Wetherill
A History of Discovery
THE GREAT "RACE" TO "DISCOVER" RAINBOW NATURAL BRIDGE IN 1909
STEPHEN C. JETT
Department of Geography
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
©Dr. Stephen C. Jett, 1992. Used by permission of the author.
This originally appeared in KIVA Magazine, Volume 58, Number 1, 1992.
ABSTRACT
Orthodox history has it that Rainbow Bridge, the world's largest natural
stone span, was first seen by literate whites on August 14, 1909, on an
expedition consisting of the rival but combined parties of University of
Utah archaeologists Byron Cummings and U. S. government surveyor William
Boone Douglass. After a difficult journey to discover the bridge, the
Cummings group and Douglass each claimed the credit, and the controversy as
to "who was first" has continued to the present. There are
contradictions
and inconsistencies in eyewitness reports, and this paper reconstructs, to
the extent possible, how John and Louisa Wetherill heard of Rainbow Bridge
from Indians; how Cummings and Douglass learned of it; the actual events of
the 1909 journeys to and from the bridge; and the attitudes and behaviors of
the disputants before, during, and after the expedition.
The article also presents evidence that neither
Cummings nor Douglass was "first," that in fact the Wetherills had visited
Rainbow Bridge months previous but had kept the trip a secret in order to
let Cummings think he was the first white ever to see this natural wonder.
There also is reason to believe that Rainbow Bridge had been seen (but not
formally reported) decades earlier by prospectors, cowboys, and perhaps
others.
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of the article by DR. Stephen C. Jett
