If you haven’t ventured below the rim of the Grand Canyon, you’re missing the best part!  For those with a more adventuresome personality (and extra leisure time), the panoramic landscape, geology, as well as unique flora and fauna are waiting to be experienced.  Regardless of the time of year and trail or site trekked,  the interior Canyon experience leaves a permanent mark on the visitor’s psyche.  For a select few, it is a passionate love affair and devotion to the Canyon that leads to numerous adventures and experiences with family and friends. Few have loved or experienced the Canyon to the depth and breath as George Billingsley.

Special Collections is proud to announce the opening of the George Billingsley collection.   This collection is the latest in a long list of archival collections documenting hiking and recreation in the Grand Canyon, including Harvey Butchart, Josef Muench, Fred and Margaret Eisement, P.T. Reilly, Tad Nichols, and Emery Kolb collections.  The Billingsley collection includes the original research and correspondence for his book, Quest for the Pillar of Gold: The Mines and Miners of the Grand Canyon (co-authored with Earle Spamer and Dove Menkes); professional publications; and published Colorado Plateau and Grand Canyon maps.  In additional, Billingsley has donated his annotated trip logs and thousands of photographs documenting his hiking and river excursions throughout the Grand Canyon region (1963-2002).  The first series of the Billingsley photographs have been digitized and are now online.  Stick around, there’s more to come!