Ralph and Elizabeth Watson were a married couple who lived in southern California, where Ralph Watson worked as a dentist. According to their family, Ralph Watson, a dentist, became aware of Glen Canyon and the Colorado River while providing dental care to Indigenous people through a Rotary program. The Watsons took a trip to Glen Canyon in 1959.
Glen Canyon is a 169.6-mile canyon on the Colorado River located primarily in southern Utah and northern Arizona. In the 1950s, plans for a hydroelectric dam on the Colorado River were initiated, causing numerous environmental groups to rally in protection of various canyons along the Colorado River watershed. Beginning in 1963, Glen Canyon and its 125 side canyons were flooded as the Powell Reservoir was created over a period of 17 years. The flooding of Glen Canyon was a seminal event in the life of many American environmentalists, from David Brower of the Sierra Club to author Edward Abbey.
Arranged by subject.
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Kay Ogden, Frank and Cecilia Watson in 2013.
Processed by Special Collections staff.
This collection forms part of the River Running Archive, which is part of the S.J. Quinney Outdoor Recreation Archive.
The Ralph and Elizabeth Watson slide collection consists of 34 35mm color slide transparencies of a Glen Canyon River trip and Escalante River taken by Ralph and Elizabeth Watson in 1959. Locations are noted on the slide casings by Elizabeth Watson and include Smith Fork, Forgotten Canyon, Music Temple, Hole in the Rock, Lake Canyon, Moki house, Hidden Passage, Ticaboo, Hite, and other canyon photos.