IS THIS CHARLES DARWIN'S BEAR PICTOGRAPH?

- - Continued from last week - -

Found among Charles Darwin’s personal correspondence is this letter from Ft. Lyon, in southeastern Colorado. (letter no. 9466) The photograph mentioned in the letter has not been relocated and is so far unknown.

“From G. S. Anderson,

Fort Lyon C. T., U. S.

May 24^th, 1874

Mr. Charles Darwin, F.R.S. & c,

Hon. Sir;

It is with a feeling of great diffidence that I forward you by this mail a photograph of a natural curiosity found near this post, in Lat 37^o30^’N, Long. 103^o20^’W., as I hesitate to intrude my ignorant curiosity on your valuable time.

The object in question is a very accurate representation of some animal not unlike the Grizzly Bear found hereabouts, except in the peculiar formation of the mouth & nose.

The image is painted—as it were—on a perpendicular face of a very soft grey sandstone rock, about 40 feet from its base & 38 feet from its top, but may be easily reached—to the level of the bottom of the picture—by climbing over the dèbris at the foot of the bluff.

The coloring matter appears to be iron (probably Fe₃O₄) and penetrates the rock to a depth of more than 1/2 inch.

The image is in length, from nose to tail, about 8½ feet; it was found here by the first white settlers who came to the country, & Indian tradition refers its origin to a most remote past. Among the Indians—who hold it in the highest veneration—it is called a “Bear”, & worshipped as such. The color is noticeably darkest near the shoulder, growing gradually lighter toward either extremity.

I have forwarded copies of the photo. to several scientific men in this country, & from a few have received acknowledgements. Prof. Henry of the Smith’n. Instn. suggested that it is a work of Indian art, but the color—which is the same as that with which the rock is in many places stained—seems to have withstood the action of the weather too well, & to have penetrated too deep into the rock to add confirmation to this theory.

Prof. Kendrick of the U.S. Mil. Acad, at West Point, thinks it a lusus naturæ.

I am Sir with great respect, | Your Most Obedient | & Humble serv’t. | Geo. S. Anderson | 2^nd. Lieutⁿ. Cav U.S. Army”

(Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9466,” accessed on 3 August 2019 - I wish to extend an extra thank you to Rosemary Clarkson of the Darwin Correspondence Project for her generous assistance with my inquiry.)

On June 3, 2009, I wrote in RockArtBlog “Charles Darwin’s Bear” in which I reported this correspondence and a conversation I had with Larry Loendorf about the identity of Charles Darwin’s Bear. We agreed that, because of the reported size, it was likely to be the large bear in the Picketwire Canyon. “This figure was prominent, had been publicized and discovered early on – its photograph had been printed in newspapers. Loendorf also pointed out that it was originally known as the “cinnamon bear” because rain runoff from the canyon rim had dyed it red with the red dust of the soil. This seems to match the description of it being “apparently ‘painted’ with red iron on the face of a soft rock.” (Loendorf 2009) Another resemblance is the fact that it is the “darkest near the shoulder, growing gradually lighter toward each extremity.”

Stero-view card of Purgatoire river bear
(sometimes known as "don't
deface the bear"). Photograph
Byron H. Gurnsey, 1874.

Some time later I received a correspondence from Russell A. Potter which included this stereoscopic view card, suggesting that it might be the same image. A little background research actually suggests that this might be true. The label on the back of the stereo card says it was made by a photographer named Byron H. Gurnsey. Gurnsey “operated a photographic studio in Sioux City, Iowa from about 1866 until he sold out in 1871.” (Ephriam 2015)

From 1872 until his death in 1880 Byron operated a photographic studio in Colorado Springs, specializing in scenes from the Rocky Mountains. 

The inscription on the back of the stereo card reads:

“Gurnsey’s

Rocky Mountain Views,

Published at Colorado Springs, Colorado,
Pike’s Peak Avenue. No. 99,

Photograph of a Bear on the Rock.

This great Natural Curiosity was discovered
about the year 1833 by some Voyageurs
and Trappers, and consists

of a distinct Photograph or Picture of a

Bear, impressed on the face of a

cliff of solid rock on the

Purgatoire River, 18 miles from
Las Animas, Colorado.

It is supposed to be an Electric Photograph.”

By “Electric Photograph” I believe he means an image burned onto the rock face by a lightning strike very near a bear standing by the cliff, in much the same way as the faint ghostly images of victims were found on some concrete surfaces in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bomb blasts.

A second version of the label exists which reads as follows:

"Gurnsey's

Rocky Mountain Views,

Published at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Scenes on the Line of the Denver
& Rio Grande Railway.

Natural Photograph of a Bear

on the rocks of the Purgatoire River.

No. 99. 18 miles from Las Animas, Colorado."

Note that both versions of the card label state that the original image is along the Purgatoire River, also pointing to "Don't Deface the Bear" as the probable original.

Since Anderson sent the photo to Charles Darwin in 1874, and since we know that Gurnsey was living and photographing in Colorado from 1872 on, and since we now have a photograph of a large bear taken by Gurnsey, I believe it is reasonable to assume that Anderson did, indeed, send a copy of this stereo card to Charles Darwin, and that until other information surfaces we may safely assume (keeping in mind that this is still only circumstantial evidence) that this is indeed likely to be Charles Darwin’s Bear.

REFERENCES:

Anderson, G. S.,

1874 Personal Correspondence, From the Darwin Correspondence Project Archives: DAR 159:58, Cite As: Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9466,” accessed on 3 August 2019.

Clarkson, Rosemary,

2009 Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9466,” accessed on 3 August 2019

Ephriam,

2015 Byron H. Gurnsey, 1833-1889, Jan. 23, 2015, http://amertribes.proboards.com/thread/2206/byron-gurnsey-1833-1880