Canon of Kanab Wash, Looking South, Colorado River
1872
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1872
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a steep canyon wall glowing in late sunlight, the Colorado River cutting a dark line at the bottom. Bell took this picture on a government survey trip in 1872. He wasn’t just making art—he was helping map the West. The same spot appears in another photo he shot the same day, looking the opposite way. For more of these quiet western scenes, look up the subject america.
