Discovering David Crockett "Buck" Lowrey

Several years ago, Abby and I took a roadtrip leaving Orem heading south to Saint George, then going east through Zions National Park, and then south again into the dense green of the Kaibab forest. Heading east again we descended to drive along the beautiful Vermillion cliffs leading to Marble Canyon. Abby had chosen this trip as her 17th birthday trip that I took with each of the girls. I'm not sure why she found the idea of visiting Marble Canyon intriguing, but all my life I had listened to my brother's stories of the unearthly feelings they had walking the desert where my mother and grandparents had lived so many years ago. As we approached the lodge I admit I was taken by the stark beauty of the area, the amazing rich color of the cliffs, the deep Colorado River gorge below the Navajo Bridge, and the pressure you feel in your ears from the intense quiet of the air.

As we checked in I mentioned to the desk clerk that I was Buck Lowrey's grandson. Without saying anything else, he reached to the wall next to the desk and took down a set of keys hanging on a nail, and handling them to me said, "then I guess you'll want to have a look at the lodge?" It was a clear spring afternoon and a light, warm breeze wrapped around the long, wide porches that surrounded the building. We faced the front of the building where in photographs I had seen Buck standing with his hands on his hips looking out over the sand toward the river. We walked through the solid wood front door supported by two-feet thick stone walls, and entered another world - what must have been a welcomed oasis of cool, quiet comfort in the year it was built. On the walls surrounding us were photographs and paintings of relatives I had only known from the stories told by my parents and brothers. But as I walked the lodge, and the surrounding area I could imagine how it must of felt to Buck as he caught the vision of building a lodge here in what is still the most remote region of the lower forty-eight states.

This blog will be an oasis where family members can post their remembrances, photographs, writings, and stories of Buck Lowrey and his family. I have been researching Buck's life ever since that experience at the lodge two years ago. I found books, historical papers, photographs, and more. I will be posting what I have found as I have time. And, I invite everyone to visit and post what you have to share. I am hoping that in time we all will have a better appreciation for my grandparents, my aunt, uncle and my mother who lived at Marble Canyon so long ago.

My next post will be "As in a dream that is past: Buck Lowrey, the Navajo Bridge, and Marble Canyon Lodge" by Laura Graves, South Plains College, Levelland, Texas.