1962 Les Jones Scroll River Guide and Map of the Grand Canyon, Arizona

A striking 1962 river guide map of the Grand Canyon on a long scroll designed by Leslie Allen 'Buckethead' Jones. Measuring just 7.5 inches high, but roughly 45 feet long, the map follows the Colorado River from Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead, passing fully through the Grand Canyon. This made-to-order map is the precursor to the modern riverman's guide and represents the first specific guide to the Grand Canyon intended for river-runners.

A Closer Look

The guide begins with technical notes on the river and elevations, a religious benediction ('The Lord God of Israel Lives and Speaks through His prophets in America'), and a list of historic runs of the Colorado River, including Nevills, Powell, Jones' own solo run in 1953, and others. The map then proceeds to detail the river, including elevations, notes on running the rapids, geological information, and commentary on historical points and events - some of which are amusingly anecdotal. He makes specific note of people who died along the river - a not-so-subtle warning to a modern-day river runner. He also mentions camp sites, beaches, possible stops, and hiking trails.

Les Jones River Maps

Les Jones began running western rivers in earnest in 1953 - often in boats he designed and built himself. Jones initially used USGS maps to guide his trips, but quickly came to the realization that they were insufficient for river running. As an engineer, he began making his own guides on long scrolls, which were initially taped together. The first guide, covering the Grand Canyon, was issued in 1962. Word of the guides spread in the river running community, and Les began selling them on a made-to-order model. He reproduced his manuscripts on long scrolls of photo-reactive paper - many appear as diazo or whiteprints, a kind of reverse blueprint popular at the time for technical drawings and well-suited for making one-off reproductions with limited equipment. It eventually evolved into a business, with Jones expanding his guides to include maps of most great western rivers. Known guides cover the Grand Canyon, Salmon River, Wind River, Hell's Canyon, Lodore, and Big Bend, among others. Most of the guides are built upon Jones' own reconnaissance, but the guide for the Columbia River and Salmon River in Oregon were made with the assistance of other river runners - Jones himself never visited Oregon or Washington. Generally, the guides range from about 25 to 50 feet in length. Jones recommended putting them in clear paper bags and rolling them open and closed, like a Torah, as one passed the relevant part of the river. In addition to practical rafting instructions, the guides included geological notes, first-hand commentary on historic river voyages, religious notes (he was a devout Mormon), and conservation recommendations. In all, Jones claims to have made some 20,000 river guides, but their use in the field led to a low survivability rate and today they are all quite rare.

Diazo Print or Whiteprint

The diazo print (whiteprint or diazo for short) is a photo reproductive technique best understood as a reverse cyanotype or blueprint. The process yields distinctive blue lines on white paper. Like cyanotypes, the diazo process gained popularity in architecture circles, where it was a simple and effective way to duplicate documents in the field. The earliest diazotypes appeared around 1880 and were adopted for military and field cartographic use from about 1895. The diazo process was commercialized in 1923, when the German firm, Kalle and Company, developed Ozalid, a patented diazo paper that made diazotyping even easier. By the 1950s, it supplemented cyanotypes as the reprographic technique of choice for technical drawings.

Publication History and Census

Les Jones's river maps are difficult to date with precision. Some are dated, others are not. Moreover, they were only marginally updated. The present example is dated to 1962 and appears to be an early state of the Grand Canyon guide, predating the development of the Les Jones logo and printed text that appears on some later examples. Moreover, the present example is a crude cyanotype on early coated paper. It has no printed text - only diazotized manuscript - suggesting it is one of Jones' earlier issues. Some content, like they Mormon benediction near the beginning of the document, was removed from latter states.