The Bass Photo Collection - Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau Lantern Slides

Grand Canyon explorer, prospector and entrepreneur William Wallace Bass (1848-1933) shaped the early 20th century knowledge about and use of the Grand Canyon. This collection consists of 446, hand-tinted, 3.25" by 4" lantern slides from PC 181 Bass Family Photograph Collection, part of the collections of the Arizona Historical Society. The slides depict landscapes and people in and around the Grand Canyon from an image of the cable car tram that once took people, horses and supplies across the Colorado in the depths of the canyon to canyon pioneer Bass setting his own broken leg. Also included are colorized images of famous canyon landmarks such as Shinumo Canyon, Granite Gorge, and Havasupai Point. Many of the slides were taken by Western photographer F.H. Maude, a trained physician who moved in 1887 from England to California where he established a photography business which included the production of lantern slides.