GCHS Publications
The Ol’ Pioneer magazine, contains stories of historical events and people at Grand Canyon written by members that share tales of Grand Canyon never found in history books.
The Ol’ Pioneer Archive
A newsletter, giving information concerning upcoming and past events of the group along with letters and articles written by members.
The Bulletin Newsletter Archive
In the early days of the GCHS, the newsletters were produced with a more casual touch. Here are scanned copies of some of those.
Early Newsletter Archives
Grand Canyon History Symposium Proceedings
Proceedings of the Sixth Grand Canyon History Symposium
November 2023
Edited by Earle Spamer, 8.5″ x 11”, 165 pages, softcover
Available from the Grand Canyon Conservancy online shop.
Proceedings of the 2002 Grand Canyon History Symposium
Available online
Proceedings of the 2012 Grand Canyon History Symposium
Available online
Proceedings of the 2016 Grand Canyon History Symposium
Available online
Proceedings of the 2019 Grand Canyon History Symposium
Available online
Proceedings of the 2021 Colorado River Basin History Symposium
Available online
Books & Publications of Interest
From the Arizona Historical Society
The Journal of Arizona History, Vol. 60, No. 4, Grand Canyon National Park at 100 (WINTER 2019)
Read the full issue online at Project Muse
Introduction
By Byron E. Pearson
Nature and Environment of Grand Canyon
“These Dismal Abysses”: An Environmental History of Grand Canyon National Park
By Byron E. Pearson
“The Burro Evil”: The Removal of Feral Burros from Grand Canyon National Park, 1924-1983
By Abbie Harlow
Grand Canyon in Art and Literature
One Canyon, Countless Canyon Stories: Exploring the Narrative Grand Canyon
By Kim Engel-Pearson
Cultural Artifact and Work of Art: Grand Canyon Landscape Painting
By Amy Ilona Stein
Science and Tourism in Grand Canyon
Viewing Power and Place at Grand Canyon: Grand View Point, 1880-1926
By Yolonda Youngs
An Interview with the Great Unconformity: Howie Usher, Scientist and River Guide
By Howie Usher, Amy Ilona Stein, and Byron E. Pearson
Law and Policy of Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon as Legal Creation
By Jason Anthony Robison
Grand Adaptation: A Dammed River and a Confluence of Interests
By Jennifer Sweeney and Paul Hirt
Mapping Grand Canyon
Rescaling Geography: Grand Canyon Exploratory and Topographic Mapping, 1777-1978
By Matthew Toro
One Hundred and Sixty Years of Grand Canyon Geological Mapping
By Karl Karlstrom, Laura Crossey, Peter Huntoon, George Billingsley, Michael Timmons, and Ryan Crow
The Grandest Trek: Unforgettable People, Stories, and Lessons for Life from Hiking the Length of the Grand Canyon
By Tom Myers
By 1976, a dozen people had walked on the moon and more than fifty had reached “the ceiling of the world,” the summit of Mount Everest. But an end-to-end, below-the-rim hike of arguably the greatest canyon on earth—the Grand Canyon—had never been made. Then, in April of that year, Kenton Grua became the first in recorded history to complete the length of the canyon.
While to date, roughly 7,000 have summited Everest, fewer than 75 people have been documented as having walked the Grand Canyon’s entire length. In 2016, Tom Myers and his son Weston joined this exclusive group.
The Grandest Trek is a record of Tom and Weston’s challenging, sometimes hair- raising quest, accomplished in segments over nearly eight years. This is a highly personal account of Tom Myers’ journey through life, the origin of his desire to hike the length of the canyon, and the ups and downs of the bonding experience with his son.
Puma Press, 2025, $39.95
Available at Bright Side Bookshop in downtown Flagstaff and in Grand Canyon Conservancy shops and from their website.
Canyon and Cosmos: Searching for Human Identity in the Grand Canyon
By Don Lago
Throughout history, humans have sought creation stories to define our identity and affirm our connections with the universe, diverse life forms, and one another. Over the last two centuries, science has delivered a bold new creation story full of immense time and space, extraordinary objects, and powerful natural forces. Science ideas can seem mere abstractions, but at the Grand Canyon, better than anywhere else on Earth, our new creation story is manifested physically and powerfully.
Canyon and Cosmos takes readers on a journey through the Grand Canyon’s deep time, geological forces, and biological evolution, making them very real, personal, and meaningful. Ranging through world mythologies and Native American spirituality, Lago explores how humans have sought to understand the universe and confronts existential questions of whether humans can find enough meaning in the scientific cosmos.
University of Nevada Press, 2025, $29.95
Available at Bright Side Bookshop in downtown Flagstaff.
