The Harry LeRoy Aleson Papers, 1918-1972

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Utah State Historical Society
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Utah State Historical Society
Salt Lake City, Utah

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Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Summary Description
Repository:Utah State Historical Society
Call number:Mss B 187
Creator: Aleson, Harry LeRoy, 1899-1972.
Title:Harry LeRoy Aleson Papers, 1918-1972
Quantity:16 lin. ft. (31 boxes)
Abstract:River guide. Correspondence, diaries, legal and financial records, photographs. The entire collection centers on the passion of Aleson for the Colorado River. Correspondence (12 lin. ft.) includes quite literally every exchange Aleson ever received. It is arranged chronologically. Diaries and journals include many of those written by other river runners, copied by Aleson, as well as his own notes and diaries. They are also ordered chronologically. There is a brief file of published and unpublished essays by Aleson, and one for clippings, legal and financial documents.

Topics:
Rivers -- Recreational use

Persons:
Baker, Pearl Biddlecome
Bernheimer, Charles Leopold
Brimhall, Dean
Chaffin, Arthur L.
Chaffin, Della H.
Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935
Fetzner, Louise M.
Frazier, Russell G., 1897-1968
Galloway, Nathaniel T.
Hudson, Ed
Inglesby, A.L. (Arthur Leroy) Dr.
Larabee, Charles W.
Loper, Bert
Loper, Rachel
Marston, Otis R. (Dock)
Nevills, Norman D.
Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
Ruess, Everett, b. 1914
Sparkes, Harry P. (Pete)
Sprang, Richard W.
Stanton, Robert Brewster
Stone, Julius F.
White, Georgie

Places:
Cataract Canyon (Utah)
Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)
Escalante River (Utah)
Glen Canyon (Utah)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Green River (Wyo.- Utah)
Lake Mead (Nevada)
Mackenzie River (NWT)
San Juan River (Utah)
Utah -- Discovery and exploration
Utah -- History
Utah -- Archaeology

Form or Genre:
Diaries.

Biographical Note

Waterville, Iowa, where Harry LeRoy Aleson was born 9 March 1899, was an auspicious name for the birthplace of a future river boatman. Though he later changed his name to the more manageable "Aleson," he was fiercely proud of his Nordic heritage, and maintained close contact with family members and Norwegian friends.
After completing two years of high school in Waterville, Aleson quit school to work in an iron mine as a chemist's helper. In March 1918, he enlisted in the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps and arrived in France after a brief period of training. Aleson was proud of his service in World War I, during which his plane crashed and he was gassed, which left him with a chronic stomach ailment and entitled him to a pension for total disability.
Upon returning to Iowa, Aleson completed high school in 1920 and went on to attend Iowa State College, where he took courses in electrical and chemical engineering. Financial pressures forced him to leave college after two and one-half years, but he retained an emotional attachment to Iowa State and was instrumental in establishing the Memorial Union there in honor of the veterans of World War I.
During the Great Depression, Aleson worked in a variety of positions with various geophysical exploration firms searching for oil in the Southwest. By the end of the 1930s, though, he had discovered the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, and he quickly gave up any desires for a life apart from the river. His love for the river cost him his marriage; he and Thursa Arnold, whom he had married in 1928, were separated in 1940.
At about the time of their separation, Aleson took up residence in a tent camp in Quartermaster Canyon, which he christened "My Home, Arizona." From there, during the next decade, he conducted the explorations of the Grand Canyon and the lower Colorado River System that made him a much consulted authority and popular river guide.
In the beginning, Aleson built his river guide business upon the notoriety he achieved as a result of numerous daredevil feats. In April 1945, he became the first person to make an upriver motorboat run from Lee's Ferry, Arizona, to Hite, Utah, a journey of 162.5 miles, which he accomplished in five days. Also in 1945, he and the "Woman of the River," Georgie White of Los Angeles, made a 61 mile down river trip to Lake Mead using only life preservers. They made a similar 81 mile trip in 1946.
In 1945, Aleson took up winter headquarters at the Johnston Hotel in Richfield, Utah, where he earned part of his room and board by working as night clerk. During his long shifts there, he organized the dozens of San Juan River Glen Canyon trips that were his main source of income during the summers.
Aleson's river trips were luxurious experiences that elicited repeated enthusiastic comments from satisfied guests. He pioneered in the use of U.S. Navy surplus neoprene landing craft, which are virtually unsinkable, roomy and comfortable. He offered nearly one hundred different foods and served them on actual china. His leisurely pace, which allowed time for side trips to scenic and historic sites, further enhanced by his knowledgeable comments, made for unforgettable experiences.
During the fall, after the tourist season was over, Aleson often made long expeditions of his own, for a month or six weeks at a time, in the back country of southeastern Utah. Beginning in 1952, he was joined regularly in those trips by Dick Sprang and Dudy Thomas. The three established a group called "Canyon Surveys," and their journals, photographs and movies are among the finest records of exploration of Glen Canyon, Grand Gulch, the San Juan River, and the Red Rock Plateau.
During the 1960s, Aleson's life took important new directions. The closing of the Glen Canyon Dam marked the end of the river trips that had been his mainstay. Thereafter, he began to exploit earlier experiences he had had on Canadian rivers, particularly the MacKenzie and Yukon, in offering "Arctic River Expeditions."
Aleson remarried in 1962. Thursa Arnold, his estranged wife, died in 1957, and Aleson was free to marry Dorothy Donaldson Keyes, whom he met on one of his river trips in 1961. Appropriately, they were married in Glen Canyon and spent their honeymoon on the river.
Aleson never really became inactive on the river, though advanced age forced upon him a slower pace. An interest in genealogy emerged, and he spent a great deal of time in research and correspondence. Aleson died of cancer on 27 March 1972 in Prescott, Arizona.
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Scope and Content

