Skip to main content

Norman D. and Doris Nevills photograph collection

 Collection
Identifier: P0341

Scope and Contents

The first box contains personal materials, including photos of Nevills as a child, formal portraits, photos of Nevills when he worked for the U.S.G.S. gauging the San Juan River. This box also includes photos of close family and friends, many of whom were fellow river runners.

Boxes 2-5 represent the heart of the collection, documenting Nevills' river expeditions on the San Juan, Green, Colorado, Snake, and Salmon Rivers from 1937 to 1948, and are arranged chronologically. Box 2 includes photos of Nevills and others building boats for the 1938 Green and Colorado River expeditions. Most of the photographs are snapshots although there are some exceptional views by photographers such as Ed Hudson. Roy Webb aided in identifying the photographs, and print format was used to determine arrangement within an expedition, which in many cases brought all of the photographs together that were taken from the same camera. This was done throughout the collection. Individual members of the expeditions were indexed as much as possible.

Box 6 contains river-related subjects such as photos from the Rainbow Bridge register showing Nevills Expedition entries, photos of Nevills' boats, and shots of the French kayak expedition down the Green River in 1938. This box also includes subjects such as Navajo Indians and petroglyphs.

Box 7 contains the photographs of Phillip W. Tompkins, a San Francisco photographer and river runner who took exceptional, beautifully toned photographs of Monument Valley scenery, the Goosenecks of the San Juan River, Indian ruins, the Grand Canyon, etcetera. See the index for specific subjects and locations.

Box 8 contains southwestern views including Fisher Towers, Mexican Hat, the Goosenecks of the San Juan, etcetera. In some cases photographers are identified.

Box 9 contains aerial views of the San Juan River drainage area by Thorn Mayes, taken on a flight in Nevills' plane. Mayes was working on mapping Monument Valley.

Box 10 contains 35 millimeter slides of river expeditions and miscellaneous subjects such as Navajo Indians, ruins, and petroglyphs.

Boxes 11 and 12 contain 35 millimeter southwestern views.

Box 13 contains oversized views which include all of the subjects above, and are arranged in the same order.

