Desert View Watchtower
Encyclopedia
Desert View Watchtower, also known as the Indian Watchtower at Desert View, is a 70 feet (21.3 m)-high stone building located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
within Grand Canyon National Park
in Arizona
, United States
. The tower is located at Desert View, more than 20 miles (32.2 km) to the east of the main developed area at Grand Canyon Village, toward the east entrance to the park. The four-story structure, completed in 1932, was designed by American architect
Mary Colter
, an employee of the Fred Harvey Company
who also created and designed many other buildings in the Grand Canyon vicinity including Hermit's Rest
and the Lookout Studio
. The interior contains murals by Fred Kabotie
.
in 1935. The tower was designed to resemble an Ancient Pueblo Peoples
watchtower, but its size dwarfs any known Pueblan-built tower. The closest prototypes for such a structure may be found at Hovenweep National Monument
.The structure is composed of a circular coursed masonry tower rising from a rubble base. The base was intentionally designed to convey a partly ruinous appearance, perhaps of an older structure on which the watchtower was later built. The base is arranged within a large circle with the tower to the north. Tiny windows are irregularly disposed, some of which are themselves irregular in shape. The main space is the Kiva Room in the base structure, apparently roofed with logs that were salvaged from the old Grandview Hotel. The ceiling is a false structure concealing the roof structure that supports an observation deck. The Kiva Room features a fireplace with a large picture window directly above where the chimney would ordinarily go. Smoke is drawn away through an offset, concealed flue. The room still contains its original furnishings, which are part of the historic designation. A separate, apparently ruinous structure was actually built in that form to provide a storage place for firewood.
The tower rises as an open shaft lined by circular balconies overlooking the central space. Access from balcony to balcony is provided by small stairways. At the top the space is decked over, creating an enclosed observation level with large glazed windows. An open observation area on the roof of this space is now closed to visitors and is used for radio equipment. The steel and concrete structure of the observation level is concealed behind plaster, stone and wood. The tower is decorated by bold murals by Fred Kabotie, with other, petroglyph
-style decorations by Fred Greer. Small windows in the tower's shaft let beams of light into the lower space.
, and may be their only surviving representation.
as part of the Mary Jane Colter Buildings collective nomination on May 28, 1987, comprising the Desert View Watchtower, Hopi House
, Lookout Studio
and Hermit's Rest
. The tower is also part of a National Register of Historic Places
historic district, the Desert View Watchtower Historic District, designated on January 3, 1995.
In 2008, two tourists were banned from all American national parks for the period of a year after using white-out
and permanent marker
to correct the punctuation on a sign on the Desert View Watchtower, which had been painted by Colter.
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
within Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park is the United States' 15th oldest national park and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the Wonders of the World. The park covers of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties.Most...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The tower is located at Desert View, more than 20 miles (32.2 km) to the east of the main developed area at Grand Canyon Village, toward the east entrance to the park. The four-story structure, completed in 1932, was designed by American architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Mary Colter
Mary Colter
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter was an American architect and designer. As a child, Mary Colter traveled with her family through frontier Minnesota, Colorado and Texas in the years after the American Civil War. After her father died in 1886, Colter attended the California School of Design in San...
, an employee of the Fred Harvey Company
Fred Harvey Company
The origin of the Fred Harvey Company can be traced to the 1875 opening of two railroad eating houses located at Wallace, Kansas and Hugo, Colorado on the Kansas Pacific Railway. These cafés were opened by Fred Harvey, then a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad...
who also created and designed many other buildings in the Grand Canyon vicinity including Hermit's Rest
Hermit's Rest
Hermit's Rest is a structure built in 1914 at the western end of Hermit Road at the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States. The Hermit Trail, a hiking trail that extends to the Colorado River, begins about ¼ mile beyond the shuttle bus stop at Hermit's Rest. Hermit's Rest also...
and the Lookout Studio
Lookout Studio
Lookout Studio, known also as The Lookout, is a stone building located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, within Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. It is part of the Grand Canyon Village Historic District, and is part of the Mary Jane Colter Buildings National Historic Landmark...
. The interior contains murals by Fred Kabotie
Fred Kabotie
Fred Kabotie was a celebrated Hopi painter, silversmith, and educator.-Background and education:Fred Kabotie was born into a highly traditional Hopi family at Songo`opavi, Second Mesa, Arizona, Kabotie. His father belonged to the sun clan and he belonged to the Bluebird Clan...
.
Description
The watchtower was the last of the series of Mary Colter-designed visitor concession structures at the Grand Canyon until her renovation of the Bright Angel LodgeBright Angel Lodge
Bright Angel Lodge is a hotel complex at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Designed by architect Mary Jane Colter, the lodge is a complex of cabins around a central lodge building, directly on the edge of the canyon...
in 1935. The tower was designed to resemble an Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
watchtower, but its size dwarfs any known Pueblan-built tower. The closest prototypes for such a structure may be found at Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, located between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain...
