Grand Canyon Watchtower at Desert View
Unexpected masterpiece
Welcome to The Four Corners of the Southwest. My love for travel and the outdoors has inspired me to learn, research, and share interesting information about the American Southwest.
Last time we looked at some of the buildings on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon that were designed by Mary Colter. Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869 - 1958) was one of the very few female architects in the world at the time at the turn of the 20th Century when the Fred Harvey Company hired her for multiple jobs. The Harvey Company needed a rest stop/gift shop at the eastern end of the Canyon for its sight-seeing tours, so Mary Colter designed the Desert View Watchtower. It was completed in 1933 and today it’s considered an architectural masterpiece. The building is a National Historic Landmark and showcases the importance of Native American art, history and culture to the area of the Four Corners region.
Why a Tower?
Mary Colter remembered that some Native American ruins in the Southwest had “towers”. A couple of examples are the Round Tower at Mesa Verde National Park and many different towers at Hovenweep National Monument.
Once she decided to build a tower as part of the rest stop, she felt she needed to study and collect information and spent six months studying the construction and masonry techniques of these prehistoric towers.
Colter used her sketches and photographs from this trip to design the blueprints to build the Watchtower. It is not a replica of any real tower, but it is her interpretation of the architecture and culture of ancient Native American peoples. The tower is 70 feet tall and 30 feet in circumference so it’s much larger than any Native American towers.
Building the Tower
Colter designed the Watchtower using a steel frame (built by the bridge department of Santa Fe Railway) around which carefully selected stones were placed. The stones used were from the surrounding area so that it would blend in with the environment.
There are petroglyphs on some of the stones used to build the tower which were brought here from an area near Ash Fork, AZ.
The Kiva Room
Next to the four-story tower is a circular structure meant to resemble a kiva, a ceremonial room used in the spiritual practices of many Puebloan groups. The room is surrounded by large windows which provide a spectacular view of Grand Canyon. The log ceiling is made of salvaged logs from the old Grandview Hotel (1897 - 1906) which was the first hotel built at the Grand Canyon.
Mary Colter had “reflectoscopes” installed near the windows in the Kiva Room. A reflectoscope is a device invented by Claude Lorrain, a 17th Century French landscape painter. It is a large sheet of black glass or onyx that reflects images like a mirror but makes the colors appear more vivid. These “black mirrors” help artists capture the Grand Canyon by doing several things. One is framing the view. The size of the Canyon is so overpowering and looking at a portion at a time is easier to digest. It also filters the harsh light of the landscape allows the human eye to detect the differences between different colors and shade. It’s a wonderful tool for artists to use to enhance their drawings or paintings and it’s fun for visitors to get a “different view”.
Native American Images at the Watchtower
Because of the close association of the Hopi Native American Tribe with the Grand Canyon, Colter wanted to feature their art and culture in the Watchtower. A young Hopi artist named Fred Kabotie (1900-1986) was hired by Colter to paint the Hopi Room which was the first floor of the tower.
The walls and ceiling are covered in Native American symbols and pictographs. This painting tells the story of a Hopi man who floated down the Colorado River through the canyon in a hollow log.
Fred Kabotie designed the Snake Altar and Sand Mosiac that was on display in the Hopi Room from 1933 through 2015. Because it was authentically designed by a Hopi, it contained details of the Hopi culture that the contemporary Hopi people believed should not be viewed by the public. Therefore, the Snake Altar and Sand Mosiac that was on display in the center of the Hopi Room, was removed and given to the Hopi people.
Galleries Above the Hopi Room
A stairway curves along the inner wall up to the upper galleries. Fred Greer painted the two galleries with drawings from ancient kivas, caves and cliff walls. It was Colter’s research that determined these symbols. While some of these symbols are indigenous to the Grand Canyon, others might be completely unassociated with the area.
Guidebook
There’s more information about the Watchtower than any of Colter’s other buildings because she wrote a guidebook (over 100 pages) about it for the guides of the Harvey tours.
Colter's guidebook has been published with contemporary photographs by the Grand Canyon Conservancy. I purchased a copy when I visited the Watchtower a few weeks ago. It’s very detailed and explains the reason and symbolism of all of the paintings and murals.
Mixed Feelings about the Tower
The Superintendent of Grand Canyon back in the 1930s supported the construction of the Tower while most of the interpretive staff disliked it. The Chief Naturalist said he thought that it stuck out from the landscape like a sore thumb. In addition, he felt that the fact that the Fred Harvey Company called it an “Indian Watchtower” was misleading.
In the recent past, National Park Service (NPS) had proposed different ideas as to what to do with the Watchtower, from tearing it down to converting it into a NPS visitor center. In 1987, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Currently, the site is becoming an “Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site”—the first in the National Park Service. The Grand Canyon Conservancy website states, “Led by the 11 tribes traditionally associated with the Grand Canyon region, in partnership with the National Park Service, the Desert View Inter-tribal Cultural Heritage Site begins to address the historic inequities faced by Native Americans through new pathways for cultural and economic opportunities to determine a new thriving future.”
It seems that cultures can come together, preserve the past, and move forward.
Next Time
My next post will continue with my favorite of Mary Colter’s designs at the Grand Canyon: Bright Angel Lodge. Researching these posts, I was inspired and drove up to the Grand Canyon from Tucson, AZ and stayed at the Bright Angel Lodge a couple of weeks ago. The Lodge has an interesting history and is one of my favorite places to visit. Please like and share this post!
Thank you, Jan! Love it! 🤗
Mary Colter was an incredible lady. I love how she integrated native American architecture with the landscape. The Hopis are an intriguing tribe. My understanding is that the Hopi are the only tribe never to have signed a treaty with the dominant power, the U.S. As a people, they have refused to be separated from their Creator, even after massive acculturation attempts on their tribe. My question is, do they hold the key for the future of humanity? The prophecies of their elders are a must-read in my opinion for everyone. 🪶
What an informative read! Colter really showed a lot of awareness and sensitivity in her research & in hiring Native American artists. Ahead of her time.