>NAME AND SUBJECT INDEX: Photograph number The first number refers to box, the second to folder, and the third to item.
  1. Photograph number A
  2. Photograph number Aerial Views, 8:9:9-10; 8:26:14
  3. Photograph number Agathala, 8:10:2; 8:19:4; 8:20:15
  4. Photograph number Airplanes, 1:20:1-16
  5. Photograph number Albert, Agnes, 1:17:25
  6. Photograph number Aleson, Harry, 1:11:6
  7. Photograph number Alhambra, 8:12:2; 8:15:13; 8:23:6; 8:34:9
  8. Photograph number Allis, Johnny,1:7:2; 1:8:12; 1:14:16
  9. Photograph number Animas River, 8:23:13
  10. Photograph number Apache Lodge, Arizona, 8:21:17
  11. Photograph number Arches, 1:17:1; 2:6:22; 2:17:7; 4:3:21; 4:3:23; 4:8:29; 5:15:10; 5:18:3-4; 5:18:9; 7:1:12; 7:4:10; 7:5:9; 7:19:1; 7:22:2-3; 8:6:5; 8:7:9-11; 8:9:7-8; 8:15:2; 8:23:5; 8:30:13; 8:33:10; 8:34:1; 8:35:3
  12. Photograph number Ashley Creek, Utah
  13. Photograph number petroglyphs, 7:21:1; 7:21:3
  14. Photograph number Ashley Falls Rapid, 5:11:3-4
  15. Photograph number Automobiles, 1:17:17
  16. Photograph number B
  17. Photograph number Badger Creek Rapid, 3:7:13; 4:6:12; 4:13:5
  18. Photograph number Balance Rock, 7:12:3-4; 8:24:17
  19. Photograph number Bears, 6:15:1
  20. Photograph number Bears Ears, 8:13:6; 8:23:28
  21. Photograph number Beaver, 2:7:23; 8:31:4-5
  22. Photograph number Beaver, Alaska, 6:15:2
  23. Photograph number Bell, Lorin, 2:2:2; 2:5:1; 2:14:6
  24. Photograph number Bernheimer Bridge, 8:34:3
  25. Photograph number Big Cave, 2:16:12; 2:16:19
  26. Photograph number Black Canyon, 5:21:16-17
  27. Photograph number Blue Mountains, 8:5:9
  28. Photograph number Bluff, Utah, 3:9:17; 8:21:1-2
  29. Photograph number post office, 3:9:16; 8:18:12
  30. Photograph number Boats, 5:21:18; 5:23:15; 7:21:6
  31. Photograph number building, 5:21:10-11
  32. Photograph number repair, 5:19:4; 5:19:13; 5:21:16
  33. Photograph number Book Mountains, 8:20;5
  34. Photograph number Boss, Walter, 2:1:17
  35. Photograph number "Boulder City," 5:20:9
  36. Photograph number Boulder Dam, 2:5:14-15; 2:5:18-19; 3:6:13
  37. Photograph number construction, 8:11:15
  38. Photograph number Boulder Narrows, 4:6:10
  39. Photograph number Boundary Buttes, 8:14:5
  40. Photograph number Bow Knot Bend (Green River), 2:5:9
  41. Photograph number Bowen, Margaret, 1:17:6; 1:17:22
  42. Photograph number Bridge Canyon, 4:7:7; 8:8:24
  43. Photograph number Brigham Young's Staff, 8:13:2
  44. Photograph number Bright Angel, 5:14:12
  45. Photograph number bridge, 4:14:6
  46. Photograph number creek, 2:11:9
  47. Photograph number landing, 4:8:14; 4:14:13
  48. Photograph number trail, 4:10:14
  49. Photograph number Bryant, Harold, 1:7:9
  50. Photograph number wife of, 1:7:7-9
  51. Photograph number Bryce Canyon, 8:12:6-10; 8:24:11-16
  52. Photograph number Buck Creek Rapid, 5:5:6
  53. Photograph number Butler Canyon, 8:12:11
  54. Photograph number Butler Hill, 8:12:13
  55. Photograph number C
  56. Photograph number Cactus, 7:3:6; 7:3:9; 7:5:11; 7:6:7; 7:7:2; 7:7:4-10; 7:8:2; 7:8:4; 7:17:1-10; 7:18:2; 7:18:6-11; 8:7:8;
  57. Photograph number 8:15:8-9
  58. Photograph number Camp Necessity, 2:16:2
  59. Photograph number Camping, 1:9:7
  60. Photograph number Canyon de Chelly, 8:7:4
  61. Photograph number Casa Grande, Arizona, 7:7:1
  62. Photograph number Castle Gate, 8:20;6
  63. Photograph number Cataract Canyon, 2:8:5; 2:8:7; 2:8:11; 2:9:1; 2:9:12; 2:9:15; 2:10:5; 5:24:12
  64. Photograph number Cave Falls, 8:23:23
  65. Photograph number Cave Spring, 4:9:14
  66. Photograph number Chimney Rock, 8:12:12; 8:18:2
  67. Photograph number Church Rock, 8:8:32
  68. Photograph number Churches, 7:6:2-3
  69. Photograph number Citadel Butte, 4:17:3
  70. Photograph number City of Salmon, The, 5:5:2-3
  71. Photograph number Clover, Elzada, 2:12:4
  72. Photograph number Coffin Rock, 8:9:2
  73. Photograph number Colorado River, 7:11:5; 7:19:2-4; 7:20:4-5; 8:7:15
