Thursday, July 23, 2009

Nora Cundell's Ashes

In W. L. Rusho's book "Lee's Ferry: Desert River Crossing" is a chapter on Navajo Bridge and Marble Canyon Lodge. Within the chapter is a section about Nora Cundell, and English artist and writer who discovered Marble Canyon on a cross country trip to see America. She had fallen in love with the area, and the Lowrey's and stayed at the lodge for months at a time, until the family eventually left.
The picture to the left is a photograph of the spreading of her ashes at Marble Canyon. In the far right is Shine Smith, a good friend of the family, missionary to the Indians, and the preacher who conducted the ceremony. Standing alone in the middle of the photo is Buck Lowrey, holding Nora's ashes, and next to him (I assume) is his wife Florence - though from other accounts I read she may have died from cancer before this date. And, if you look closely in the middle you will see a small boy, with his mother standing behind him. That is Tom and Mom (Virginia). If you click on the picture you can see a close-up of the image. It's not as sharp as I would like it to be, as it was scanned in from the book. But its an unusual and interesting photograph.

1 comment:

  1. Hi James, In this picture you will see the man in the white shirt & blue jeans (3rd from left). That is my dad, Eugene Woodruff (Mamie & Halbert Woodruff's eldest son) who picked up Nora's ashes in Flagstaff & drove them to the ceremony. My son & I just recently visited the lodge (June 1-2, 2013) & walked over to the rock where the plaque still remains. Also, I noticed that Jane Bales Foster dedicated a bronze plaque in 1996 (shortly after our last trip up there) to Buck & the lodge at the new Navajo Bridge visitors center.

    Steven Woodruff

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