 | A. Oscar Olson Photograph Collection P1089 |
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Multimedia Archives
Special Collections J. Willard Marriott Library 295 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0860 Tel: 801-585-3073 Fax: 801-585-3976 |
Biography
History of the Glen Canyon photographs of A. Oscar Olson
A. Oscar Olson, a native of Salt Lake City, always wanted to go on a river trip through Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. In 1960, however, he found himself in the US Army, stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. In 1962, with Glen Canyon Dam all-but completed, he realized that he would have to take the trip that year if he was going to do it at all. Accordingly, he signed up for a trip sponsored by SOCOTWA Expeditions, a local river-running group. The trip was in May 1962 and was for seven days, leaving from Hite, Utah, and ending at Kane Creek landing, near Crossing of the Fathers. During the course of the trip, Olson fell andBas he found out laterBsuffered a fracture of his left leg. This was common on these trips, and although it gave him quite a bit of pain, he continued on without treatment. The pain was sufficient to keep him from the long climb up Hole In The Rock, but it did not deter him from the 14-mile round-trip hike to Rainbow Bridge (although he did not climb to the top of the bridge like many of his party. After the trip, when he returned to duty at Fort Lewis, he reported for sick call and only then discovered that he had the fracture. Olson became a member of SOCOTWA and went on other trips with the group, and indeed became a bus driver for many of their overland expeditions to LDS historic sites, the Seattle and New York World's Fairs, and other journeys. In later years, he began traveling with his family to Lake Powell, and took a number of photographs in the same locations as his Glen Canyon pictures, by way of comparison.
A. Oscar Olson, a native of Salt Lake City, always wanted to go on a river trip through Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. In 1960, however, he found himself in the US Army, stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. In 1962, with Glen Canyon Dam all-but completed, he realized that he would have to take the trip that year if he was going to do it at all. Accordingly, he signed up for a trip sponsored by SOCOTWA Expeditions, a local river-running group. The trip was in May 1962 and was for seven days, leaving from Hite, Utah, and ending at Kane Creek landing, near Crossing of the Fathers. During the course of the trip, Olson fell andBas he found out laterBsuffered a fracture of his left leg. This was common on these trips, and although it gave him quite a bit of pain, he continued on without treatment. The pain was sufficient to keep him from the long climb up Hole In The Rock, but it did not deter him from the 14-mile round-trip hike to Rainbow Bridge (although he did not climb to the top of the bridge like many of his party. After the trip, when he returned to duty at Fort Lewis, he reported for sick call and only then discovered that he had the fracture. Olson became a member of SOCOTWA and went on other trips with the group, and indeed became a bus driver for many of their overland expeditions to LDS historic sites, the Seattle and New York World's Fairs, and other journeys. In later years, he began traveling with his family to Lake Powell, and took a number of photographs in the same locations as his Glen Canyon pictures, by way of comparison.