  74. Photograph number Columbia Glacier, 6:14:15
  75. Photograph number Comanche Point, 4:6:25
  76. Photograph number Comb Wash, 8:11:10; 8:24:3
  77. Photograph number Confluence, 4:17:4
  78. Photograph number Cooking, 1:9:2; 1:9:12; 2:7:8; 2:7:25; 4:1:17; 4:14:14; 4:15:23; 4:18:6; 5:9:4; 5:12:7; 5:12:9; 5:18:10; 5:23:10;
  79. Photograph number supplies, 4:6:16; 4:6:18-19; 4:7:20; 4:14:5
  80. Photograph number Cooper, Gary, 1:19:1
  81. Photograph number Cooper, Maria, 1:19:1
  82. Photograph number Copper Canyon, Utah, 8:11:5
  83. Photograph number Copper Lodge, 1:14:18
  84. Photograph number Cornfields, 7:6:4
  85. Photograph number Cow Canyon, 8:12:15
  86. Photograph number Crossing of the Fathers, 2:16:28; 5:19:12; 8:21:4-5
  87. Photograph number Cutler, Hugh, 1:14:8
  88. Photograph number D
  89. Photograph number Deer, 4:6:18
  90. Photograph number Deer Creek Falls, 3:11:3; 4:13:15; 8:26:15
  91. Photograph number Delicate Arch, 8:9:8
  92. Photograph number Dellenbaugh,
  93. Photograph number inscription, 4:1:21
  94. Photograph number Desloge, Joe, 8:9;5
  95. Photograph number Devil Rock, 8:5:8
  96. Photograph number Dewey Bridge, 8:20:19
  97. Photograph number Diamond Creek, 4:14:9
  98. Photograph number Dogs
  99. Photograph number sled team, 1:19:2
  100. Photograph number Dolores Mountains, 8:8:31
  101. Photograph number Dories, 5:4:5; 5:5:2-3; 5:8:8; 6:14:18
  102. Photograph number Duesendorf Rapid, 4:14:8
  103. Photograph number E
  104. Photograph number Edwina Bridge, 1:8:3; 8:11:3; 8:13:9; 8:13:15-16; 8:15:11; 8:20:3; 8:23:22; 8:26:2; 8:27:17
  105. Photograph number Eisaman, Anne, 1:15:9
  106. Photograph number Eisaman, Josiah R., 1:14:2
  107. Photograph number Elephant Rocks, Arizona, 8:11:6
  108. Photograph number Elk Mountain, 8:13:6; 8:23:28
  109. Photograph number Elves' Chasm, 4:15:1
  110. Photograph number "Esmeralda," 5:21:16-17
  111. Photograph number F
  112. Photograph number Farquhar, Francis P., 4:10:10
  113. Photograph number Filming, 2:8:13; 2:9:13; 2:20:6; 5:18:18
  114. Photograph number Fish Tail Rapid, 4:8:21
  115. Photograph number Fisher Towers, 7:11:6; 7:16:6-11 7:16:13-14; 7:19:9-10; 8:1:1-10; 8:5:8
  116. Photograph number Fishing, 1:17:12; 4:9:8
  117. Photograph number Flag Butte, 8:8:30
  118. Photograph number Fort Yukon, Alaska, 6:15:3
  119. Photograph number Fossil Springs, Arizona, 1:14:15
  120. Photograph number Four Corners, 1:17:5
  121. Photograph number Forbidden Canyon, 2:7:5; 2:17:3; 4:17:6; 7:9:1
  122. Photograph number Forbidding Canyon, 2:16:21
  123. Photograph number Frost, Kent, 1:9:14
  124. Photograph number G
  125. Photograph number Garden of the Gods, 8:8:30; 8:11:7; 8:13:2; 8:18:11; 8:23:19; 8:29:14
  126. Photograph number Giant's Goblet, 8:24:19
  127. Photograph number Gibson, Bill, 2:5:1; 2:8:6; 2:9:9; 2:12:2
  128. Photograph number Gila Monsters, 7:18:5
  129. Photograph number Glacier National Park, 6:15:1
  130. Photograph number Glen Canyon, 2:16:27; 5:16:11; 7:9:3; 7:11:4; 7:11:7
  131. Photograph number Goats, 7:6:11
  132. Photograph number corrals, 7:18:4
  133. Photograph number Golden Gate, 8:11:8; 8:20:17
  134. Photograph number Goodridge, Utah, 8:11:4; 8:14:1
  135. Photograph number Goosenecks, San Juan River, 7:1:9-11; 8:4:1-7; 8:7:6; 8:8:28-29; 8:13:14; 8:26:5-8
  136. Photograph number Goulon (???) River, Alaska, 6:15:2
  137. Photograph number Government Rapids, 4:17:12-13; 5:16:6
  138. Photograph number Grand Canyon, 7:2:1; 7:2:6; 7:3:1-4; 8:11:14; 8:14:7; 8:16:11
  139. Photograph number Grand Falls, 8:8:2; 8:13:19
  140. Photograph number Grand Gorge, 4:15:19
  141. Photograph number Grand Gulch, 5:16:4
  142. Photograph number Granite Dells, 8:13:5; 8:18:13
  143. Photograph number Granite Falls Rapid, 2:14:7; 3:7:12; 3:13:19; 4:13:2; 4:13:10; 5:22:10-11
  144. Photograph number Granite Gorge, 2:14:3; 2:14:10
  145. Photograph number Granite Ledge Rapid, 4:13:17
  146. Photograph number Granite Narrows, 4:7:4
