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An extremely rare, very early framed original Goldtone photograph of Rainbow Bridge, Utah possibly by Arthur C. Pillsbury, c. 1909-1920’s

This is a completely remarkable, beautiful and historic photographic image, made all the more remarkable by the incredible difficulty of getting to it and taking it in the first place; of carrying delicate, fragile photographic equipment safely into (and back out of) over some fifty miles of the roughest, most remote and inaccessible territory  on earth particularly in the early years of the 20th Century.

Although it was known by local area Native American people since antiquity, Rainbow Bridge was officially “discovered” by the outside modern world in August, 1909 by an expedition led by University of Utah Archaeology Professor, Byron Cummings, and U.S. General Land Office surveyor, William B. Douglass. "The most commonly told story is that John Wetherill's wife, Louisa, while at the couple's isolated Oljato Trading Post, heard of the arch in early 1908 from a Navajo indian called One-Eyed Man of the Salt Clan. That summer she told what she knew of it to archeologist Byron Cummings of the University of Utah. Meanwhile, William B. Douglass of the U.S. General Land Office had also heard of the bridge from a Ute Indian guide, "Mike's Boy". Cummings and Douglass joined forces the following summer with John Wetherwill as their guide and their search party first saw the bridge on August 14, 1909." * The expedition was organized and guided by local area Indian Trader, John Wetherill and Paiute Indian guide, Nasja Begay. This modern era discovery of one of the world’s largest natural bridges brought immediate national attention to Rainbow Bridge and it was designated a National Monument a year later in 1910 by President William Howard Taft. Three years later, in 1913, former U.S. President Theodoore Roosevelt also visited Rainbow Bridge and was also guided there by John Wetherill as shown below.

“In 1906, John and Louisa Wade Wetherill relocated to Oljato in southern Utah, where they built and operated their own trading post. John Wetherill is known for organizing discovery expeditions in the region, and in 1909, he explored and is often credited with discovering the Rainbow Bridge.”

-Arizona Archives online

Above left, a view of Navajo Mountain on the Arizona/Utah border. Above right, a photographic view of the 1913 Roosevelt Expedition party, also guided by John Wetherill, which brought former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Quentin, to Rainbow Bridge. The group is shown here traversing over the upper dome of Navajo Mountain.

Left photo source and © Wikipedia. Right photo source and © Arizona Memory Project

“Rainbow Bridge, on the edge of Lake Powell, is the largest natural bridge in the world at 290 feet/88 meters tall and 270 feet/83 meters across. Rainbow Bridge is considered sacred by the Navajo culture as a symbol of deities responsible for creating clouds, rainbows and rain - the essence of life in the desert.”

-National Park Service

The unique Goldtone or Orotone photographic process refined by the great American frontier photographer, Edward S. Curtis, was popular from the 1880’s through the 1930’s. It produces a luminous, sepia-toned positive image on glass. It involves coating a glass plate with a light-sensitive emulsion, exposing it to a negative, and backing the developed image with a mixture of bronze powders and banana oil.

“Gold tone photography, or orotones are positive images printed on glass and backed

with a golden metallic coating. The image is on the backside of the glass as seen by the viewer, and the natural refraction of the glass adds a sense of depth to the image.”

-Quotation source and © Curtis Legacy Foundation

This Goldtone glass photographic plate itself measures 8" in height and14" in width and its framed dimensions are

11 1/2" in height and 17 1/2" in width. The Goldtone appears to be framed in its original, fancy, early 20th Century carved and gold metal leaf-gilded wood frame. The  Goldtone is in remarkably excellent original condition, and particularly so for its century or so of age. There is a very slight  3/4"-1" long scratch in the far upper right-hand corner of the glass plate which is hardly noticeable and does not interfere at all with the visual enjoyment of the piece, in our opinions. When the photo is hung on a wall, the scratch is covered and becomes completely invisible.

A handwritten note, presumably by an unknown previous owner, attached to the verso of the Goldtone suggests

the intriguing possibility that this photograph might have been taken by the prominent  American photographer and photographic inventor, Arthur Clarence Pillsbury (1870-1946) who was well-known for his beautiful Goldtone photographs of Yosemite Valley in California and The Gold Rush in Alaska.

Longtime area rancher, amateur archaeologist, explorer and guide, John Wetherill (1866-1944) was essentially the only local outfitter with the knowledge, experience and logistics to guide people to remote Rainbow Bridge in the early decades of the 20th Century, so if this photograph wasn’t taken on the initial 1909 Discovery expedition which it certainly could have been, it could also have been taken on the 1913 Roosevelt Expedition or taken a few years later on one of the several Charles Bernheimer-sponsored expeditions to Rainbow Bridge in the 1920's also all guided by John Wetherwill, but it was almost certainly taken on a John Wetherill-guided expedition. "It is also worth noting that after President Taft designated Rainbow Bridge as a National Monument in 1910 that John Wetherwill was officially appointed the Government custodian of the new monument-at one dollar per month."*

In 1970, we personally followed John Wetherill’s original old expedition route overland and over Navajo Mountain (as seen below) to Rainbow Bridge starting from Wetherill’s old Oljato Indian Trading Post (seen below) about fifteen miles west of Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah border. We traveled on the treacherous and rugged Moonlight Water Trail over Navajo Mountain and down Forbidding Canyon on foot and by mule and we can say that even with the benefits of modern-day outdoor equipment, clothing, food, maps and navigational aids that the four-day, fifty or so mile roundtrip journey was extraordinarily difficult and rough in the extreme. Decidedly not for the faint of heart, in 1909, 1970 or today. The awesome sight of Rainbow Bridge at the end of the trail, however, was most rewarding as was perfectly captured for posterity in this historic Goldtone photo.

At right, photographer and photographic equipment and process inventor, Arthur Clarence Pillsbury, c. 1920.

Right photo source and © Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation

Further research needs to be done to establish this connection, but it is certainly well within the realm of possibility; the style of photography, the remote, dramatic Western subject matter, the time frame, and most importantly, the quality and beauty of the image itself are completely consistent with Pillsbury’s distinguished

work. It is also possible that due to Pillsbury’s considerable prominence as a Western outdoor photographer a

the time, that Byron Cummings might have invited him to come along on the 1909 discovery expedition and that

this photograph might have been taken then or it is also possible that Theodore Roosevelt who knew Pillsbury personally might have invited him to come along on his 1913 expedition.h

Whether made by Arthur Pillsbury or not, this rare and unique Goldtone photograph is at once a beautiful piece

of vintage photographic art and a dramatic one hundred or so year old documentary record of a unique place at a unique time in American Southwestern history, most likely in the unique company of people such as John Wetherill, Byron Cummings or Theodore Roosevelt.

Price $1,575

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*Quoted passages above  excerpted from "Rainbow Bridge", by Charles L. Bernheimer, Doubleday, Page and Company, 1924

At lower left, the very slight 3/4" long scratch in the uppermost right hand corner of the Goldtone. At lower right, the scratch on the Goldtone's glass plate seen from the back.