Exit78 » america

Mr. Rogers of Salem – 1767

Mike Goad — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville Arkansas.

A painting of colonial ship owner and merchant, Daniel Rogers, by John Singleton Copley

Oil on canvas. 50″ x 40 1/2″

In 1915: “This fine picture represents Mr. Rogers sitting sideways upon a chair. His dress is a plum-colored coat and a gold laced waistcoat. His hair is without powder. This portrait was exhibited at the exhibition of the Society of British Artists in London in 1768. It belongs to the Estate of Morrill Wyman of Cambridge, and is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.^1”

¹The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley, by Frank W. Bayley of Copley Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts; 1915, Boston, The Taylor Press

A devilish cap

Mike Goad — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:05:00 +0000

Russell Lee, a staff photographer for the U.S. Farm Security Administration, took this photograph of a radiator cap in Laurel, Mississippi in November 1938.

Bookmark This Record:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997025265/PP/

A Ute Family–about 1899.

Mike Goad — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Title: Utes–Chief Sevara [i.e. Severo] and family
Date Created/Published: c1899.
Medium: 1 photomechanical print : photochrom, color.
Copyright 1899 by the Detroit Photographic Co.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.; record page for this image.

Near Cincinnati, Ohio, early 1940s

Mike Goad — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Caption with color slide: “Negro boy near Cincinnati, Ohio.” Photograph by John Vachon, 1942 or 1943.

Library of Congress record page for this image.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Friday Foto Faire–Images from Government Websites in the U.S.–#1.

Mike Goad — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Camping under a full moon. Backpacking; White Sands National Monument	Travel trailer in San Juan National Forest. Camping and Cabins; San Juan National Forest	Camping in Brooklyn, N.Y. Camping at Gateway; Gateway National Recreation Area.
Image of a backcountry camp spot with a wonderful view from the Ajo Range. Backcountry; Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument	Forest tent camping; Campground Camping; Ocala National Forest.	Fifth wheel trailer; City of Rocks National Reserve, Smokey Mountain Campground, part of Castle Rocks State Park.
Car camping was popular in the 1920s;Vintage Camping; Rocky Mountain National Park.	RV camping with many of the comforts of home!Camping & Cabins; Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests	RV camped near aspen; Dispersed camping; Malheur National Forest

Knitters in Loudon, Tennessee Hosiery Mills

Mike Goad — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:17:33 +0000

This photo was taken by National Child Labor Committee photographer Lewis Wickes Hines in December 1910.

Photographs from the records of the National Child Labor Committee (U.S.) at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

More information about this item (Library of Congress)

Things that go better with coke.

Mike Goad — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:14:00 +0000

General Merchandise, Coffins, & Caskets – Maynardville, Tennessee

This picture was taken in Maynardville, Tennessee by Ben Shahn in October 1935.

Part of Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

More information about this item (Library of Congress)

Great Depression Images and Pinterest

Mike Goad — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:39:00 +0000

I’ve created a Pinterest pin board called Great Depression and have pinned all of the large images from my “Eyes of the Great Depression” series, as well as a few other Great Depression images I’ve posted. At some point, I plan to return to the Eyes series and do some other posts related to the Great Depression. There are many thousands of images from the period that are in the public domain.

Island in the Sky

Mike Goad — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Our final visit in the Moab area was to Canyonlands’ “Island in the Sky.”

The Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park is a mesa with sandstone cliffs that drop over 1,000 feet to the terrain below. It is the easiest part of the park to visit, having many spectacular viewpoints at pullouts along the paved scenic roads. At an average elevation of 6100 feet, it is the highest part of the park. It includes about a dozen trails of varying lengths, some across the plateau as well as a few descending toward the rivers.

Selected Information Resources:Canyonlands National Park

Friday Faire–Six Miscellaneous Travel Photos.

Mike Goad — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

The six photographs below are from two different trips – one in 2007 and the other in 2011 – from five different states.

Fence at Cliff Edge

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming, 2007

Dead Horse Point.

Mike Goad — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dead Horse Point, near Moab, Utah, is a high plateau peninsula connected to the main plateau by a narrow neck of land. It is part of Dead Horse Point State Park and has spectacular views of the Colorado River, Canyonlands National Park, La Sal Mountains, and other scenic features.

