Lake Powell - Photos from the Early Years

At Mile 44 along HITR, you pass Carcass Wash, site of a famous Boy Scout tragedy in 1963. On June 10 of that year, 13 people—7 of them scouts from Provo—died here as the pickup they were riding in the bed of lost control and plunged over the side as it tried to pull out of the steep wash heading east, toward what was supposed to have been a Colorado River adventure. They never made it but should have, since the grade is nothing too imposing by canyon standards—but clearly enough to be deadly. The road out of Carcass Wash is steep and grinding, making a tough horseshoe turn as it screws up the far side. The overloaded truck probably was under too much strain, missed a gear and lost its brakes. It slid backwards into the wash, maybe 100 feet down into the rocks below. In 1993, a small memorial that looks like a tombstone was erected at the bend that tells the story more completely.

1993 - Carcass Wash - 1963 Memorial.jpg
 
Gem Morris said:
Years ago before the dam was built there used to be an organization that would haul people on that road so they could run the river. I think they would put in at hole in the rock and take out at Lee’s ferry, but I’m not 100% sure? They had an old truck or tractor that would haul an open trailer full of people. Going up a steep grade the driver felt he needed to downshift and put in the clutch and attempted to downshift and missed, and the tractor gained momentum going backwards. The trailer was so heavy compared to the tow rig that there is no way the brakes of the tow rig could hold it from going back. Eventually, the entire rig overturned killing something around 10?
There is a monument on the side of the road at the site of the accident.
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Dorado said:
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"The party, which had swelled to 49 people, piled in the truck, three in the cab and 46 in the back. (Boy Scouts of America rules prohibited Scouts from riding in an open truck long before the accident. Scout leaders throughout Utah have since used it as an example.)"

Wow. I'm not sure what a cattle truck looks like, or how big it is. But 46 people in the back!
 
Rolling backwards against your wishes is a terrible feeling. When I was a young lad I was driving an old dump truck filled with bricks up a steep road when the light turned red. I came to a stop, but the truck immediately began rolling backwards. The old drum brakes wouldn't hold, no matter how hard I stood on the pedal. I envisioned wiping out cars, houses, and maybe people so I revved the engine, popped the clutch, and got that old dump truck hoppin' and poppin' until it began crawling up the hill and through the red light! I avoided front page news. Things happen quickly, so when traveling the hole in the rock, or blue notch, or any other treacherous roads, be extra careful.
 
JFRCalifornia said:
Art Greene supervises the launch of a new tour boat on Lake Powell in 1964...

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Love the picture JFR. A couple of years ago I ran into possibly this boat or another identical one from the fleet in a storage yard in Big Water. It was in bad shape but all there and still had the very recognizable Art Greene LP logo or seal on the bow. I climbed on board and looked around. As I remember it was powered with twin diesels.

I was in the same yard last year and it's no longer there, I wonder where it went or if it was scrapped? I'd like to find out1760102759192.jpeg
 
Rainbowbridge said:
Great pic! Do you think it was an early jet or straight inboard? :unsure:
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Great high res photo JFR! I think it was an inboard, I believe this is the mid 1950’s before water jets were in widespread use and they need a lot of power and therefore use a lot of fuel. Art Greene, a Colorado River Legend, was running all the way from Lee’s Ferry to Rainbow Bridge giving tours and had fuel cashes along the way so I’m sure he was looking for fuel efficiency with the next one. His previous boat was powered by a Pratt and Whitney radial aircraft engine and was an air boat, probably the opposite of fuel efficient but very cool! Art Greene was the first Concessionaire at Lake Powell before he sold to Dell Webb in 1975. Before The Dam he ran tours from Lee’s Ferry to Rainbow Bridge. After the dam he ran from Wahweap to Rainbow with the big boat in one of JFR’s photo, the boat I think I found in Big Water a few years ago

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Arts original tour boat

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Art in action with a tour group in front of Sentinel Rock with the original Air Boat

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Art with what I think is the same boat JFR posted a picture of with tourists probably headed to or from Rainbow Bridge. Looks like a picnic on the banks of the Colorado River Circa 1955
 
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Marina Bum said:
Great high res photo JFR! I think it was an inboard, I believe this is the mid 1950’s before water jets were in widespread use and they need a lot of power and therefore use a lot of fuel. Art Greene, a Colorado River Legend, was running all the way from Lee’s Ferry to Rainbow Bridge giving tours and had fuel cashes along the way so I’m sure he was looking for fuel efficiency with the next one. His previous boat was powered by a Pratt and Whitney radial aircraft engine and was an air boat, probably the opposite of fuel efficient but very cool! Art Greene was the first Concessionaire at Lake Powell before he sold to Dell Webb in 1975. Before The Dam he ran tours from Lee’s Ferry to Rainbow Bridge. After the dam he ran from Wahweap to Rainbow with the big boat in one of JFR’s photo, the boat I think I found in Big Water a few years ago

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Arts original tour boat

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Art in action with a tour group in front of Sentinel Rock with the original Air Boat

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Art with what I think is the same boat JFR posted a picture of with tourists probably headed to or from Rainbow Bridge. Looks like a picnic on the banks of the Colorado River Circa 1955
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I don't know if this photo is appropriate for this page. I found it in my feed today. I think it was entitled "Photos from the first 50 years of Lake Powell" or something like that. It looks like a lot of fun.
 

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RobertGosselin said:
I don't know if this photo is appropriate for this page. I found it in my feed today. I think it was entitled "Photos from the first 50 years of Lake Powell" or something like that. It looks like a lot of fun.
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Welp, some of you may say Ol’ Trix has lost it, but I have a story about that ski photo. We were hanging round Wahweap ramp and approached by a couple guys, who said, we are going to set the world record for skiers behind the tour boat (Emma Jean, right, same as JW Powell’s boat?), you interested in joining us? As fun as that seemed, we were anxious to get up lake, and declined the offer. Found out later that they did set the record, 104 skiers is the number in my brain. Darn, I could have claimed to be a world class athlete!
 
RobertGosselin said:
I don't know if this photo is appropriate for this page. I found it in my feed today. I think it was entitled "Photos from the first 50 years of Lake Powell" or something like that. It looks like a lot of fun.
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They used the twin diesel tour boat in this thread for the Worlds Record Water ski tow, one and the same according to the folks I’ve talked to who were around then. One of those guys participated and was in the photos of the event and is a member on Wayne’s Words.
 
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Here's a great 1935 aerial photo of the Colorado River with Castle Butte prominent to the right. View is northwest, over what would one day become Good Hope Bay. That's Ticaboo Creek coming in from the left at lower left, and Blue Notch joining the river from the right in front of Castle Butte. This photo was taken as part of a survey effort to support a 1930s proposal called Escalante National Monument, which would have been centered on Glen Canyon. Of course, that idea never came to fruition, but its proposed boundaries were shown on some roadmaps from that time.

1935 - Roger Toll Survey - Castle Butte.jpeg
 
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