Heading West - 1901-1902

Before the turn of the twentieth century, a rutted dirt trail connected Williams, Arizona, to a quiet settlement on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, 60 miles away. Prospectors staked their claims in the Canyon and stayed on to mine copper and asbestos.

Ralph Cameron, originally a miner himself, filed claims along the rim and at Indian Garden halfway into the gorge. A far-sighted man, he established a small hotel close to the rim and began improving a trail into the Canyon that would be safe for tourist travel. Visitors were few in those days, but Cameron foresaw the Santa Fe Railroad extending its line from Williams to the Canyon, and he knew the value of his investments.

Other miners followed his example. William Bass and John Hance also saw the economic advantages of the traveler's dollar, and they too built hotels and offered their services as guides.

By September 1901, Grand Canyon Village was a busy place as railroad crews worked feverishly to prepare the line for the first train to reach the Canyon. Men and women scurried along the dry dirt roads and paths, working toward the great event, set for the seventeenth of September, 1901. On that day, all 22 village residents lined up alongside the track as the black steam engine pulled to a stop.

Ellsworth Kolb arrived in Grand Canyon Village on that same train a few weeks later.

His timing could not have been better. The Grand Canyon, which had been one of the country's last frontiers, was about to experience a tourist boom. He got a job chopping wood for the Bright Angel Hotel and soon advanced to porter.

Ellsworth was the oldest of four sons of a Methodist minister. An adventurer with a wandering spirit. Ellsworth left home in Pennsylvania in 1896, at age 21, to travel the West.

After a year at the Canyon, Ellsworth encouraged his younger brother, Emery, to join him. Emery reached Williams, Arizona, on October 10, 1902.

While waiting to make his train connection, he wandered into a photographic store, told the owner of his and Ellsworth's plans to open a photo business, and learned that the store was for sale. Although Emery had no money, he was excited, and with youthful enthusiasm told his brother as soon as his feet touched the ground at the Canyon.

By the following evening the brothers owned a photographic studio. Ellsworth and Emery purchased the business for $425, promising to pay on an installment plan.

Continue - Faces and Mules 1903-1909

 

 

Excerpts from:

Suran, William C. Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon: Being a Collection of Tales of High Adventure, Memorable Incidents and Humorous Anecdotes. Grand Canyon, Arizona. Grand Canyon Association, 1991.

Garrison, Lon. "A Camera and a Dream: The Story of the Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon." Arizona Highways, January 1953.

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