John Wesley Powell River History MuseumJohn Wesley Powell River History Museum
Iconic Utah outfitter Ken Sleight began his river-guiding career in Glen Canyon during the mid-1950s. At the same moment, the Glen Canyon Dam blueprints jumped from the drawing board to the remote desert terrain. The flow of the Colorado River through the canyon would soon be halted by a cement wall causing Glen Canyon to be backfilled with water. Knowing that the canyon would soon be buried under the reservoir, Sleight used every ray of daylight to memorize the details of this beloved canyon before inundation by exploring its countless side canyons and observing Ancestral Puebloan structures and mining relics. He immersed himself in the lives of seminal guides who preceded him, like Dave Rust, Bert Loper, Harry Aleson, and Moki Mac.
Meandering through this exhibit, visitors experienced both the simplicity and richness of what each day on a river trip through Glen Canyon was like with Ken Sleight as a guide.
94 years old in 2024, Sleight partnered again with Ryann Savino and Martha Ham to open his archives for reprise and to expand on the original exhibit they presented in 2018: Glen Canyon: A River Guide Remembers. The exhibit showcased the same incredible historic landscape photographs, Ancestral Puebloan artifacts, boats, river gear, passenger portraits, journals, registers, and handwritten packing lists featured in 2018, most of which had never been seen by the public until that time. The exhibit drew from the collections of Sleight, the Quist family, Stuart Reeder, Vaughn Short, Ron Smith, and others. Lyle Balenquah, Hopi tribal member, as well as river guide and archeologist, penned and read a powerful land acknowledgement statement: “Hopi Ancestors Lived in These Canyons.”
Ken Sleight
This exhibit was dedicated to the lost canyon, or as some have said, the lost National Park. Sleight laments, “Remembering what we lost with Glen Canyon, in my mind is relevant today. I can’t forget it and I don’t want others to forget it either.” Sleight is thankful to be able to share a piece of his memories of this spectacular landscape with visitors today.
This exhibit was curated by Grand Canyon boatman and river historian, Ryann Savino. To look to the future of Glen Canyon, Martha Ham, exhibit producer, river guide, and mentee of Sleight since 1977, curated a new extension for the 2023 reprisal which focuses on the reemergence of Glen Canyon.
This historical and emerging story of Glen Canyon was told at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum through June, 2024.
Archival photographs used with permission and from the collections of Ken Sleight and Vaughn and Carolyn Short.
Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00am – 5:00pm
Adults
Seniors (60+)
Children (5-12)
Family
$7
$6
$2
$15
Free admission for children under 5, museum members, and Green River residents.