.The structure is composed of a circular coursed masonry tower rising from a rubble base. The base was intentionally designed to convey a partly ruinous appearance, perhaps of an older structure on which the watchtower was later built. The base is arranged within a large circle with the tower to the north. Tiny windows are irregularly disposed, some of which are themselves irregular in shape. The main space is the Kiva Room in the base structure, apparently roofed with logs that were salvaged from the old Grandview Hotel. The ceiling is a false structure concealing the roof structure that supports an observation deck. The Kiva Room features a fireplace with a large picture window directly above where the chimney would ordinarily go. Smoke is drawn away through an offset, concealed flue. The room still contains its original furnishings, which are part of the historic designation. A separate, apparently ruinous structure was actually built in that form to provide a storage place for firewood.
The tower rises as an open shaft lined by circular balconies overlooking the central space. Access from balcony to balcony is provided by small stairways. At the top the space is decked over, creating an enclosed observation level with large glazed windows. An open observation area on the roof of this space is now closed to visitors and is used for radio equipment. The steel and concrete structure of the observation level is concealed behind plaster, stone and wood. The tower is decorated by bold murals by Fred Kabotie, with other, petroglyph
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
-style decorations by Fred Greer. Small windows in the tower's shaft let beams of light into the lower space.
Design
Colter spent six months researching archeological prototypes and construction techniques before building a model of the site, studying the design of the tower using clay. Before the final design was completed Colter had a 70 feet (21.3 m) platform built to assess the views from the proposed site. Engineering was provided by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. Colter was responsible for selecting Kabotie and Greer to decorate the interior. Greer's rock art paintings are copies of now-destroyed petroglyphs at Abo, New MexicoAbo (historic place)
Abo is a pueblo ruin in New Mexico that is preserved in the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.The Abó Ruins are located about 9 miles west of Mountainair, at about 6100 feet above sea level. They are said to date back to the 1300s. It was a major trading station during its time...
, and may be their only surviving representation.
Historic District
In addition to its individual designation as part of the M.E.J. Colter Buildings National Historic Landmark, the Watchtower is part of the Desert View Watchtower Historic District, which includes a number of support structures built and used by the Fred Harvey Company, and later used by the National Park Service. Significant buildings include the Desert View Caretaker's Residence (1930), the oldest extant structure in the area. This rustic stone and wood house was initially built as a rest stop for Harveycar tours right on the canyon rim, and was moved to its present location when the Watchtower was built. Fred Kabotie may have lived here while he was the Watchtower's caretaker. Several other buildings, including cabins, sheds and a comfort station are included in the historic district.Historic designation
The bottom floor of the tower now contains a gift shop while the upper floors serve as an observation deck from which visitors to the national park can view eastern portions of the Grand Canyon. Desert View Watchtower was designated a United States National Historic LandmarkNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
as part of the Mary Jane Colter Buildings collective nomination on May 28, 1987, comprising the Desert View Watchtower, Hopi House
Hopi House
Hopi House is located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, within Grand Canyon National Park in the U.S. state of Arizona. Built in 1905 as concessioner facilities at the South Rim were being developed, it is the first of of six buildings at the Grand Canyon that were designed by architect Mary...
, Lookout Studio
Lookout Studio
Lookout Studio, known also as The Lookout, is a stone building located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, within Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. It is part of the Grand Canyon Village Historic District, and is part of the Mary Jane Colter Buildings National Historic Landmark...
and Hermit's Rest
Hermit's Rest
Hermit's Rest is a structure built in 1914 at the western end of Hermit Road at the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States. The Hermit Trail, a hiking trail that extends to the Colorado River, begins about ¼ mile beyond the shuttle bus stop at Hermit's Rest. Hermit's Rest also...
. The tower is also part of a National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
historic district, the Desert View Watchtower Historic District, designated on January 3, 1995.
In 2008, two tourists were banned from all American national parks for the period of a year after using white-out
Correction fluid
A correction fluid is an opaque, white fluid applied to paper to mask errors in text. Once dried, it can be written over. It is typically packaged in small bottles, and the lid has an attached brush which dips into the bottle...
and permanent marker
Permanent marker
A permanent marker is a type of marker pen that is used to create permanent writing on an object. Generally the liquid is water resistant, contains a solvent such as xylene, toluene, or alcohol and is capable of writing on a variety of surfaces from paper to metal to stone...
to correct the punctuation on a sign on the Desert View Watchtower, which had been painted by Colter.
External links
- National Park Service historic photos of Desert View Watchtower
- Parkitecture in Western National Parks: Indian Watchtower at Desert View
- M.E.J. Colter Buildings, Architecture in the Parks