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

CHARLES DARWIN'S BEAR - REVISITED:

"Don't Deface the Bear", Purgatoire

River Canyon, Colorado. Photograph

Peter Faris, June 1991.

In 1874, the great Charles Darwin received a letter with an accompanying photograph from a G. J. Anderson. This letter read as follows:

“From G. J. Anderson

Fort Lyon, C. T.  U. S. America

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° 30’ N, Long. 103° 20’ 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 debris 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 ½ 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 to 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 dark 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 naturae.

I am Sir with great respect, Your most obedient & Humble servt.

Geo. J. Anderson 2^nd. Lieutⁿ. Cav U.S. Army”

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

(Note: At that date the C.T. in the originating address would have stood for Colorado Territory. I have reproduced Anderson’s abbreviations and punctuations as accurately as my keyboard would let me.)

I first wrote about this in a column on June 3, 2009, titled “Charles Darwin’s Bear” in which I reported that I had conversed about this with Larry Loendorf and he and I agreed that, given the size, it was likely to refer to the great Picketwire “Don’t Deface the” Bear. The color of that bear is wrong, but Loendorf said that it used to be called the “cinnamon bear” so the color has apparently changed with age.

Actual location of the site

in Anderson's letter by his.

coordinates, Google Earth.

Now I do not have accurate enough maps to work out the exact distances but I believe that 37 deg. 30' North by 103 deg. 20' West places this site in the northeast corner of Las Animas County, Colorado.

Close-up of the actual location

of the site in Anderson's letter.

Google Earth.

My August 4, 2019, inquiry with Las Animas County got this response: "The lat. lon. location is North of Kim, CO, just west of Hwy. 109 in Las Animas County. It appears the property is owned by (name withheld for personal privacy.)" (Lucero 2019)

The bear in Purgatoire Canyon is 25 miles or so from the site of the exact coordinates reported, however, we have no way of knowing the accuracy that Anderson could have achieved in his calculations and, until we get better information I have to assume that Anderson could have been 25 miles off, after all he did not have GPS.  It would be of great interest, however, if someone would visit the site of the precise coordinates and see if there is a bear pictograph there. Bear pictographs are common in southeast Colorado, but not bear pictographs 8½ feet long as reported. Until proven otherwise I believe we will just have to assume that Charles Darwin's Bear is the large "Don't Deface the Bear" in the Picketwire (Purgatoire) River Canyon and that Loendorf was correct all along.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them.

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

Faris, Peter,

2009 Charles Darwin’s Bear, June 3, 2009, RockArtBlog, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Darwin

Loendorf, Larry

2009  Personal communication.

Lucero, Paula,

2019 Personal communication.

CHARLES DARWIN'S BEAR:

"Don't Deface" - the bear, pictograph

Picketwire Canyon, Las Animas

County, Colorado.

At the time of his death Charles Darwin had in his correspondence files a letter that had accompanied a photograph of a Colorado pictograph. According to the on-line database of the Darwin Correspondence Project at the University of Cambridge, England, they were sent on May 24, 1874, by Lieut. George J. Anderson, of Fort Lyon, Colorado, http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/calendar/entry-9466.html. The database entry refers to the letter, which describes the image as a “photograph of a ‘natural curiosity’, a bear apparently ‘painted’ with red iron on the face of a soft rock”. The letter itself forms part of the Darwin Archive at Cambridge University Library, but the photograph has not been found.

I had found mention of this a number of years ago and was interested enough to pursue a search in an attempt to identify which bear image from southern Colorado this might be. During a subsequent conversation with Larry Loendorf we agreed that it might be the large Picketwire bear. This figure was prominent, had been discovered and publicized 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”.

On May 13, 2009, I received from the Darwin Correspondence Project a transcription of the letter, which described the picture and its location. “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 ½ inch. . . . The image is in length, from nose to tail, about 8½ feet”. (This preliminary transcription has yet to be published in the Correspondence of Charles Darwin.)

Anderson’s description of the image size seems to fit that of the large Picketwire Bear and I know of no other bear pictograph in southeastern Colorado of that size, but its location is nothing like that described in the letter. The location of the large Picketwire Bear is basically just a little above the present ground surface on a slight slope. Unless we can be assured by a geomorphologist that the canyon bottom has been raised by nearly 40 feet (unlikely since the canyon bottom can be demonstrated to have been eroding deeper) since the creation of the pictograph, then I see no way to reconcile the present location of this bear with the described location. If we are lucky the original picture may some day be located in the Darwin archives: meanwhile the identity of the southeast Colorado bear pictograph sent to Charles Darwin remains a mystery.

I wish to extend an extra thank you to Rosemary Clarkson of the Darwin Correspondence Project for her generous assistance with my inquiry.