Acclaimed Western Photographers ~ George Beam

It is unclear when George Beam began to photograph for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, however the earliest image appears to have been taken in 1898. By 1905 Beam was the Company Photographer, a position he held with that of Secretary to the General Passenger Agent, until the end of his career. Beam photographed D&RGW promotional activities in parades and public events throughout its domain, capturing people's enthusiasm for the world of modern travel.

George Beam is most noted for his photographs for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (later Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad). These images include not only an extensive collection of railroad trains and tracks, but also numerous scenic photographs of the areas that tourists might visit while using the railroad. His final project for the railroad was the documentation of the construction of the Dotsero Cutoff and its' dedication in 1935.

As official photographer for the Rio Grande Railroad, many of George L. Beam's photos were no more than company inventory documentation - but his artistic sense was always in evidence. On hand for important events, at movie shoots, or documenting construction, Beam caught the many moods of the railroad.

The sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park and Natural Bridges National Monuments near Moab, Utah, always popular for sightseers, is loved today also by off-road bikers and rock climbers. Spires, pinnacles, fins, balanced rocks, and 1,500 cataloged sandstone arches create a multi-colored, other-worldly landscape that stretches for miles.

Beam had a real interest in the ancient Ancestral Puebloan ruins of the Four Corners. He photographed Mesa Verde in Colorado, and his photographs of Tsankawi in New Mexico appeared in the September 1909 issue of National Geographic.

Walpi Pueblo, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, has been inhabited by the Hopi Pueblo since 1200. Its dramatic cliff top location has been compared to Israel's Masada, or Greece's Meteora.

Southern Colorado's Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is home to some 30 square miles of 750 foot high dunes at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The area became a National Monument in 1932, and a National Park and Preserve in 2000. The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Area was established in 1993.

Unique in the world, the Grand Canyon's awe inspiring views and explicit visual record of the millennia was a frequent subject of the George Beam lens. The area became a National Monument in 1908, and a National Park in 1919.

Fabled Yellowstone was our nation's first National Park, its wonderland of natural beauty and geothermal oddities amazing crowds of sightseers year after year. The 2 million acre preserve was set aside in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, and became the pilot project for National Parks everywhere in the United States. Automobiles were first allowed into the park in 1915, and most of Beam's images of this area were made soon after that time.

Shown above are the Saltair Resort and the Mormon Temple. Saltair, established by the Mormon Church, was located on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake. Built in 1893, it boasted the world's largest dance floor. The Moorish style pleasure palace was destroyed by fire in April, 1925.

The Romanesque/Gothic Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was also completed in 1893.

Beam took his camera with him everywhere, preserving images like those above of Palmer Lake, Colorado, and Kanab, Provo, and Helper, Utah. The "City of Moab," a steam powered paddle-wheel passenger boat, crosses the river at Green River, Utah sometime before 1910.

Beautiful scenery and inviting resorts provide many appealing destinations.

Some vistas are just naturally picture-perfect, and Beam was always happy to shoot a postcard shot of the spectacular Colorado scenery.

The Colorado River cuts through almost 2000 feet of solid rock for a 12 mile stretch before it enters Glenwood Springs. Even Native Utes had no path along the river, and Rio Grande Railroad's narrow gauge tracks in 1886 were the first passage through the gorge. A wagon road in 1899 made the shortcut from Denver to Grand Junction available to the public, and the route became the inevitable choice for what was to be the last link in the Interstate Highway system.

Haphazard enhancements to the road were already disturbing the beauty of the canyon, and public pressure influenced the Colorado Legislature to charge in its 1968 resolution concerning Glenwood's development that: "the wonders of human engineering will be tastefully blended with the wonders of nature." This goal was achieved after a 12 year construction project unlike any other.