More than four decades ago, archaeologists and other professionals salvaged what they could out of Glen Canyon before the waters of the Colorado River began to inundate the majestic landscape in 1963.
The "Salvage Archaeology" session Friday morning at the Western History Association's 48th annual conference in the Marriott City Center touched on this crucial aspect of the canyon's past.
Marcus Hall, a University of Utah history professor, has researched Glen Canyon salvage and said only about 15 percent of its archaeological treasures were excavated. The remaining 85 percent were submerged.
He described the salvage as almost "hit-and-run" archaeology. There was only about a 10-year window, from 1955 to 1965, in which to work. In most cases, quick value judgments were made on what to take and what work to do.
In addition to archaeological digs, many photographs were taken. Along with American Indian ruins and artifacts in the canyon, there were more modern mining relics found, too.
"It's a memory project," he said. "History is salvage and salvage is history."
Hall said the canyon has become an icon of environmentalism today, a place that is no more. The best-known book on the canyon is titled "The Place No One Knew."
It is a paradox that we wouldn't have all the beautiful Glen Canyon studies if the dam hadn't been built, he noted. On the other hand, he said, it's too bad there was a dam built and a salvage conducted.
Hall said his own study of salvage archeology in the canyon is a work in progress.
For more information on the conference, go to www.umsl.edu/~wha/index.html
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com