  147. Photograph number Gregory Bridge, 8:7:10-11
  148. Photograph number H
  149. Photograph number Hae Dae, 5:12:11; 5:20:2
  150. Photograph number Hance Rapid, 2:9:8
  151. Photograph number Hanover Creek, 4:6:9
  152. Photograph number Harrick, Virginia, 5:5:5
  153. Photograph number Harris, Don, 1:7:7
  154. Photograph number wife of, 1:7:8
  155. Photograph number Havasu Creek, 4:6:23
  156. Photograph number Henderson, Randall, 4:18:7; 5:13:4; 5:14:15
  157. Photograph number Hermit Creek Rapid, 4:14:4
  158. Photograph number Hermit Falls Rapid, 2:14:8
  159. Photograph number Hidden Passage Canyon, 2:16:10-11; 2:16:19; 5:18:6
  160. Photograph number Hiser, Wayne, 5:17:5; 5:18:17
  161. Photograph number Hoeppel, Raymond
  162. Photograph number wife of, 8:27:1; 8:27:7
  163. Photograph number Holstrom, Buzz, 2:15:1
  164. Photograph number Hopi Tower, 4:7:1
  165. Photograph number Horn Creek Rapid, 2:6:18; 2:6:26; 3:2:19; 4:13:16
  166. Photograph number Horses, 8:11:2; 8:24:10
  167. Photograph number House Rock Rapid, 2:6:21; 2:7:17; 2:8:9; 2:11:4; 4:11:14
  168. Photograph number Hovenweep, 7:14:9-14; 7:15:1-4
  169. Photograph number Hudson, Ed, 4:7:3; 4:8:16; 4:8:23; 4:15:16
  170. Photograph number Hunt Trading Post, 8:23:16
  171. Photograph number Hunting
  172. Photograph number deer, 1:14:6
  173. Photograph number ducks, 6:15:7-9
  174. Photograph number geese, 2:6:14
  175. Photograph number I
  176. Photograph number Indians, 1:17:26; 7:12:10; 7:13:5; 8:37:1
  177. Photograph number cornfields, 7:6:4
  178. Photograph number dwellings, 1:17:8; 7:4:5; 7:6:8; 7:13:3; 7:18:1; 8:8:6; 8:18:15; 8:23:6; 8:27:7
  179. Photograph number ruins, 1:8:3; 3:9:18; 4:3:20; 4:8:23; 5:22:9; 7:1:4; 7:3:7-8; 7:5:2; 7:5:5-6; 7:7:1; 7:8:3; 7:8:5-7; 7:13:1-2; 7:14:9-13; 7:15:1-4; 8:10:4; 8:29:11
  180. Photograph number Inscriptions, 2:5:32; 2:8:14; 2:9:4; 2:18:2-3; 4:1:13; 4:1:20-21; 4:18:12; 8:26:17; 8:33:9
  181. Photograph number Island Park, Utah
  182. Photograph number petroglyphs, 7:21:2; 7:21:4
  183. Photograph number J
  184. Photograph number Johns Rapids, 2:16:20
  185. Photograph number Joshua Trees, 8:5:4
  186. Photograph number K
  187. Photograph number Kaibab Trail, 2:5:5
  188. Photograph number Kingsley, Doris, 1:9:5
  189. Photograph number Kinney Creek Rapid, 5:20:6
  190. Photograph number Kolb, Emery, 1:17:23; 2:14:13
  191. Photograph number L
  192. Photograph number La Sal Mountains, 8:5:6
  193. Photograph number Labrynth Canyon, 8:9:5
  194. Photograph number Lake Mead, 2:5:14; 2:5:16-17; 2:5:19-20; 2:5:29; 2:14:9; 2:14:11; 3:2:20; 4:7:7; 5:20:2; 5:20:9
  195. Photograph number boat landing, 3:7:4; 3:7:6
  196. Photograph number Lakeview Rapids, 5:6:10
  197. Photograph number Landscape Arch, 7:22:2-3; 8:5:3
  198. Photograph number Lava Canyon Rapid, 4:7:11; 4:15:11; 4:16:8
  199. Photograph number Lava Falls, 3:6:16; 3:6:18; 4:6:8; 5:12:1
  200. Photograph number Lee's Ferry, 4:5:9; 5:15:2; 5:15:7; 5:15:20; 5:15:27; 5:21:2; 8:35:6
  201. Photograph number Lehnert, Edith Kolb, 1:17:23
  202. Photograph number Little Colorado River, 8:8:2; 8:13:19
  203. Photograph number bridge, 8:35:8
  204. Photograph number Lonely Dell, 2:7:27
  205. Photograph number Looking Glass Rock, 8:26:11; 8:27:5
  206. Photograph number Love, Kenneth, 1:17:6
  207. Photograph number M
  208. Photograph number Marble Canyon, 2:10:1; 4:15:15
  209. Photograph number Lodge, 1:11:6
  210. Photograph number rapid, 3:7:14
  211. Photograph number Marsh Pass Yacht Club, 2:1:17
  212. Photograph number Marston, Garth, 4:11:12; 5:13:1-3
  213. Photograph number Marston, Otis "Dock," 1:9:14; 4:11:12; 5:12:2; 5:18:19; 5:20:7
  214. Photograph number Marston, Shirley, 5:13:1-3
  215. Photograph number Masland, Frank E., 1:14:24
  216. Photograph number McConkie, Wayne, 4:10:1
  217. Photograph number Mesa Verde, 7:8:3; 8:19:11
  218. Photograph number Mexican Hat, Utah, 1:17:11; 2:2:16; 7:12:2; 7:14:8; 8:2:1-7; 8:3:1-15; 8:8:1; 8:9:4; 8:23:16; 8:26:3; 8:29:22; 8:33:1
