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Thurston Family Collection, 1928-1965

NAU.MS.321

Biographical Note

Robert Phineas "Bob" Thurston was originally born in Somerton, Georgia. Bess Thurston, whose maiden name may have been Bess Elliot, was born in Russell Springs, Kansas. Bess and Bob met when Bess was teaching at the Empire Ranch in Pima County. The two married in Tucson, Arizona in 1915.

The Thurstons settled in Williams, Arizona in 1923 with their children Roberta Thurston (born January 13, 1917) and Leland Eliot "Bill" Thurston (born March 3 1918). Bob Thurston was working as a Shell Oil agent at the time. The Thurstons built and operated several businesses in Williams, including the West End Garage, the Thurston Motel, a car dealership, and a service station. In the 1920s, Bob Thurston served as mayor of Williams or county supervisor despite allegedly being incarcerated for six months in Prescott on charges of bootlegging during one of his terms.

In 1933, Bob Thurston bought the Quarter Circle "Y" Ranch at the Grand Canyon. Two years later, in 1935, the Thurstons built a home and developed a 200,000+ acre cattle ranch near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The family played a key role in the development of present-day Tusayan. They also had business dealings with the Babbitt family, including John Babbitt and Joe Babbitt, related to sheep and cattle ranching. Later, Bob Thurston sold the state of Arizona a right-of-way to permit Highway 64 to run through the middle of his property in Tusayan in 1951. The highway was built in 1953-1954. Around 1956 or 1957, the Thurstons built a Shell Station and the Tusayan Steak House. In 1936-1964, they built the Red Feather Lodge, which was the first hotel proximate to the Grand Canyon not within the Grand Canyon National Park boundary. Around the same time, Bess Thurston also advocated for the development of Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Tusayan.

Exact death dates for Bob and Bess Thurston are unknown as of 2022.

Information in this biographical note is based on a February 7, 2012 article in the Williams-Grand Canyon News titled "Centennial celebration: Thurston family celebrates nearly 100 years in Northern Arizona" as well a 1984 oral history interview with Leland Eliot "Bill" Thurston conducted by Al Richmond and information from the Red Feather Lodge website.

Scope and Content

The Thurston family collection (NAU.MS.321) includes photocopies of letters, journals, stories and newspapers articles documenting the lives of the Thurston family in northern Arizona. It also includes original notebooks believed to belong to R.P. Thurston.

Arrangment

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

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.

Location of Originals

Manuscript materials in the Thurston family collection consist of photocopies from original materials. Original materials were returned to donor.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Thurston family collection, NAU.MS.321, Box [ ], Folder [ ]. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

Donated to SCA by Pamela Fain in 2007.

Processing Information

Materials in the Thurston family collection were processed in 2011-2012 by Austin Rignes and Susan McGlothin.

Samantha Meier updated the finding aid in 2022 to add further biographical information about the Thurston family. Meier also corrected information for a journal in Series 3 previously attributed to R.P. Thurston, which a family member identified as being written in Bess's handwriting in April 2022.

Appraisal Information

In 2014, SCA deaccessioned a DVD of 11 digitized photographs previously included as part of the Thurston family collection, returning these materials to the donor.

Container List