According to legend, the point, with it’s 30 yard wide neck, was used as a natural corral by 19th century cowboys. Apparently, at one time, the corral was abandoned, gate left open, with unwanted cull horses still inside. Not all of the horses left the point, dying of thirst in view of the Colorado River 2000 feet below.

A more prosaic explanation is that Dead Horse Point was named by early Mormon Pioneers for a rock formation at the base of the plateau that looks like a dead white horse laying on its side (photo on right). In this explanation, the legend of the dead horses in the corral was created by a Moab elementary school student in the early 20th century for a “chamber-of-commerce” type contest for a story to lure tourists.

Selected Information Resources:

Dead Horse Point State Park

Windows and Turret.

Mike Goad — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:46:00 +0000

Our final hike in Arches National Park was a loop trail – 1 mile (1.6 km) – that includes three large arches.

The Windows – also known as the Spectacles – are two very large arches eroded from the same sandstone fin. Individually, the two arches are named North Window and South Window. Bearing left on the loop trail, North Window is the first arch that is reached. Visitors can easily climb up and stand or sit under this massive arch. Continuing on the trail around a large sandstone extension from the fin, the South Window can be viewed from the trail. A short spur leads to the base of the sandstone fin. South Window is higher than North Window and not easily accessed.

The third large arch, Turret Arch, lies in a castle-like sandstone formation. A moderately strenuous climb though its span yields a view of the Windows framed by Turret Arch.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park images
at Wikimedia commons:

Arches National Park.

A stroll through “Park Avenue.”

Mike Goad — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

In this case, Park Avenue is a canyon in Arches National Park. A 1 mile (1.6 km) trail leads through it between the Park Avenue parking area and the Courthouse Towers parking area.

Our September 27, 2011 hike started from and returned to the Court House Towers parking area, going up hill up the canyon and down hill on our return. We turned back at the steepest part of the trail, a short section from the Park Avenue viewpoint and trailhead.

Park Avenue viewpoint is the first major stop in the park after the visitor center.

Most visitors pass by Park Avenue trail on their way to other more popular features, stopping only at the viewpoints at either end to perhaps snap a few photos. We saw few other hikers on our “stroll” along the dry wash that passes between the towering walls of the canyon.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park images at
Wikimedia commons:

Arches National Park.

A Hike in the Needles District

Mike Goad — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The Colorado and Green Rivers divide Canyonlands National Park into three districts – the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze, with the rivers themselves listed by the National Park Service as a fourth “district.” Island in the Sky is the easiest to visit and, thus, the most popular. The Maze is more remote and the least accessible of the park’s districts. The Needles is a 75 mile drive from Moab. Most of the district’s features are found on its extensive trail system and four-wheel-drive roads.

The road to the Needles district passes through Newspaper Rock Recreational Site, location of a large collection of prehistoric petroglyph rock art.

Most of our September 26, 2011 exploration of the Needles was on the relatively short scenic drive and the 2.4 mile Slickrock Trail (a loop).

Selected Information Resources:

Canyonlands National Park

Grand View Point Trail

Mike Goad — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Canyonlands National Park – A large region of rugged buttes, pinnacles, mesas and canyons south and west of Moab, Utah. This was the second time we’ve hiked this 2 mile round trip trail.

Grand View Point is the southernmost spot on the high mesa of Canyonlands, Island in the Sky. From the Grand View Overlook, the trail runs along the southern rim of the mesa, 1000 feet above the lower plateau, which is in turn carved into complex canyons by the convergence of the Green and Colorado Rivers.

Selected Information Resources:

Canyonlands National Park

Upper Colorado River and La Sal Mountains Loop

Mike Goad — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

On September 23, after we had moved from Devils Garden Campground in Arches National Park to a campground near Moab, we took a drive to see some some of the area that we had never been through before.

Heading northeast out of Moab on US 191, we turned left onto Utah 128 just before the bridge crossing the Colorado River.

Designated “Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway,” Utah 128 follows the Colorado River Gorge for over 30 miles, after which it crosses open desert towards Cisco. Now a ghost town, Cisco was established as a station for replenishing the water supply on steam locomotives on the Denver and Rio Grand Western Railroad main line. Five miles past Cisco, Utah 128 intersects Interstate 70.

For the first 13 miles, the highway parallels the river through a narrow section of the gorge – part of this distance, the gorge is part of the boundary for Arches National Park. The gorge widens after that, passing Castle and Professor Valleys, shooting locations for western films and television commercials. At 24.7 miles, a dirt road leads to a viewpoint for the red spires of Fisher Towers.