  219. Photograph number Hugh Cutler on top of, 1:14:8
  220. Photograph number Lodge, 1:21:1-13; 2:4; 2:12:3; 3:9:13
  221. Photograph number Nevills on top of, 1:13:2; 8:2:1
  222. Photograph number Middle Granite Gorge, 4:14:12
  223. Photograph number Mile Rapid, 2:8:5
  224. Photograph number Mile 24 Rapid, 4:13:3-4
  225. Photograph number Missions, 7:6:2-3
  226. Photograph number Mittens, 8:23:7
  227. Photograph number Moab Canyon, 8:12:3
  228. Photograph number Monument Valley, 7:6:9-10; 7:12:8-9; 7:13:4; 7:13:7-10; 7:14:2-3; 8:7:2; 8:7:7; 8:7:12-13; 8:8:3; 8:8:5; 8:8:17; 8:8:25-26; 8:9:2-3; 8:9:6; 8:10:3; 8:10:5-9; 8:11:9; 8:11:11; 8:12:4-5; 8:12:12; 8:13:27; 8:14:2-3; 8:15:1; 8:15:4-6; 8:16:1-7; 8:16:9-10; 8:17:9-11; 8:18:1-3; 8:18:8-10; 8:18:14-15; 8:20:10-11; 8:20:13; 8:21:6-11; 8:23:7; 8:23:17; 8:24;9; 8:27:14; 8:28:10; 8:28:12; 8:29:4; 8:29:6; 8:30:7-10; 8:30:14-15; 8:31:6; 8:31:11-14; 8:32:4-6; 8:32:8-9; 8:33:12-14; 8:34:15-17; 8:36:6-10; 8:37:1-9
  229. Photograph number Morse, Danny, 2:1:17
  230. Photograph number Mount Lassen, 6:15:11
  231. Photograph number Mount Rushmore, 6:14:14
  232. Photograph number Mount Tamalpais, California, 6:14:13
  233. Photograph number Mules, 1:9:1; 1:14:4; 6:15:5; 7:12:10
  234. Photograph number Mull, John B., 5:14:1-2
  235. Photograph number N
  236. Photograph number Nancoweep, 4:6:15; 4:6:20-21; 4:7:10; 4:8:23; 4:11:4
  237. Photograph number Narrow Canyon, 2:8:14; 2:9:4
  238. Photograph number Natural Bridges National Monument, 7:3:5; 7:10:1
  239. Photograph number Navajo Bridge, 5:21:5-8; 8:35:5
  240. Photograph number Navajo Hill, 8:12:1; 8:12:14
  241. Photograph number Navajo Mountain, 2:7:5
  242. Photograph number Navajo Twins, 8:7:5; 8:8:33-34; 8:23:14; 8:26:1
  243. Photograph number Nevills, Doris, 1:10:1-3; 1:10:6;
  244. Photograph number on wedding day, 1:13:1
  245. Photograph number Nevills, Mae, 1:12:1; 1:12:4
  246. Photograph number Nevills, Norman D., 2:11:11; 2:12:2; 4:8:30; 5:23:12; 5:24:3; 5:24:11
  247. Photograph number on wedding day, 1:13:1
  248. Photograph number Nokai Creek, 2:16:1
  249. Photograph number North Canyon Rapid, 4:12:8; 4:12:12
  250. Photograph number Northern Pacific Rail Road, 1:14:13
  251. Photograph number O
  252. Photograph number Oil Wells, 8:14:6; 8:24:10; 8:26:18
  253. Photograph number Oliver, John, 1:8:6
  254. Photograph number Oljeto, Arizona, 8:30:16
  255. Photograph number Olsen, Ed, 1:14:21-22; 2:20:6; 5:23:8
  256. Photograph number One Way Club, 5:8:10
  257. Photograph number Orange Cliff Canyon (San Juan River), 2:3:10; 7:19:2-4; 7:20:4
  258. Photograph number Outlaw Cave, 4:17:5; 4:18:3-4; 5:16:8
  259. Photograph number P
  260. Photograph number Papoose, 1:15:6
  261. Photograph number Parashont Camp, 4:6:11
  262. Photograph number Petri, Henry, 1:14:18
  263. Photograph number Petrified Wood, 7:9:7
  264. Photograph number Petroglyphs, 1:14:9; 4:2:21; 4:3:14; 4:3:18; 7:1:1; 7:1:3; 7:5:4; 7:5:8; 7:5:10; 7:6:1; 7:21:1-5
  265. Photograph number Phantom Ranch, 4:6:13; 4:6:18; 4:7:17; 4:7:20; 4:13:20; 4:15:17; 5:10:7; 5:14:4
  266. Photograph number Pictographs, 7:21:1
  267. Photograph number Pierce Ferry, 5:13:8-13
  268. Photograph number Pinnacle, The, 8:18:10
  269. Photograph number Pipe Springs, 4:14:11
  270. Photograph number Piute Rapid, 5:18:15; 5:19:8
  271. Photograph number Piute Farms, 2:16:24
  272. Photograph number Portage, 2:7:14; 2:8:8; 2:8:11; 2:11:1; 3:6:16; 3:6:18; 4:12:4-5; 4:17:1
  273. Photograph number Powell, John Wesley (Major)
  274. Photograph number inscriptions, 4:1:20-21; 8:26:17
  275. Photograph number plaque, 8:26:16
  276. Photograph number plaque at Green River, Wyoming, 1:7:1; 3:8:12; 5:11:2
  277. Photograph number plaque at Separation Canyon, 3:1:7; 3:3:10; 3:4:6; 3:5:20; 4:7:22; 4:9:5; 4:13:19
  278. Photograph number Pumpkin Devil Rock, San Juan Co., Utah, 1:17:13
  279. Photograph number R
