedition. The flat-bottomed, 16' crafts had airtight compartments at each end and weighed 1200 lbs. when loaded with provisions, camp necessities, and photographic equipment. Emery's boat was named 'Edith' after his 4-year old daughter. By journey's end, in Needles, California on January 18, 1912, they had traversed 1200 miles and were the eighth recorded expedition to run the Colorado River through Grand Canyon. Using a hand-cranked motion picture camera, they produced a movie that was shown daily in their studio on the South Rim for over 60 years, the longest run of any motion picture anywhere. The film was also shown at lectures across the country, helping to popularize the Grand Canyon as a wondrous destination.

Though the Grand Canyon is a geologic wonder carved by time and erosion, artifacts like the 'Edith' symbolize the adventurous and entrepreneurial spirits that have been inspired by the Grand Canyon and other national parks.