The Case Of The Missing Bridge
CREDITS (L to R): © NGS/NationalGeographic.com, Picture of the Day.
© Cleveland State University/Watson Bridge Book Collection.
© Utah State University/E.B. Olesen Photograph Collection.

WHERE: San Juan County, Utah, USA. WHAT: natural rock bridge.
Thumbnail clicks pop-up source pages with larger images.

In a local book store we saw a 'coffee table' book containing photographs of Utah. Among the blazing color renditions were some monochrome images from around the beginning of the 20th century. One in particular we thought we had seen before: it was a picture of a posse of horsemen on top of a natural rock bridge. However, our memory was of just one rider leading a couple of pack animals, but we are at that certain age when our memories are less reliable than formerly. We took careful note of the location given in the caption, Edwin Natural Bridge in San Juan County, and returned to digital base for further investigation.

Today we found the answer: there are at least three well known pictures of the bridge; one with a host of riders; one with just a single rider as we remembered; and even one without any riders! The immediate discrepancy between our memories and the picture in the book has been resolved, but a deeper mystery has been revealed.

We were unable to find a modern picture of the Edwin Natural Bridge anywhere on the web. It is inconceivable that such a huge landscape feature could have disappeared without at least some record of its passing, if only of how it had tragically collapsed under the weight of all those horses and riders! If it still exists it is inconceivable that it has not been visited and photographed by hordes of tourists.

Tomorrow, with a dramatic flourish reminiscent of those Perry Mason TV programs in the "The Case Of The Missing…" series, we will reveal what happened.

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Humpty Dumpty Name Change Snafus
CREDIT: © Phil Armitage/PhilArmitage.net
WHERE: Natural Bridges Nat. Monument, Utah, USA. WHAT: name change confusion.
MAPS: Blanding & Natural Bridges Nat. Mon. Thumbnail click pops-up larger image.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less." ['Through the Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll - Ch. VI: Humpty Dumpty.] One of the useful things about names, carefully considered and generally agreed names at least, is that they help to avoid confusion. From arbitrary name changing to confusion is but a small step.

Yesterday's feature, 'The Case Of The Missing Bridge', was an example of such confusion: the only pictures of what we knew as the 'Edwin Natural Bridge' that we were able to find were monochrome and taken around the early 1900s. Today we were able to see a modern color picture, from Phil Armitage's Natural Bridges National Monument page, of what we thought was named 'Edwin Natural Bridge', but only after we Googled this paragraph on Utah.com to discover our confusion:

"If early Indians named the bridges, then those names have been lost. Non-Indians first named them President, Senator and Congressman, in order of their height. Later explorers called them August, Caroline and Edwin. When the park was surveyed in 1909 the bridges were renamed: Sipapu is a Hopi term meaning place of original emergence; Kachina is named for nearby rock art which resembles the symbols often found on Hopi kachina dolls; Owachomo means 'rock mound,' a reference to a feature on the bridge's east side." So 'Edwin Natural Bridge' is now named 'Owachomo Bridge'.

Not only are there three bridges, but there have been at least two name changes! This national monument was the first to be established in Utah, and contains the second and third largest natural bridges in the world. Tomorrow we will visit the bridges and the surrounding area, using photographs, paintings, and virtual reality panoramas.

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Three Bridges Using Three Media
CREDIT: © John Crossley/AmericanSouthwest.net
WHERE: Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah, USA.
WHAT: natural rock bridges in photographs, paintings, and virtual reality movies
MAPS: Blanding & Natural Bridges National Monument.

Thumbnail clicks [1][2][3][4]pop-up source pages with larger images.

Over the last two [1][2] days we have looked at early monochrome pictures of Edwin Natural Bridge, and then a modern color picture of the now renamed Owachomo (we use the NPS spelling) Bridge. A good point to begin a virtual exploration of the Natural Bridges National Monument is the NPS (National Park Service) web site. There are sections for local area exploration, the Owachomo Bridge, the Sipapu Bridge, and the Kachina Bridge. The Horsecollar Ruin, abandoned by the Puebloans about 700 years ago, is interestingly documented.

Photographically we were faced with a difficult choice for today's feature. We wanted to illustrate all three bridges with pictures from the same photographer and web site. Yesterday's photographer Phil Armitage has two pictures, Owachomo and Sipapu, but alas does not have one of the Kachina.

Eventually, on balance, we decided that AmericanSouthwest.net had the best online gallery of all round pictures, with all seven shots giving clear views of the bridges, including the Owachomo from both above and below. The thumbnail strip shows our selections, but the site is worth visiting for the whole area.

Pictures from above or below is not just an arbitrary and inconsequential choice where the three Natural Bridges are involved. Many 'tourist pictures' (not intended as a pejorative phrase) seem to be shot from the scenic drive-by (maybe we should invent the phrase 'scenic drive-by shooting' as a photographic pejorative), whereas to get any real sense of the size and form of the bridges requires more proactive action.

Anyone of a photographic persuasion who is planning to visit may benefit from checking out the UtahTrails.com hiking notes. The DreamBreeze.com web site features Owachomo, Sipapu, and Kachina pictures that offer viewpoints very different from the usual angles.

Our headline promised three media. Following our review of the photographic media, we investigated the medium of painting. Jan Kirkpatrick, a Boulder, Colorado, based artist has three landscape sections: abstract, mountain, and desert. In the last section we found three water colors of the Owachomo, Sipapu, and Kachina bridges. When you visit Jan, we recommend a visit to her growing wild flower section.

For the third medium, we discovered two sites offering virtual reality panoramas. For the USA and Canada, the 360Geographics.com web site offers geographic services, and QTVR (QuickTime Virtual Reality) panoramas. If you have the resources necessary to run these files you may pick a location by map on the home page or text list. We were interested in the Natural Bridges section, where you may view the Owachomo, Sipapu, and Kachina bridges in 360° detail.

Another of our favorite web sites is Don Bain's VirtualGuidebooks.com where there is a section for the Natural Bridges National Monument with 360° QTVR panoramas of the Owachomo, and Sipapu from the canyon rim, and from the overlook on the trail, plus interesting associated features.

Finally, during the research or this feature we found an Owachomo picture that we thought was spectacular, part of the Em-Productions.com web site.

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