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Emery Kolb Collection, 1850-1988

NAU.MS.197
NAU.MI.568
NAU.OH.77.16
NAU.PH.568

Biographical Note

Born in Pennsylvania in 1881, Emery Kolb shared most of his early adventures with his older brother, Ellsworth. Ellsworth was working at a steel mill when he had an accident that made him look for lighter work. He then left Pittsburgh and came out to the mountains. He had several jobs in Yellowstone Park, Yosemite, and finally got a job handling tourists for the bright Angel Hotel in the Grand Canyon.

Back home in Pennsylvania, Emery had been experimenting with photography. When Ellsworth went back home for a visit, he spoke of an opportunity for Emery to take pictures of the trail parties on the Bright Angel Trail. Emery came to the Canyon in 1902 and a year after that, they could begin to make pictures of the trail parties into the Canyon. From then on and until 1928 water for developing pictures had to be brought by mule from eleven miles away, or else Emery ran four and one half miles into the Canyon to Indian Gardens, developed the film and ran back to the rim to sell the photographs to those on the mule trains. He often made the nine mile trip twice daily.

The Canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers had been successfully navigated by only a few previous parties. In 1911, the Kolbs decided to attempt the dangerous trip, and also try to take motion pictures of the thrilling journey, using the bulky, primitive, fragile equipment of the day. The success of their journey added new activities to the careers of the brothers'. Ellsworth's account of the journey was published and went through numerous reprintings. Emery conducted an extensive lecture tour showing the films and describing the trip, during a time in our history when the lecture tour was the height of entertainment. The film and lecture were instituted at the Canyon studio in 1915, and ran continuously until Emery's death in 1976.

In 1919, after serving in the Signal Corps, Emery accompanied the National Geographic Society expedition which explored the Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes on the Katmai Peninsula of Alaska, and acted as photographer for the group. In 1921, Emery and Ellsworth were employed by the United States Geological Survey as guides and boatmen through the upper canyons of the Colorado River down to Lee's Ferry. Then, in 1923, U.S.G.S. continued the survey, again with the aid of the Kolbs, down to Needles. These trips were important contributions to surveying for navigational purposes and for determining potential dam sites. Emery returned to the Canyon rim permanently in 1926, and in 1928 his knowledge of the River led to his part in a dramatic search for the Hydes, a newlywed couple who had disappeared while running the River. He succeeded in finding their boat, which was still uncapsized, but not the honeymooners themselves.

In 1938, Emery accompanied the Norman Nevills - University of Michigan Expedition in which botanists Lois Jotter (later Lois Jotter Cutter) and Elzada U. Clover became the first white women to successfully complete a river run through the Grand Canyon.

Emery married Blanche Bender in 1905, and their daughter, Edith, was born in 1907. Blanche accompanied Emery on many of his expeditions, especially the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes Expedition in 1919.

Although Ellsworth departed to live in Los Angeles in 1924, Emery stayed on the rim, photographing the mule trains and the Canyon until his death in 1976. During this period he was in occasional conflict with the National Park Service and with their main concessionaire, the Fred Harvey Corporation, who had gained control of the rim lands.

Information in this biographical history note is currently being reviewed and updated by SCA staff, notably Samantha Meier, to remove outdated information.

Scope and Content

Emery Kolb saved an enormous file of correspondence, business records and materials on subjects of interest, including his struggle with the National Park Service and the Fred Harvey Corporation. The correspondence sheds light on personal relations within the Kolb family, friendships, working relationships, and again, various altercations with other business and institutional interests.

The Emery Kolb oral histories includes recorded material about the life and operations of the Kolb brothers told by Emery and people that had worked for the photography studio. Much of the Grand Canyon area is mentioned as the focus of the Kolb brothers' passion. Recordings mention issues about Emery's status as a photographer and his view of the world, his friends and colleagues, Alaska expedition, lectures at his studio, Boulder dam, Teddy Roosevelt's arrival in Grand Canyon, the history of the Grand Canyon, Emery's role in the history of the Canyon, tourists in the Canyon, life in and around the Canyon and Emery's contacts with Native Americans, the Kolbs and their relationship with the Canyon, hiking and exploring in the Canyon, Emery's relationship with the Park service, Kolb's Parkinsons disease in 1940's,the personalities of Kolb, Blanche and Edith, Indian gardens, the Colorado River, exploring the Canyon, and the eruption of Katmai volcano.

The sound recordings also contain an address made on the Grand Canyon by Emery Kolb during an invitation by Westerner's Organization and its program dealing with the history of Yavapai County and Northern Arizona. In this address, Kolb mainly talked about the history of Grand Canyon and different changes which occured in it through times. The collection also contains a lecture given by Emery Kolb about how he became interested in the river journey around the Canyon. During this lecture, Kolb showed the audience pictures of his journeys and of the vicinity of the Canyon.Many of the pictures were taken seventeen years before the Canyon became a Government park. Finally,the collection contains a speech of Emery Kolb on his 90th birthday with many of his friends. In this speech, he mentioned many points about his life and personal history.

The photographs group contains photographs of mule trips through the Grand Canyon taken by Emery Kolb. It has images of the Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon Village, Cataract Canyon, Glen Canyon, Colorado River, Grand Canyon trails, ranching, San Juan River, Little Colorado River, trains, Rainbow Bridge, Lees Ferry, Marble Canyon, Kolb Brothers Studio, San Francisco Peaks, Sedona, Sunset Crater, Vermillion Cliffs, Green River, Alaska, Mexico, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, petroglyphs, pictographs, Gunnison River, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Pueblos, and river expeditions dating to 1911, 1913, 1921, and 1923. There are also portraits of Grand Canyon historical figures, significant historical visitors to the Grand Canyon, the Kolb Family, Navajo people, Hopi people, and Havasupai people.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

As of May 4, 2021, potentially culturally sensitive photographs depicting the 1913 Hopi Snake Dance at Walpi within the Emery Kolb Collection are fully restricted, pending further review by the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.

Images with call numbers NAU.PH.568.1680-1705, NAU.PH.568.6224-6244, NAU.PH.568.6269, NAU.PH.568.8568, NAU.PH.568.9217, and NAU.PH.568.11278 are included in this restriction, as are any other images of the 1913 Hopi Snake Dance not specifically listed in this note.

This consultation and action aligns with and supports Cline Library and Special Collections and Archives' commitment to implementing the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials. Please contact the department with any questions.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs,legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Related Material

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Digital Material Available

SCA staff have digitized selected photographs, films, and manuscript materials from the Emery Kolb collection. Digitized materials from the Emery Kolb Collection are available through the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections. Select "Colorado Plateau Archives." Use the advanced search menu to search for "Emery Kolb" in the "Creator" or "Collection name" fields.

Click here to view all digitized material from the Emery Kolb Collection available through the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections.

Preferred Citation

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Emery Kolb Collection [manuscripts], NAU.MS.197, Series [ ], Box [ ], Folder [ ]. Cline Library, Special Collections and Archives, Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Emery Kolb Collection [moving image], NAU.MI.568.[ ], Cline Library, Special Collections and Archives, Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Emery Kolb Collection [sound recording], NAU.OH.77.16.[ ], Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Dept.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Emery Kolb Collection [photographs], NAU.PH.568.[ ], Series [ ], Cline Library, Special Collections and Archives, Flagstaff, Arizona

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