The papers of Harry Aleson cover a lengthy period, from a letter written to his mother during his World War I experience in France, to expressions of sympathy to his wife following his death in 1972. The variety of the collection is equally broad; it embraces correspondence, research notes, diaries and logs of river trips, clippings from newspapers and magazines, and many other types of material assembled or generated during a long and active life.
By far the largest portion of the collection is the correspondence, which occupies twenty-four boxes. The correspondence is arranged chronologically with undated or fragmentary items at the end of each year.
Boxes 25-26 contain an impressive assortment of river trip logs. Besides the ones Aleson wrote on his own trips, the collection includes many that he copied from others. As a result, the logs span a large part of the history of the river, from the Powell survey of Glen Canyon in 1872 to Aleson's own pack trip in 1970. Many of the logs reveal historical and archeological discoveries, and most are exciting adventure narratives.
Boxes 27-28 contain various materials generated by Aleson in connection with his river trips and his study of the river's history. The remainder of the Aleson papers are unarranged except in broad general categories. Box 29 contains miscellaneous legal and financial documents, and Boxes 30-31 contain various genealogical and personal papers.

Series Descriptions

Correspondence
Diaries and Journals
Miscellaneous River-related Materials
Manuscripts by Harry Aleson
Advertisements and Brochures
Newspaper clippings, Legal and Financial Documents
Genealogical, Biographical, Personal
Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation:

Harry LeRoy Aleson Papers, 1918-1972, Utah State Historical Society.

Restrictions on Use

The Harry LeRoy Aleson Papers are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.

Processing Information:

Collection processed by Gary Topping

Finding aid compiled by Gary Topping

Finding aid edited by Linda Thatcher, 2000

Collection cataloged by Richard Saunders, 1988 (RLIN ID: UTSX88-A209).

Finding aid encoded for the World Wide Web by Craig Ringgenberg, 2000.

Finding aids note:

Register, calendar, and calendar index available.

Separations

Photographs, movies and tapes have been separated into photo collection Mss C 187. The collection documents Aleson's early life, various river trips and explorations, some of which document trips in the far north. Many photos are unidentified.

Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List

Container list

Box

Folder

Contents

Correspondence

1

1

1918-1945

2

1

1946-1947

3

1

1948

4

1

1949-1950

5

1

1950-51

6

1

1951-1952

7

1

1952

8

1

1952-1953

9

1

1953-1955

10

1

1955-1956

11

1

1956-1957

12

1

1957-1958

13

1

1958-1959

14

1

1959-1960

15

1

1960-1961

16

1

1961-1962

17

1

1962-1964

18

1

1964-1965

19

1

1965-1966

20

1

1966-1967

21

1

1967-1968

22

1

1968-1969

23

1

1970

24

1

1971-1975

Diaries and Journals

25

1

Canonita survey of Glen Canyon, June-July 1872 (Diaries of Johnson, Hillers and Dellenbaugh)

25

2

Nathaniel Galloway, "J. F. Stone Expedition Through the Canyons of the Green and Colorado River, 1909" [copy]; "Diary of Bert Loper, 1911 Trip from Hite to Lee's Ferry and Return" [copy]

25

3

Wetherill-Flattum Upriver Trip, 11-12 January 1931 [typescript one page]

25

4

Diary, June-November 1932 ["1932 Year Book"]; "Beginning of an Experience Story" [1932 Work Record, typescript]

