William G. Bass Collection

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NAU.PH.96.24.1.1 - 61.5

Volume:

335 black-and-white photographs and negatives, hand-colored photographs, color photographs, and picture postcards

Views Include:

The collection provides insights into Bill Bass's many-faceted life. The most important images are those that document the Bass Family at the Grand Canyon and in Wickenburg. In addition, there are several fine early images of the trail to Rainbow Bridge from Navajo Mountain (most taken by the El Tovar Studio), the Octave and Congress mines, and the Hassayampa River in flood.

Biographical Note:

Photographer, hotel keeper, and tour guide William Guy "Bill" Bass was born on July 26, 1900 at Williams, Arizona. His father, William Wallace Bass, had arrived in the region some seventeen years earlier, and established himself as a tour guide, miner, and trailbuilder. Ada Diefendorf, a New York music teacher, met Bass on a horseback trip to Havasu Canyon in 1892. The couple married in 1894, and raised their four children, Edith, Bill, Hazel, and Mabelle, at their Grand Canyon camps and residences.

Competition for Grand Canyon tourists dollars was stiff. When the thriving Fred Harvey company arrived at the Grand Canyon, in 1904, they did so in cooperation with the Santa Fe Railway. After the Grand Canyon was established as a national park in 1919, the Park Service awarded Harvey the primary concessioner contract, which dealt another blow to the Basses. In 1923, William Wallace Bass entertained his last Grand Canyon guest and moved permanently to Wickenburg, Arizona, a community he and his family had frequented for a number of years.

Bill Bass, in the waning years of his parents' business, worked as a tour guide and driver for Fred Harvey, from 1917 to 1926. He then moved to Wickenburg, in part to care for his aging father and mother. Following in their footsteps, Bill turned to the tourist trade for a living. The businesses he operated and/or established included a camp ground, service stations, El Recreo/Bass Pavilion swimming pool, skating rink, and dance hall, a jeep touring service, Vista del Pueblo subdivision, and, dearest to his heart, La Siesta Motel. In his Cliff Room Auditorium at La Siesta, Bill showcased his photographic and entertainment skills with slide programs on topics ranging from the Grand Canyon to desert wildflowers. La Siesta was advertised as a "photographer's hangout," and succeeded in attracting other shutterbugs. A number of Bill's photographs were published in Arizona Highways among other periodicals. In addition, Bill was an active member of various service organizations, including the Rotary Club and Gold Shirt Gang, the latter unique to Wickenburg.

In 1939, Bill married Rae Owens, with whom he had a daughter, Betty. The marriage was short lived, however, lasting less than two years. On August 2, 1941, Bill married Lenore Krummel, who became his life-long partner. The couple had one son, named after his father. Lenore, following her husband's death in February of 1981, continues to entertain Wickenburg residents and visitors with Bill's lively slide shows, featuring audio recordings of his voice.

Related Materials:

See the William G. Bass manuscript collection, Lauzon Family manuscript and photograph collections, and Fred Harvey photograph and manuscript collections.

Cline Library
Special Collections and Archives Department
Northern Arizona University