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Family honors Baker's place in Canyon lore
Ceremony followed 1937 footsteps

Grandson Matt and son Steve Baker traced the steps of Ruth Stevens Baker’s most famous Grand Canyon adventure in a memorial outing last month.

Grandson Matt and son Steve Baker traced the steps of Ruth Stevens Baker’s most famous Grand Canyon adventure in a memorial outing last month.

Ruth Stephens Baker arrived at Grand Canyon when she was a little girl. Her father had accepted a temporary position with the Fred Harvey Co. as an accountant. This led to his spending the next 40 years at the South Rim, during which he became a justice of the peace.

Baker described her first Grand Canyon home as a tent with "outdoor plumbing." At the time, the only buildings on the South Rim were the hotels, the Fred Harvey garage, the school and the mule barn. Her mother, who was terrified of heights, worked at Kolb Studio, with its dizzying views into the depths of Grand Canyon.

Ruth Baker started working for Emery Kolb at age 12, mopping floors, working her way up to the gift store and running the projector. The rules in the gift shop were that when there were no people around, the black and white photos were to be hand tinted. But when paying customers came in, that was immediately to be put aside.

Ruth described the community as being very close-knit, as it still is today. The Santa Fe Railroad held concerts and dances in what is now Shirley Hall. Deaths were quite shocking in a small and isolated community, as everyone knew everyone else. The deaths of Mrs. Lauzon and Glenn Sturdevant were quite a hardship to all.

In 1937, Ruth was a college student home on summer vacation from San Diego State, where she was working on a teaching degree. Emery Kolb had caught wind of an expedition being sponsored by the Natural History Museum to explore Shiva Temple that September.

Not to be outdone, Kolb began clandestine preparations for the same expedition - only in August. He recruited Gordon Berger, Ralph White, his daughter Edith Kolb Lehnert and Ruth. Extensive preparations were made, including pilot-dropped parachute bags of supplies and supplies on the North Rim for before and after the hike.

The party camped at Point Sublime (or was it Tiyo Point?) the night before. During the hike, they were fortunate enough to find pools of water. The parachute bag made it but it got stuck in a tree. There is a great photo of a triumphant Ruth climbing to the top of the tree to retrieve the bag.

They chose the most difficult ascent that required ropes so that they wouldn't be seen from the South Rim. However, a yucca stalk was adorned with a gunny sack, which could be seen from the Kolb Studio telescope if one knew where to look. Cans were strewn about to confound the museum expedition.

Also, Ruth and Edith scattered tissues with big lipstick kisses into the bushes to show that women had been there before. The entire group was then sworn to secrecy to protect Emery Kolb, who already had a tumultuous relationship with the Park Service.

Early last month, on a summer day boasting brilliant blue Arizona skies, a small group of Grand Canyon history devotees gathered at the Kolb residence to commemorate the 2008 climb to Shiva Temple in memory of Ruth Stephens Baker.

A few days before, on June 4, 10 people reenacted the 1837 expedition to scatter Ruth's ashes at the top of the temple.

Half of the group made it to the top and had a memorial service. These were Baker's son and grandson, Steve and Matt Baker, as well as avid Canyon hikers Tom Martin, Sally Underwood and Jim Ohlman. Betty Leavengood and her son Rodney, Ruth's oldest son Tersh, her oldest daughter Ronni Taylor, her granddaughter Ruth Taylor and Hazel Clark cheered from the Rim.

The Baker family came away with a whole new respect and admiration for what Ruth had done long ago. The hike included a surprise storm that pelted the expedition with rain and snow.

Ruth passed away at age 87, feisty as ever. She is remembered as a strong woman with a lot of love to give. The Canyon meant the world to her and she passed this love along to her family. The spiritual nature of the Hopi tradition resonated with Ruth.

A ceremony was conducted with the Four Directions being honored and called upon. This may have been the cause of the freak storm. Or perhaps it was the smiling and adventurous spirit of Ruth Stephens Baker laughing from above.


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