25

5

Diary, 1936 [Green "Year Book 1936"]

25

6

Diary and Financial Records, 1938-1939 [Black Looseleaf, "1932"]

25

7

"Lake Mead Outboard Motor Boat Running Time. September 1939 Vacation Exploration by Adolph Aleson and Harry Aleson"

25

8

Diaries and Journals, 1941; "San Juan River Runs," 1941-1950; "Lake Mead-Colorado River Trip," February 1941; "Colorado Up-River Expedition, 1941 Motor Log Diary"; "Norman Nevills Grand Canyon Traverse," 1941; "Log of Running Time for Boat Colorado," July-August 1941 [original and typescript]

25

9

Dairies and Journals, 1942; Excerpts from a 1941 Diary of Norman D. Nevills and a 1942 Diary of Otis R. "Dock" Marston; Log of various 1942 Runs in Lower Grand Canyon [2 items]; Record of Upriver Runs, 1864-1947

25

10

Logs of Various Runs from 1943-1949 [2 items]

25

11

Weather Observation Reports and Daily Journals, Quartermaster Canyon, October-December 1943; Diaries and Journals, 1944

25

12

Diary, January-February 1937 [Green book, "1937"]

25

13

Hudson, Ed, "Canyon Adventure Notes: the Saga of Five Men and a Boat; Aleson 1944 Up Colorado Expedition" [copy]; "Diary Notes from Colorado Up-River Expedition: Journey of the Five-Man Boat, February-March 1944" [Original spiral notebook and typescript copy]; "Sail of the Lake, 17-25 May 1944" [original and typescript copy]; "1944 Visits to Pierce's Ferry, Arizona, by Harry L. Aleson"; "Dates for Records of Colorado Upriver Expedition," 1943-1944

26

1

Diaries and Journals, 1945; Up-river Trip from Lee's Ferry, 20 March - 7 April 1945 (original and copy); "Notes on Colorado River Drift," 1945; Synopsis of 1945 river trips

26

2

Diaries and Journals, 1946; Various Trips in April, 1946 [spiral bound notebook]; Log Raft Drift with Georgie White, 17-30 June 1946; "Sensibaugh-Aleson Glen Canyon Voyage, August 1946"

26

3

Diaries and Journals, 1947; "1947 Travel Trips"; "Additional Travel Dates"; "Colorado Upriver Expedition"; "Diary of Dock Marston Grand Canyon Run of 1947"; "Colorado River Notes (& Green River Notes)" 18 October 1947 - 6 November 1947; "Record of Camps in 1947 on Cataract Canyon Run" [includes "Record of Camps in 1950 on Glen Canyon Run -- Charles L. Fetzner"]

26

4

Diaries and Journals, 1948; Diary, April-December [Black Book, "Every Day"]; "Excerpts from Records of Colorado Upriver Expedition. First Conquerors -- Escalante River"; "San Juan River Trip, 14-22 June 1948"; "Nevills Grand Canyon Expedition, 1948: Personal Diary of Norman D. Nevills" [copy]; Two Lists of Passengers on 1948 Nevills Expedition; "180 Mile Hike in Arizona and Utah, October 1948" [original notebook and typescript]; "Record of Visits by Boat to Confluence of Colorado and Escalante Rivers"; Marston-Hudson Upriver Record, June 1948

26

5

Diaries and Journals, 1949; Diary, January-April [Small Black Book]; "1-9 May 1949 San Juan Run"; Louise Fetzner, "Diary of Summer 1949"; "Log of Second Escalante River Run, May 1949"; "Log of the Friendship River Trip, July 1949 Grand Canyon Run"; Excerpt from Bert Loper Diary, 6 July 1949 [copy]; Don Harris Diary, Grand Canyon, 1949 [copy]

26

6

Diaries and Journals, 1950; "September-October 1950 Lone Month on the Colorado" [original and typescript]

26

7

Diaries and Journals, 1951; "1951 Marble Canyon-Grand Canyon-Lake Mead Boat Journey"; "Notes on Green River Trip, 6 August 1951 - 28 September 1951" [original and typescript]; "Green River Expedition, 9 August 1951 - 9 September 1951"; Otis Marston, Lee's Ferry to Diamond Creek, June 1951

26

8

Diaries and Journals, 1952; Spiral Notebook Giving Marble and Grand Canyon Mileage, Side Canyon Trails to Rim, Provision Lists and Personal Financial Records; Georgie White Grand Canyon Traverse, July 1952; Aleson-Sprang Log, Glen Canyon, 1952" [original and typescript]

