Brandy Blank river running video collection

Collection

Identifier: A0532

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Brandy Blank river running video collection (1940s, 1970s) consists of a VHS videocassette containing a dub of an 8mm color silent film of a 1940s Boy Scout river trip through Glen Canyon led by Bert Loper as well as footage of a 1970s era Westwater Canyon river trip. All materials have been digitized and are available to view on DVD.

Dates

1940s
1970s

Creator

Blank, Brandy (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Materials must be used on-site; no use of original material, access copies will be made available for viewing. Five business days advanced notice required. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law, condition of the material, or by donor.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Brandy Blank river running video collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Multimedia Archivist.

Historical Note

Before it was flooded by the rising waters of Lake Powell, Glen Canyon was a popular river running and destination. Led by guides like Albert "Bert" Loper, boaters experienced redrock canyons and Anasazi ruins alongside the Colorado River. Born in Missouri in 1869, Loper traveled west to the rivers of the Desert Southwest, where he spent the majority of his life in his adopted hometown of Green River, Utah. In 1916 Loper and Ellsworth Kolb became the first people to boat through Utah's Westwater Canyon. In 1920 Loper served as lead boatman for teh United States Geological Survey (USGS) mission to find a location for the future Hoover Dam. In 1939, at the age of 69, Loper ran every rapid in the Grand Canyon with fellow riverman Don Harris. He died in 1949 at the age of 79 when he flipped his self-made boat in the Grand Canyon's Marble Gorge. Glen Canyon Dam was dedicated in 1966.