  280. Photograph number Railroad, 8:20:5
  281. Photograph number Northern Pacific, 1:14:13
  282. Photograph number Rainbow Bridge, 7:9:4-5; 8:17:3-7; 8:19:5; 8:26:9; 8:27:16; 8:33:3-7; 8:34:5-8; 8:34:10
  283. Photograph number register, 4:18:13
  284. Photograph number Rattlesnakes, 2:14:6; 3:9:14; 5:12:10; 8:35:1
  285. Photograph number Red Canyon, 8:24:15
  286. Photograph number Redbud Canyon, 2:16:13; 2:16:15; 2:16:18
  287. Photograph number Reed, Del, 2:5:1-2; 3:6:15;
  288. Photograph number Ringwood, Johnny, 1:14:4
  289. Photograph number River Rat Society
  290. Photograph number induction, 3:7:10; 3:10:16-17; 4:8:5; 4:8:13
  291. Photograph number Roosevelt Dam, Arizona, 8:14:8-9; 8:14:11; 8:35:9
  292. Photograph number Roosevelt Lake, Arizona, 8:14:8; 8:14:10
  293. Photograph number S
  294. Photograph number San Juan River, 7:11:1; 7:11:3-5; 7:11:7; 7:14:5-8; 8:7:1; 8:7:14; 8:13:13; 8:13:11; 8:13:22-23; 8:18:4-5; 8:19:3; 8:23:15; 8:29:20; 8:30:1-4; 8:33:8
  295. Photograph number bridge, 8:8:21; 8:8:23
  296. Photograph number drought, 8:31:7-10
  297. Photograph number Flooding, 8:23:10
  298. Photograph number Goosenecks, 1:9:10; 7:12:1-2; 8:9:10
  299. Photograph number San Xavier Del Bac Mission, 7:6:2-3
  300. Photograph number Sand Draw, 8:13:26
  301. Photograph number Sand Dunes, 8:17:6; 8:19:7
  302. Photograph number Sand Hill Falls, 8:23:29
  303. Photograph number Sand Point, Lake Mead, 5:20:9
  304. Photograph number Schukraft, William J., 3:7:10
  305. Photograph number The Sentinel, 7:15:9-10; 7:16:2-3
  306. Photograph number Separation Canyon, 3:1:7; 3:3:10; 3:4:6; 3:5:20; 4:7:22; 4;9:5; 4:13:19
  307. Photograph number Sheep dip, 1:9:8
  308. Photograph number lambs, 1:15:9
  309. Photograph number Shinumo Creek, 4:14:15
  310. Photograph number Sitting Hen, 7:14:2; 8:12:5; 8:18:11; 8:27:13; 8:29:21; 8:33:11; 8:35:2
  311. Photograph number Sleeping Ute, 8:8:31
  312. Photograph number Slickhorn Gulch, 2:17:4
  313. Photograph number oil wells, 8:14:6
  314. Photograph number Soap Creek Rapid, 2:13:2
  315. Photograph number Sockdologer Rapid, 2:8:15; 2:9:16; 3:8:8-11; 4:15:10
  316. Photograph number Spencer, John D., The, 8:35:6
  317. Photograph number Spy Glass Rock, 8:26:11; 8:27:5
  318. Photograph number Staveley, Gaylord, 2:8:16
  319. Photograph number Stephen's Isle, 4:14:20
  320. Photograph number Sun Valley, Idaho, 1:19:1-5
  321. Photograph number T
  322. Photograph number Tanner Camp, 4:6:22
  323. Photograph number Teakettle, 8:9:2; 8:18:3; 8:18:15; 8:23:8-9; 8:27:3; 8:29:9; 8:30:12; 8:32:2
  324. Photograph number Tinted Photographs, 8:19:9-10
  325. Photograph number Tonto Rim, 4:15:5
  326. Photograph number Topeats, 4:8:23
  327. Photograph number Totem Pole, 7:6:8; 8:8:5; 8:9:3; 8:24:8; 8:28:9
  328. Photograph number Travertine Falls, 4:15:13
  329. Photograph number Tsaybegay Valley, 7:6:4
  330. Photograph number Tuba City, 8:34:13
  331. Photograph number Twilight Canyon, 5:16:5
  332. Photograph number U
  333. Photograph number United States Geological Survey
  334. Photograph number Nevills' work with, 1:6:1-5
  335. Photograph number V
  336. Photograph number Vasey's Paradise, 2:9:18; 4:13:13
  337. Photograph number Dead Man of (skeleton), 4:9:26; 4:12:1-2; 4:12:10-11; 4:15:7; 4:15:9
  338. Photograph number Vesey Paradise Camp, 4:7:13-14
  339. Photograph number Volcanoes, 6:15:11
  340. Photograph number W
  341. Photograph number Walker, Preston, 1:9:14-15; 1:11:6; 1:14:23; 2:19:1-5; 4:2:17; 4:3:3; 4:4:4; 4:7:9; 4:10:3
  342. Photograph number Walker, Walter, 1:9:15
  343. Photograph number Walthenberg Rapid, 4:13:12; 4:14:19
  344. Photograph number Welty, Howard O., 5:15:5
  345. Photograph number Wilson, Bruce, 4:11:11; 4:11:13
  346. Photograph number Wilson, Neill, 4:4:2; 4:6:26; 4:10:15; 4:11:6; 4:11:13; 5:8:5
  347. Photograph number "Yogi," 5:21:20
  348. Photograph number Z
  349. Photograph number Zahn's Camp, 4:17:7; 8:8:16

