Manual for Drivers and Guides

Alternate Titles

• Indian Watchtower manual
• Watchtower at Desert View

Description

From the back cover: "Dear boys ..." was the salutation of Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter in her Manual for Drivers and Guides, written for the men who drove tourists out to the Watchtower at Desert View on the East Rim of Grand Canyon in the 1930s. Mary Colter was chief architect and interior designer for the Fred Harvey Company [sic] through the first four decades of the 20th century. Grand Canyon National Park still boasts the greatest collection of her buildings in the country. The Manual, now back in print, was Colter's response to questions about the sweeping 360-degree view from the 70-foot-tall Watchtower. Before its construction, she spent six months investigating archaeology sites in the Four Corners region. Back at the Canyon, Colter closely supervised the astounding re-creation of an ancient stone tower rising from the rim rock. In the pages of the Manual, we gain a rare glimpse in her own words of what inspired each masterful stoke of her design. Today, visitors to the Desert View Watchtower can appreciate the perfection Mary Jane Colter demanded, view murals painted by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie on the interior walls, and admire one of her signature creations.

Subjects