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Richard (Dick) Sprang Collection

NAU.MS.370
NAU.PH.2002.20

Biographical Note

Richard "Dick" Sprang was born on July 28, 1915 in Fremont, Ohio to William and Hannah (Hintz) Sprang. After graduating from Fremont High School, Sprang lived in Toledo, Ohio and later New York City working as a newspaper artist, Western pulp fiction writer, and as one of the first Batman cartoonists.

In 1946 Sprang moved west to the town of Sedona, Arizona, with his wife, Lora Neusiis (aka Pat Gordon). They were divorced in 1951. Sprang was married to three other women: Dudy Thomas from 1956 until her death in early 1958, Elizabeth Lewis from 1958 until 1972, and Marion Lyday from 1973 until his death in 2000. Marion Sprang died in 2001.

Though he had moved west to be free of work demands, the first few years in Sedona were consumed with drawing Batman for D.C. Comics. The Sedona post office in the 1940s was unable to handle the special packaging of the artwork, necessitating frequent trips north to Flagstaff.

In October 1950, Sprang, along with his companion, Dudy Thomas, and Sedona local, Elmer Purtymun, launched a six week trip on the Colorado River in Glen Canyon. On this trip, they met a lone boatman, Harry Aleson. Sprang and Aleson became fast friends and would remain so for two decades. Sprang, Thomas, Purtymun, and Sedonan Bill Towne repeated their trip in 1951. Not long after this trip, Sprang proposed a plan to Aleson that would entail forming a research team designed to conduct a study of Glen Canyon in half-mile increments. Aleson accepted and Canyon Surveys began its first river reconnaissance in October 1952.

On this first reconnaissance trip, the team of Aleson, Sprang, and Thomas explored an unnamed canyon to its head. They discovered perfectly preserved ruins and a large pictograph they named "Three Warrior." Thomas called the canyon "Forgotten Canyon." The pictograph and ruins were later named "Defiance House," the currently accepted name that was bestowed on the area by the University of Utah archaeologists who "discovered" them in 1959.

Canyon Surveys conducted trips in 1953 and again in 1955; however, by then the group's goal of recording geology, ruins, and endemic flora and fauna had petered out in favor of long hikes and relaxing days spent in camp. Sprang would go on two more Glen Canyon river trips in 1959 and 1962.

In 1956, Sprang and Thomas bought a ranch in Wayne County, Utah, where they ran cattle and explored the slick rock terrain. In early 1957, Thomas died of a brain tumor. Sprang turned to close friend and widow, Elizabeth Lewis, for comfort and advice, and the two were married six months later. They lived first in Lewis' Fruita, Utah home, and later at Fish Creek Ranch, after the government exercised its right to eminent domain and claimed Fruita as part of the expansion of Capital Reef National Park.

The 1960s seemed to be a trying period for Sprang. He and Elizabeth began constructing a home and studio at Fish Creek Ranch that encompassed much of their time. By 1963 he had stopped drawing for D.C. Comics, the house construction had stalled and Sprang was experiencing depression. He began dividing his time between Fish Creek Ranch, Phoenix, and Sedona, where he visited an old friend, Marion Lyday. Although Sprang and Elizabeth would remain married, they essentially lived separate lives until 1972 when they divorced. Once Fish Creek was completed, they sold it. Eventually, Sprang and Lyday married in 1973 and moved to Prescott, Arizona.

Without the constraints of Batman deadlines and the house construction, Sprang was free to pursue his interest of hiking the backcountry of northern Arizona and southern Utah as well as researching and writing about the early white explorers of this area. For several years he tried his hand at writing Westerns, with aid from friend, Robert MacLeod, a noted artist and Westerns author. His writing was deemed too formulaic and thin of plot by editors. He did, however, lend his editing abilities to several friends, including Katie Lee and Pearl Baker. When the Utah State Historical Society acquired the papers of Harry Aleson, Sprang became an invaluable asset to their understanding of Aleson and his experiences in Glen Canyon. He was interviewed by the National Park Service for an oral history about Arth Chaffin and the Hite Ferry and corresponded for years with noted authorities of the Southwest and the Colorado River, including Dock Marston and Stan Jones.

Prior to the damming of Glen Canyon, Sprang and Elizabeth wrote prodigiously to state representatives and senators, providing ample evidence of the beauty and value of Glen Canyon. They worked with the Desert Protective Council in the fight to stop construction of Glen Canyon Dam. Despite their efforts, the dam was finished in 1963. Sprang, like many hikers and boatmen of Glen Canyon, was resentful and saddened by the destruction of what he considered an Edenic escape filled with irreplaceable ancient relics. In the 1980s Sprang and several friends began meeting every October at Halls Crossing on Lake Powell, Sprang driving and boating as his younger friends hiked trails he had traversed decades before. He had a rich memory for the trails and canyons of trips past and wrote many a long letter detailing them. For this reason he was considered an authority on the canyon country of southern Utah and northern Arizona.

It wasn't until the 1980s that Sprang gained recognition for his Batman art, working previously (1943-1963) as a ghost artist under Bob Kane's signature. His style, however, was distinct and followed by fans, some of whom later commissioned limited edition lithographs. He is known as one of the best Batman artists of the 'Golden Age' of comics.

Dick Sprang died on May 10, 2000 in Prescott, Arizona.

Scope and Content Note

The Richard (Dick) Sprang Collection documents his activities and research on the Colorado Plateau and to a lesser extent, his career as an illustrator of Batman for DC Comics. The majority of the collection is comprised of photographs and correspondence, ranging primarily from the 1940s to the 1980s. These materials are complemented by diaries, trip logs, subject files, articles, news clippings, drawings, manuscripts, maps, and reel-to-reel audio tapes. The materials relating to Sprang's family and his career as a Batman artist are smaller in volume.

This collection significantly contributes to the study of the Colorado Plateau, as it provides in depth accounts, through photographs, journals, correspondence and articles. Of particular interest are the materials related to Glen Canyon, providing a more comprehensive understanding of a now submerged place. Correspondents of note include Harry Aleson, Katie Lee, Stan Jones, Otis 'Dock' Marston, Robert MacLeod, Harry C. James, Dr. Angus Woodbury, and Brooks Shephard.

The Richard (Dick) Sprang Collection consists of 18 linear feet arranged in eight series. The inclusive dates of the collection are 1873-2000; however, the bulk dates are 1946-1989.

Organization

Restrictions

Restrictions

None.

Copyright

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

Administrative Information

Credit Line

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Richard (Dick) Sprang Collection [manuscripts], NAU.MS.370, Series [ ], Box [ ], Folder [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Richard (Dick) Sprang Collection [photographs], NAU.PH.2002.20[ ], Box [ ], Folder [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

[Title or brief description of file or item.] Richard (Dick) Sprang Collection [moving images], NAU.MI.2002.20[ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

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