Dates

  • 1920-1949

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biogrpahical Note

Norman Davies Nevills was born in Chico, California, on April 8, 1909. He was the only child of William Eugene Nevills and Mae Davies Nevills. Norman's paternal grandfather, also named William but known as "Captain Billy" Nevills, had been a successful miner and promoter during the California gold rush of the 1850s who lost everything in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. William E. Nevills was a prospector in Alaska before coming to Mexican Hat, Utah, in the 1920s. William was drawn by one of the periodic oil booms that were common in southeast Utah. After two years of college at the College of the Pacific, Norman joined his parents at Mexican Hat in 1928 to assist with the oil development work. The expected oil fields never materialized, however, (although Norman worked off and on at drilling for oil until his death), and the Nevills family was forced to turn to other means of making a living. They built a tourist lodge above the San Juan River, which flowed through town, and Norman began guiding parties of visitors by car through Monument Valley and other nearby attractions. In between times, he supplemented the family income by doing whatever odd jobs he could find. In 1932, Norman was asked by a miner to haul a load of supplies to a placer mine a few miles downriver, which he did successfully. From this beginning, Norman Nevills launched his river career.

In the summer of 1933, Norman participated in an archeological survey of the area around the San Juan river; part of the survey involved the use of folding canvas boats on the San Juan. On October 18 of that same year, Norman was married to Doris Drown, a native of Portland, Oregon. For their honeymoon trip, Norman decided to take Doris down the San Juan. He built a boat based on a design given to him by his father, who had hauled supplies and passengers on Alaskan rivers during the Klondike gold rush. Family legend has it that Norman built the boat with boards from a horse trough and an old outhouse, and used oil well suction rods with steel blades for oars. The trip, to Copper Canyon in February 1934, was a success. Two years later, knowledge of Nevills' experience on the river had spread sufficiently for a party from California to contact him and hire him to guide them down the river. This he did in March of 1936, and for every year after that until his death in 1949, Nevills led groups down the San Juan River on excursions throughout the summer months. These trips became his bread and butter, and often the receipts and deposits from the San Juan trips financed his other trips on the Green, the Snake and Salmon, and through the Grand Canyon.

Nevills' first major expedition and the beginnings of his subsequent fame as the number-one Whitewater man in America was in 1938. In the summer of that year he led three boats and a crew of two other boatmen and six passengers (including two women) from Green River, Utah, through Cataract Canyon and the Grand Canyon. Although internal dissensions threatened to end the expedition at Lees Ferry, the beginning of the Grand Canyon, Nevills and Elzada Clover, the co-organizer of the trip, were able to keep the party together and complete the trip. Nevills and Dr. Clover had planned to write a book about their experiences on the river, but this never materialized, and each went on to other things. Nevills' second major trip was in 1940. This time he ran almost the entire length of the Green River, from Green River, Wyoming, through the Grand Canyon. The crew included his wife Doris and another woman, and from Green River, Utah on, Barry Goldwater, later to become a powerful Western politician.

