Georgie Clark Collection

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Dr. and Mrs. Robert Baer

Volume:

26 color photographs

Views include:

Photographs taken on 1967 river trip with Georgie Clark to the Rio Grande de Santiago in Jalisco, Mexico: the Santa Rosa dam and reservoir under flood conditions, Georgies´s boat and passengers on the trip, regional people and villages, the plane used in the rescue of the trip, and a sketch map of the trip´s route and incidents

Biographic Note:

Robert (Bob) and Jean (¨Bimbo¨ or ¨Bim¨) Baer signed up for Georgie Clark´s 1967 trip down the Rio Grande de Santiago, Mexico after having accompanied her on previous trips in the United States. From the start, the trip was wrought with difficulties. The river was in flood conditions, with enormous amounts of water flooding over the three spillways of the Santa Rosa Dam, where the trip put in. The troubles began almost immediately when the motors were lost. One of the sections of the boat, which was one of Georgie´s ¨thrill rigs¨ consisting of three inflatable rafts lashed together, flipped. The water level rose, fell, and rose. The boat flipped again. The passengers became separated; one woman spent two nights alone. Aided by the local villagers, the entire party was successfully rescued, but the boats and equipment were abandoned. Although the Baers remained very fond of Georgie, they never went on another river trip.

For related materials see the Georgie Clark Manuscript Collection, particularly the interviews with Dr. & Mrs. Baer and Orville Miller

Lois Englebright

Volume:

2 color photographs

Views include:

Georgie Clark running her boat through the Grand Canyon in May, 1961

Biographic Note:

Lois Englebright was a passenger on Georgie´s May, 1961 river trip through the Grand Canyon

For related materials see the Georgie Clark Manuscript Collection.

Delphine Gallagher

Volume:

196 color slides, 2 black-and-white photographs

Views Include:

Glen Canyon, Marble Canyon, and Grand Canyon river trips, with photographs of passengers, boatwoman Georgie Clark, scenery, rafts, and plants, archaeological features, 1960's

Biographic Notes:

Delphine Mohrline took her first river trip with Georgie (White) Clark in 1962 through Glen Canyon (where she met Jim Gallagher, whom she would eventually marry). Like so many of Georgie's passengers, she kept coming back for more: to Cataract Canyon (1963), the Balsas River in Mexico (1963), and ultimately the Grand Canyon, where she became an official Royal River Rat, in 1965. The slides in this collection are a compilation of photographs taken by Ms. Gallagher and her fellow passengers and are accompanied by a script.

For related materials on Delphine Gallagher, including an article entitled ¨The Perils of Delphine,¨ see the Georgie Clark manuscript collection.

Rosalyn Jirge

Volume:

1 black-and-white photograph, 41 color photographs, 1 black-and-white negative, 11 color negatives

Views include:

portraits of Georgie (White) Clark, Georgie passengers and boatmen; ca. 1956-1990

Biograpic Note:

Rosalyn Jirge, born in Chicago, IL, raised in Los Angeles, CA, and now a resident of San Francisco, first heard of Georgie (White) Clark when she saw a television program featuring the ¨Woman of the Rivers¨ at age 16 or 17. She vowed someday she would take a trip with her through the Grand Canyon; in late June of 1977, her dream came true. Jirge was hooked, taking a trip each summer for the next four years as a passenger. She also began helping Georgie at the San Francisco Sports and Boat Show, held annually for ten days in January. As a thank-you for her assistance, Georgie asked Jirge if she would like to work with her as a helper. Jirge accepted with great joy, doing two to four trips per year through 1990. Due to a family illness, Jirge was unable to be on Georgie´s last Grand Canyon trip in September of 1991, a source of ¨great sadness¨ to Jirge. Georgie died on May 12, 1992 of cancer.

To quote Jirge, ¨Georgie had an incredible influence on my life, as well as on the lives of most of the people she touched. She taught me how to love and respect the Canyon, the River, and the people who travel through it. I can never hope to repay all she gave me.¨ Jirge has been leading the effort to name a rapid or other Grand Canyon feature in honor of Georgie Clark.

Helen Strzelecki

Volume:

5 black-and-white photographs

Views include:

Gaging station, passengers, boats on 1957 Cataract Canyon trip with Georgie Clark

Biographic Note:

John Lonk took several river trips with Georgie Clark, including the one during which these photographs were taken, through Cataract Canyon in 1957. His sister, Helen Strzelecki, donated the photographs to the Cline Library.

For related materials, see the Georgie Clark manuscript collection.

Sylvia Tone

Volume:

14 color photographs, 27 color slides

Views include:

Photographs taken during river trips with Georgie (White) Clark down the Colorado River through Cataract, Glen and Grand Canyons as well as the Columbia and Frazer Rivers in British Colombia, Canada, ca. 1962-1970; Hite, Utah, ca. 1963; Shine Smith´s Navajo Christmas Parties, ca. 1960´s; Havasupai Indians and views of falls on Havasu Creek, ca. 1964

Biographic Note:

Sylvia Tone (known to her fellow Royal River Rats as ¨Toney¨) took numerous river trips with Georgie (White) Clark, from about 1962 to at least 1970. The two women became good friends, as reflected in the correspondence Georgie wrote to Toney (see the Georgie Clark manuscript collection, #270).