26

9

Diaries and Journals, 1953; Georgie White-Paul De Ross, "Grand Canyon Run, 10 July 1953" [copy]; "Arthur Lange-Pete Sparkes Grand Canyon Hike on Tonto Trail" [copy]; Canyon Surveys, 1953: Notes made on Spring and Fall Hikes in Grand Gulch

26

10

Diaries and Journals, 1954; "Log of Otis 'Dock' Marston, June 1954" (Grand Canyon) [copy]; Georgie White, "The Mighty Grand Canyon Trip, 10 July 1954"; "July-August-September 1954 Peace-Slave-Mackenzie Rivers" [original and typescript]; "Far North Rivers Expedition - -Records of 'Northings' or Campsites by North Latitude"; Maureen Henderson, "Journal of Trip Down Peace, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers," July-September 1954 [copy]; Maureen Henderson Diary, 8 November 1954 - 2 December 1954; Diary, 7-19 November 1954

26

11

Diaries and Journals, 1955; Georgie White, "Grand Canyon Trip, 1955" [copy]; Dr. Marjorie Stewart, "Diary of Green River Trip, September 1955"; Canyon Surveys, 1955; Glen Canyon Notes

27

1

Diaries and Journals, 1956; Otis R. "Dock" Marston, "Cruise of Grand Canyon, 1956" [2 copies]; Nancy Gilmer, Grand Canyon Journal, 1956 [copy]; Hatch-Eggert Expedition, Lee's Ferry to Temple Bar, 11-21 June 1956

27

2

Diary, March-September 1956 [original and typescript]; Notes on Calendar

27

3

Diaries and Journals, 1957; "Notations re: Whereabouts" [typescript]; "First Day on the Station -- Alone" 5 February 1957 [typescript]; Arctic River Trip, 1957; "Notes on Hall's Crossing Trip, Jeep-Trailer-Boat Made by Arthur Chaffin and Harry Aleson 8-15 October 1957"

27

4

Diaries and Journals, 1958; "Dating of Kate Maureen Henderson's visits to my Bright Angel Station," 12 April - 2 May; Otis R. "Dock" Marston, "Cruise of Grand Canyon, Lee's Ferry to Boulder City" [copy]; "A typed Copy of Pencilled Notes made on a Glen Canyon River Run in 1958 with Antoine L. Frey"

27

5

Diaries and Journals, 1960-1961; "Journal of Dock Marston -- Anasazi Canyon, 1960" [copy]; "A Turbocraft in the Arctic, 1961"; "Approximate Engine Running Time as a Demonstrator in Idaho -- Reported by Woody Longhurst," 1961; "1961 Hay River to Ft. Simpson"; Dock Marston Navajo Mountain Log, 1961 [copy]; One Note Sheet Containing Log for 15-17 August; "September 1961 Mackenzie River Northwest Territories Canada. A record of make-up of tow"

27

6

Diaries and Journals, 1964-1966; "Journal of Dock Marston, November-December 1964" [copy]; "Story of What Happened, by Renny Sumner as told to Elizabeth Sprang" [narrative of a river accident in June 1965]; 1966 Yukon River Notes by Dorothy Aleson; "Log of the Yukon River," 1966

27

7

Dock Marston Grand Canyon Journal, 10-18 May 1969 [photocopy]

27

8

Harvey Butchart Trail Log, 1969 [copy]

27

9

Jorgen Visback, "Trail Canyon Trip, 2-4 January 1970"

27

10

Lists of River Trips

27

11

Undated Logs

27

12

Miscellaneous River Notes

27

13

River Trip Itineraries Planned

27

14

River Trip Personnel Lists

27

15-17

River Trip Provision Lists

Miscellaneous River-related Materials

28

1

Notes on Denis Julien

28

2

Arthur Woodward, "The Autobiography of a Mountain Man, 1805-1889, by Stephen Hall Meek"

28

3

Notes and Articles on James White

28

4

Notes on John Wesley Powell and John Colton Sumner

28

5

Letters to and from Frederick S. Dellenbaugh

28

6

Letters and Notes regarding Robert Brewster Stanton

7

Notes and Articles on the Flavell-Montez Expedition, 1896

28

8

Julius Stone Letters and Articles

28

9

Bert Loper Notes, Letters, Diaries and Part of Pearl Baker's Trail on the Water

28

10

Articles on the Clyde Eddy Expedition, 1927

28

11

"First News from the River Exploration Party," Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition, 1935

28

12

Campbell, Ian and John H. Maxson, "General Report on the Carnegie Institution-California Institute of Technology Grand Canyon Expedition," 1937