In 1941 and 1942, Nevills conducted private charter trips through the Grand Canyon, giving him a lasting place in Colorado River history as the first person to go through the Grand Canyon more than twice. On the later trip, Otis Marston was one of the passengers. Marston and Nevills were at first close friends, but later personality conflicts drove them apart and Marston became one of Nevills' most vocal detractors; this was to have great bearing on Nevills' reputation after his death. By the time the 1942 trip was over, the U.S. was involved in World War II, and Nevills nascent river outfitting business was considerably curtailed. Although he did conduct a few parties down the San Juan during the war years, most of his time was spent working for the U.S. Geological Survey, whom he joined as resident engineer at Mexican Hat in 1943. In 1945, with the war almost over, Nevills took a party that included Otis Marston and Ed Hudson (who had also been on the 1942 Grand Canyon trip), Marston's daughters and wife, and others, down Cataract Canyon of the Colorado. This marked the resumption of a pattern that Nevills held throughout the rest of his life: spring and early summer trips on the San Juan, and then a major expedition on another river later in the summer. In 1946, it was the Snake and Main Fork of the Salmon Rivers in Idaho; in 1947, 1948, and 1949, the Grand Canyon. In 1950 Nevills planned to try a river in Canada or perhaps Asia, but death intervened.

Throughout his career guiding parties on the rivers of the West, Nevills was supported by his wife Doris. Indeed, many who knew them say that Doris was a very real reason for his success. Doris organized all the menus, shuttles, and other logistical details that are absolutely essential for a successful commercial river trip. In addition, she smoothed over disputes and ruffled feelings among passengers and boatmen that were caused by Norman's often abrasive personality. Doris was by all accounts completely devoted to Norman, and endured with good spirit the verbal abuse that she reportedly received from Norman's mother Mae Nevills. Doris' support of Norman's chosen career extended to pawning her jewelry during the early lean years, before Norman became famous, and caring for their two daughters, Joan, born in 1936, and Sandra, born in 1941. The one thing that Doris reportedly did not share was Norman's passion for flying, even though the Piper J3 that Norman bought in 1946 was a great convenience, given their isolated home. It was in Norman's plane that they met their deaths together, when the plane crashed on takeoff at Mexican Hat, on the morning of September 19, 1949.

In today's high-tech and big-business world of commercial river running, where thousands of paying passengers are taken down river annually, and thousands of dollars spent on equipment and permits by outfitters, Nevills Expeditions, with its wooden boats and slim margin of profit, seems quaint, like something out of a forgotten era. Indeed, after his death, Nevills' reputation suffered at the hands of later rivermen, who said he was too cautious, too much of a showman, and so on. Undeniably, Nevills was a showman, and was concerned with his own reputation. Equally undeniably, however, is the fact that to Norman Nevills must be given the credit for a number of firsts (so important to boatmen!) on the Colorado. He was the first to run the Colorado through the Grand Canyon more than twice, the first to run a strictly commercial river trip through the Grand Canyon, the first to take women on commercial river trips, and the first to take women through the Grand Canyon, which was unheard of at the time. Nevills was the first to admit that he was a cautious boatman, but he also was proud of the fact that he never flipped a boat on all the rivers he ran, a safety record hardly matched today. His boat design, the Cataract boat, remained one of the standard river craft until well after the end of World War II; those who continued to use his style of boat did so long after others had converted to inflatable rubber boats. Nevills' principle of "face your danger" (i.e. the boatman faces the obstacle and rows away from it) is still the way rapids are run today, and although others had used the technique before him, he popularized the idea.

Norman Nevills was a pioneer, indeed one of the pioneers of commercial river running, and there are still companies operating today that can trace their roots directly back to Nevills Expeditions. Virtually everyone on the river today is there because Norman and Doris Nevills were willing to "face their danger."

Extent

3420 Photographic Prints

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Norman D. and Doris Nevills photograph collection documents Nevills' river expeditions on the San Juan, Green, Colorado, Snake, and Salmon Rivers from 1937 to 1948.

Related Materials

This collection forms part of the Utah River Running Archive, which is part of the S.J. Quinney Outdoor Recreation Archive

Separated Materials

Norman D. and Doris Nevills papers (MS 0552).

Norman D. and Doris Nevills audio-visual collection (A0245).

Processing Information

Processed by Peter F. Schmid in 1990, by Peter F. Schmid, and Ashley Arave in 2003.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Norman D. and Doris Nevills photograph collection
Author
Finding aid prepared by Peter F. Schmid.
Date
1990
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Revision Statements

  • 2022: Finding aid revised and re-encoded by Sara Davis

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

https://lib.utah.edu/collections/special-collections/index.php
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863

Staff Interface | Visit ArchivesSpace.org | v2.8.1 | Send Feedback or Report a Problem