The Journal

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College kicks off its summer lecture series based on the theme “A Year in the Life of the West” with a presentation from Jack Turner, 1936: Adventure in Crooked Canyons – Ansel Hall’s Radio Address on the Rainbow Bridge Monument Valley Expedition.

The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, June 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the Center’s Lyceum Room No. 120.

Adventure in Crooked Canyons is a re-enactment of Hall’s 1936 radio address on KGO Radio in San Francisco to promote the Rainbow Bridge Monument Valley Expedition (1933-38). Hall was the first chief naturalist for the National Park Service, and was an explorer and educator. During the Great Depression, Hall organized hundreds of academics and volunteers from across the country to participate in the ambitious exploration of a 3,000-square-mile area of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona that was all but unknown except to the native tribes. This presentation will include historic images from the expedition.

Durango resident, Jack Turner, is the grandson of Ansel F. Hall, and the author of the award-winning book “Landscapes On Glass,” with a foreword by former President Bill Clinton. Turner is a citizen historian and director of The Lost Files Project, a historic program based on newly discovered files from Hall’s service in the National Park Service.

The lecture is free to the public. Parking on campus is free during summer.