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The Royal Gorge on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad

 Collection — item: 1
Identifier: MSS 8597

Scope and Contents

Materials include one framed black and white photograph of a Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad train driving down the track in a gorge. Dated 1912.

Dates

  • 1912

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from The Royal Gorge on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical / Historical

George L. Beam (1868-1935) was an American photographer for the Denver & Rio Grande railroad company.

George L. Beam was born May 18, 1868 in New Paris, Ohio. At the age of five him and his family moved to Lawrence, Kansas where he grew up and saw the deaths of his mother and two siblings. When he was twenty-one years old he established himself as a used foreign and domestic postage stamps dealer. He and his father moved to Denver, Colorado around 1890. In Denver Mr. Beam worked for the Chain Hardy & Co. as a stenographer, but soon there after he began working as a stenographer for the Chief Storekeeper and Purchasing Agent of the Denver & Rio Grande until 1893. In 1894 he became a secretary to Shadrach K. Hooper (the general passenger and ticket agent) for the Rio Grand. He was skilled with photography and was well established as the Rio Grande company photographer by 1905 when he photographed President Theodore Roosevelt in the Royal Gorge. He became a well respected photographer, taking photographs for the Denver & Rio Grande company along with other scenic views of the Western United States. At the age of 62 he married Fay L. Kuellmer in Colorado Springs on June 7, 1930. He died March 16, 1935 at the age of 66 in Denver and was buried in Lawrence, Kansas.

Extent

1 photograph : b&w ; 94 x 120 cm

Language of Materials

English

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Kept in cold storage; access requires 24 hours advance notice.

Custodial History

Materials were purchased by L. Tom Perry Special Collections through Will Munyon & Sons from the estate sale of James Key

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased; Will Munyon & Sons; 2014.

Appraisal

Photographs (Photograph Archives).

Processing Information

Processed; Anne Ashton, student photograph processor; 2014.

Source

Title
Register of The Royal Gorge on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad
Status
Completed
Author
Anne Ashton
Date
2014 October 7
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States