Our drive (blue) took us almost the full length of the scenic byway, including driving to the Fisher Towers viewpoint. We turned back just short of Cisco.

On the way back to Moab (red), we turned at the La Sal Mountain Loop Road, which is also the road into Castle Valley. While the road signs were less than optimum, we were able, with the help GPS, to take the right turns on the Forest Service roads. The road is paved part way.

The La Sal Mountain Range, in the Marti-La Sal National Forest, is the second highest range in Utah, with peaks approaching 13,000 feet. Pines, quaking aspens, and streams make this alpine region a sharp departure from the desert country around Moab just a few miles away.

Selected Information Resources:

Moab

A very short move.

Mike Goad — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Our stay at Devils Garden Campground was for three days, but there was still more that we wanted to see in Arches National Park as well as other areas. On our 2007 trip, we had stayed 3 nights at the KOA southeast of Moab. This time, we decided to stay there again for four nights, extending our time in the area out to a full week. Driving distance was just 28.6 miles from Devils Garden to the KOA – the shortest distance between campgrounds we’ve done since September 2009.

Moab is the county seat for Grand County, which takes its name for the original name of the Colorado River, which runs north and west of town. The town’s population is around 5,000, with an economy largely based on tourism and outdoor adventure activities.

Selected Information Resources:

Moab

Canyonlands National Park

Dead Horse Point State Park

Arches National Park.

Bureau of Land Management

We hadn’t quite reached our furthest distance away from home. At this point, we still had about a week left in Utah before heading into Arizona.

The Longest Arch.

Mike Goad — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Landscape Arch is one of the more popular attractions in Arches National Park. Located in the Devils Garden area in the northern part of the park, the trailhead was only a short drive from our site in the Devils Garden Campground. Landscape Arch is 1.5 miles from the trailhead.

It’s the longest arch in the park and according to The Natural Arch and Bridge Society, the longest natural arch in the world, laser measured in 2004 at 290.1 ± 0.8 feet (88.4 m). Since 1991, three sandstone slabs have fallen from the thinnest section of the arch, resulting in closure of the trail that once passed below it. Several other arches are accessible in the Devils Garden area.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park.

Devils Garden.

Mike Goad — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Our three night stay at Arches National Park was in the Devils Garden Campground. Eighteen miles from the park entrance, the campground is located in the middle of red sandstone fins, boulders and rocky hills, Utah juniper and pinion pines, yucca and prickly pear cacti. The La Sal mountains can be seen in the distance. There are also a few arches nearby. One of them, Skyline Arch, was only a short walk and climb from our campsite, though climbing up into the arch itself was a bit of a stretch.

The nearest town, Moab, is 23 miles away, so there is very little light to pollute the night sky, making the campground a great place to view the wonders of the night sky.

Like most U.S. national park campgrounds, Devils Garden has no hookups for water, electricity, or sewer. Facilities do include potable water, picnic tables, and grills, but there are no showers. There are 50 sites that can be reserved between March 1 and October 31. This is a very popular campground and, for anyone who would like to camp here, I would recommend making reservations.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park.

Trail to Delicate Arch

Mike Goad — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Our first hike of our 2011 visit to Arches National Park was the 3.0 mile (4.8 km) round-trip trek to Delicate Arch on September 21. We had done this hike almost exactly 4 years before, so we knew what we were getting into.

The trail begins at the parking lot adjacent to the old Wolfe Ranch cabin. A side trail near the cabin leads to some petroglyphs.

The Delicate Arch trail has very little shade. Most of the trail is over open “slickrock” sandstone – a term given by early settlers because of the difficulty of their horses’ metal shoes getting traction on the sloping surfaces of the rock. There is some exposure to heights. The trail can be a brutal hike during the summer, when temperatures can exceed 100°F (37.7°C). The park service recommends at least a quart of water per person on this trail. Across the rock, the trail is marked by rock cairns.

We had planned the southwestern part of our trip for late September into October to take advantage of cooler weather. The high temperature for our hike was probably in the low 70s.

The trail to Delicate Arch is a nice hike and I heartily recommend it for a spring or autumn hike, or even an early summer morning hike provided you’re off the rock before the extreme heat of the day.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park.