28

13

Notes, Letters and Diaries regarding Norman D. Nevills

28

14

Grant, Jr., Alexander G., "The River Rats Return," Appalachia, December 1940, p. 1-13 and "Cockleshell on the Colorado," Appalachia, December 1941, p. 485-494

28

15

Burckhalter, George C., "A Description of the Circle Cliffs"

28

16

Henderson, Kate Maureen, "In a Silent Mood"

28

17

Marston, Otis R. "Dock," "The Grand Canyon Boat Parade" and "With Powell on the Colorado"; Laura Bell, "Historic River Run Reenacted for Films," Las Vegas Sun article on the filming of Ten Who Dared; "Points of Embarkation of James White"; "For Water-Level Rails Along the Colorado River"

28

18

Hudson, Ed, "Hudson Expedition," Sea, December 1948

28

19

Bulger, Harold A., "Escalante River on Maps"

28

20

Crawford, Arthur L., Hite Ferry Booklet Preparation

28

20

Miscellaneous Notes and Documents

28

21

Miscellaneous Notes and Documents

28

22

Visitor Registers at River Sites; Launch "Ida B." Discovery Notice, "Prehistoric Watch Tower" 14 June 1909; Copies of Rainbow Bridge Register [3 documents]; Visits to Music Temple [2 documents]; Visits to Oil Seep Bar, Glen Canyon, 14 November 1952; Inscriptions on Boulders at Lee's Ferry; "Inscriptions at Tse Ah Toh" (between Piute and Navajo Canyons); Visits to Junction of Escalante and Colorado, 1953 [2 documents]

28

23

Pierce's Ferry Guest Register, 1937-1939

28

24

Pierce's Ferry Guest Register, 1940-1942

Manuscripts by Harry Aleson

Published Articles

29

1

Miscellaneous
1. "The Chaffin Ferry is Built" (preface to Hite Ferry Dedication booklet)
2. Contact: A Point of Beginning
3. "Grand Canyon Mystery," Utah Historical Quarterly, 21 (April 1953), 169-170
4. Review of C. Gregory Crampton, Historical Sites in Glen Canyon, Mouth of Hansen Creek to Mouth of San Juan River (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1962), Utah Historical Quarterly, 32 (Fall 1964), 394-395
5. Copy of Letter to News of the North

Unpublished Writings

29

2

Miscellaneous
1. Circular Letter to Boating Guides
2. Comments on Martin Clark Powell, A Study. The Trail of Hosteen Pish Laki for Sixty Snows

29

3

"Arizona. A Carving in Color," Unpublished

29

4

"Certain Writings by Harry Aleson" [2 drafts] and a "Chronological Record of Certain Writings"

29

5

Miscellaneous B-En
1. "The Big Mormon Story"
2. "Colorado River Raft Drift"
3. "Enormous Natural Bridge in Utah" [2 drafts]

29

6

Miscellaneous Er-V
1. "Erosion in the Colorado River Basin"
2. "High up in the Colorado River"
3. "Marooned in the Depths"
4. "Measuring Roosevelt Memorial Natural Bridge" by Aleson and Charles O. Sensibaugh
5. "News -- 500 Years Ahead" [2 drafts]
6. "A Pioneer Mormon Road 73 Years Ago"
7. "Scrape Roots" [2 drafts]
8. "Surprise Canyon - (Fight for Life)"
9. "Vacationing in the Great Southwest"

Advertisements and Brochures

29

7

River Trip Advertisements, 1940s

29

8

River Trip Advertisements, 1950s

29

9

River Trip Advertisements, 1960-1970, plus advertisements, undated

29

10

Miscellaneous Advertising Material

29

11

Advertisements for Motion Picture Showings

29

12

Film records

29

13

Flight logs

29

14

Automobile Trip Logs

29

15

Materials relating to Everett Ruess

29

16

River Trip brochures from other guides
1. Canyon Tours (Art Greene)
2. Kent Frost
3. Hall's Crossing
4. Les Jones
5. Dock Marston
6. Norman D. Nevills

29

17

American Whitewater Affiliation
1. Western River Guides Association
2. Georgie White
3. Wonderland Expeditions (Ken Sleight)

Newspaper clippings, Legal and Financial Documents

30

1-2

Newspaper clippings, Life Preserver Float Trips

30

3

Newspaper clippings, Upriver Expeditions

30

4-7

Newspaper clippings, Miscellaneous

30

8

Legal Documents

30

9-14

Financial Documents

Genealogical, Biographical, Personal

31

1- 4

Genealogical Documents

31

5-6

Personal Documents

31

7

Medical Records

31

8

Funeral Memorial Book

31

9

Civil Liberties Documents

31

10-15

Miscellaneous

31

16

Miscellaneous Maps