Photo of an all paddleboat river trip on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon at the confluence with Havasu Canyon in 1956, courtesy Duane Ekedahl
These oral histories are a fascinating recounting of activities on or around the Colorado River and its tributaries. They are all in the public domain and are archived at Grand Canyon National Park's Museum Collection. They are posted here as a public service.
Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable.
Courtesy The Bancroft Library Oral History Center, Berkeley Library, University of California.
Courtesy The Bancroft Library Oral History Center, Berkeley Library, University of California.
I like to think of oral histories as the spice in the stew of history. We can't live on spices alone but we can live on stew without spices. Keep that in mind and please don't use oral histories as your sole source for historical understanding.
Tom Martin
Tom Martin
The following people have transcripts and or interviews on this website. Just click on their name to be directed to the appropriate page:
A
Anderson, Dr. Michael (Author of An Administrative History of Grand Canyon National Park)
B
Burgess, Martha "Muffin" Ames (Assisted in the 1970 excavation of Stantons Cave)
Burnham Family (Sets record for youngest girl and boy to kayak the entire Grand Canyon)
C
Charley, Mike (Ironworker on the second Navajo Bridge construction in 1994)
Cockrum, Dan (Park Engineer and Chief of Maintenance at GRCA)
D
E
F
G
Greterman, Dale (National Park Service Surveyor)
H
Hudgin, Ellen Noreen (Lived at the Red Butte Grand Canyon Airport in the 1950s.)
Hudgin, Louis (The son of Ellen Hudgin, Louis grew up at the Red Butte Grand Canyon Airport in the 1950s.)
I
J
K
Karpiscak, Martin (Conducted campsite surveys on the Colorado River in 1974)
L
Ladd, Gary (His life as an award winning photographer and author in and around the Four Corners.)
M
N
Nash, Roderick "Rod" (Grand Canyon wilderness and Grand Canyon river trips)
O
O'Rourke, Mary Kay (1977 river trip and 1980 helicopter trip to Stevens Cave)
P
Pennington, Keturah (Leads us through Glen Canyon before Glen Canyon Dam)
Phillips, Barbara G. (Botanical studies in Grand Canyon)
R
S
Shideler, Martha "Marty" (Arrived in Flagstaff, AZ for College in the fall of 1958)
T
Terzich, Michael (Project Manager for many Grand Canyon National Park projects.)
V
W
Z
A
Anderson, Dr. Michael (Author of An Administrative History of Grand Canyon National Park)
B
Burgess, Martha "Muffin" Ames (Assisted in the 1970 excavation of Stantons Cave)
Burnham Family (Sets record for youngest girl and boy to kayak the entire Grand Canyon)
C
Charley, Mike (Ironworker on the second Navajo Bridge construction in 1994)
Cockrum, Dan (Park Engineer and Chief of Maintenance at GRCA)
D
E
F
G
Greterman, Dale (National Park Service Surveyor)
H
Hudgin, Ellen Noreen (Lived at the Red Butte Grand Canyon Airport in the 1950s.)
Hudgin, Louis (The son of Ellen Hudgin, Louis grew up at the Red Butte Grand Canyon Airport in the 1950s.)
I
J
K
Karpiscak, Martin (Conducted campsite surveys on the Colorado River in 1974)
L
Ladd, Gary (His life as an award winning photographer and author in and around the Four Corners.)
M
N
Nash, Roderick "Rod" (Grand Canyon wilderness and Grand Canyon river trips)
O
O'Rourke, Mary Kay (1977 river trip and 1980 helicopter trip to Stevens Cave)
P
Pennington, Keturah (Leads us through Glen Canyon before Glen Canyon Dam)
Phillips, Barbara G. (Botanical studies in Grand Canyon)
R
S
Shideler, Martha "Marty" (Arrived in Flagstaff, AZ for College in the fall of 1958)
T
Terzich, Michael (Project Manager for many Grand Canyon National Park projects.)
V
W
Z