Description

Horse drawn coach from railroad to Bass camp.

William Wallace Bass was a renowned Grand Canyon guide. He and his future wife, Ada, met when Ada and her aunt decided to take one of W.W. Bass’s excursions in 1894. They paid $25 for the six-day adventure from Williams to the Canyon and back, accompanied by Miss Kate L. Heizer, Frank S. Emmal and Arizona Journal-Miner editor J. C. Martin. The trip was well-documented by Martin in his articles in the Journal-Miner and by Ada’s composition “My First Trip to Grand Canyon.”

The group traveled from Prescott to Williams by train on August 17. They stayed in a hotel that night and met Bass, owner of the Grand Canyon Stage Line, the next morning. He had improved a trail from Williams to the South Rim so they could travel in coaches in relative comfort.

Martin’s September 5, 1894, article stated that they traveled 32 miles the first day to Cataract Glen, where they planned to cross Cataract Creek. Instead of a dry creek bed, they encountered a raging torrent. When the water receded, they crossed safely and camped for the night.

Bass led the group to Supai Village where they met Havasupai Tribe members . In the September 12, 1894 Journal-Miner article, Martin wrote, “The trail leading to the village was fatiguing and dangerous, and yet we felt amply repaid for it all.” Martin also stated that seeing the Bridal Veil and Mooney Falls were “worth the trip there as they are magnificently grand.” They spent a day and two nights at Supai before returning to the Rim and preparing to return to Prescott. Ada and Aunt Anna arrived home on August 29.

The Grand Canyon fascinated Ada; however, W.W. Bass impressed her more. While on the excursion, she learned he not only knew about the Grand Canyon, he also played the violin and recited poetry. Bass apparently was impressed with Ada too. For January 4, 1895, Ada wrote in her diary, “Left Prescott for Williams with W.W. . . W.W. went to Flagstaff to get license.” On Sunday, January 6, 1895, Methodist minister Rev. McFadden married Ada and W.W. They stayed in Williams two days before heading to the Canyon. Their “honeymoon” trip, accompanied by two other men and filled with rain, snow and high water, gave Ada a rude introduction to the many hardships she would endure over the next three decades helping her husband make a living as a Grand Canyon guide.

Photo Courtesy from Grand Canyon National Park's Museum Collection, # 07175.