Path Of Light: A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon
By Morgan Sjogren
Path of Light treks back through time as author and explorer Morgan Sjogren retraces the 1920s expeditions led by Charles L. Bernheimer into the heart of Glen Canyon and Bears Ears National Monument. Using journals and photographs from the expeditions to recreate these historic routes, Sjogren encounters powerful perspectives and stories about land management and human rights issues that carry forth into the present. Mindful of the pervasive effects of colonization and motivated by a deeply personal care for the land, Sjogren asks what it means to be an explorer while learning from the people who have loved the land for millennia and moments. Path of Light walks towards an illuminated understanding of the landscape and its history in an effort to help preserve it for the future.
Torrey House Press, 2023, 375 pages, softcover
Price: $25 USD includes shipping and handling.
www.torreyhouse.org
Dick Brown’s Under the Canyon Sky Trilogy
Canyon Crossroads – the first book of the trilogy
ISBN 978-1-64540-945-8, paperback, 226 pp, SRP $15.95
This is the story of the Grand Canyon pioneers, lost gold, mine explosions, stagecoach rollovers, nefarious business dealings, political ambitions gone awry, and a mysterious woman prospector.
Canyon Crossroads brings to life the intrigue and romance of pioneers at the Grand Canyon amidst governmental pressures and a backdrop of natural wonders. Highly recommended!
Heart of Gold – the second book of the trilogy
ISBN 979-8-89022-052-3, paperback, 263 pp, SRP $16.95
This is the story of copper mines, rockslides, outlaws, beer-drinking burros, a railway on the brink, conflicting federal regulations, and badgering of the Grand Canyon pioneers by a flourishing commercial tourist industry that fiercely opposes independents
Follow the twists and turns of mining, politics and romance in Heart of Gold, Dick Brown’s well-written continuing saga of pioneer life at the Grand Canyon. A definite page turner!
– Dr. Gary Fogel, Author and Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University.
Guarding the Treasure – the third book of the trilogy
ISBN 979-8-89022-141-4, paperback, 262 pp, SRP $16.95
By day, the Canyon flaunts wild colors and teasing shadows; by night, it sleeps under a canopy of shimmering stars. Sadly, the Federal government contemplates damming parts of the Colorado River, which would obliterate natural and cultural resources.
Guarding the Treasure fulfills the promise of protecting the glory of the Grand Canyon for future generations, through a masterfully woven tale of natural wonder and human history. A must read.
– Dr. Gary Fogel, Author and Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University.
Author Bio: Dick Brown authored and co-authored six award-winning books before this trilogy. He is a former president of the Grand Canyon Historical Society. He has spent decades researching the early pioneers and the Canyon’s bumpy road from unbridled backcountry to a great national park and beyond. It is the venerable pioneers of the late 19th century, with their struggles to survive and thrive on the ragged edge of this tremendous abyss, that inspired Dick to write this historical novel.
Grand Canyon is a special place. I appreciate your interest and connection to it. I also appreciate your work to engage others in it through your fiction writing.
– Ed Keable, GCNP Superintendent.
Available at Amazon as a print book and eBook.
Contact Information: Dick Brown, PO Box 2620, Tijeras, NM 87059, 505-281-2069, email dbrown779@aol.com
Publications by Earle Spamer
Earle Spamer has created a wealth of bibliographical and historical resources on the Grand Canyon and the Lower Colorado River regions available from his
Ravens Perch web site.
The Gunnar Widforss Catalogue Raisonné
By Alan Petersen
During the 1920’s and 30’s, Swedish-American painter Gunnar Widforss was known as the Painter of the National Parks. Widforss is best remembered for his paintings of Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. He captured his subjects in watercolor in a captivating, realistic style that emphasizes light and space.
An online publication available at https:www.gunnarwidforss.org
John Hance: The Life, Lies, and Legend of Grand Canyon’s Greatest Storyteller
By Shane Murphy
A legend in his own lifetime, John Hance (1837–1919) was synonymous with early Grand Canyon tourism. President Theodore Roosevelt affectionately referred to Hance as “the greatest liar on earth.” It was said that Hance tried to jump the canyon on his horse Darby only to turn back when he was halfway over and realized he would never make it across.
The truth behind Hance’s life is remarkable even without embellishment. In this book, Shane Murphy chronicles Hance’s childhood in Tennessee and Missouri, his service in the Confederacy during the Civil War, his time in Union prisons as a POW, and his later adventures with the Hickok brothers crossing the plains. Settling in Arizona’s fruitful Verde Valley, Hance farmed and filled military contracts before taking up residence as Grand Canyon’s first permanent Euro-American settler, trail builder, guide, and renowned storyteller.
Grand Canyon historian Shane Murphy left no stone unturned as he investigated assessors’ rolls, rare mercantile ledgers, and mining claims to create a full and compelling narrative of a man who was once an icon of the American West and should be remembered as the founding father of Grand Canyon tourism.
University of Utah Press, 2020, 230 pages softcover.
$30 includes shipping and handling.
With the Wings of an Angel
By William C. Suran
This biography of Ellsworth and Emery Kolb was never published but is available online here.
2026 Flier for Guide Training Seminars