Zion Canyon
Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
1903
This painting is a rare representation of Zion Canyon before it was established as Mukuntuweap National Monument in 1909.
Dellenbaugh was an early artist and topographer of the American West. He served as an assistant topographer with Major John Wesley Powell's second expedition of the Colorado River from 1871 to 1873. The artist spent the summer of 1903 painting Zion Canyon. His paintings were exhibited in the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, where spectators could not believe such a place was real.
In the January 1904 edition of Scribner's Magazine, Dellenbaugh introduced the nation to Zion Canyon with these words: "One hardly knows just how to think of it. Never before has such a naked mountain of rock entered into our minds! Without a shred of disguise its transcendent form rises preeminent. There is almost nothing to compare to it. Niagara has the beauty of energy; the Grand Canyon, of immensity; the Yellowstone, of singularity; the Yosemite, of altitude; the ocean, of power; this Great Temple, of eternity—"
Dellenbaugh's paintings and the Scribner's article contributed to President William Howard Taft's proclamation creating Mukuntuweap National Monument on July 31, 1909. In 1919, Congress changed the name and established Zion National Park.
Oil on canvas. W 95.9, H 63.2 cm
Zion National Park. ZION 38105