The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-06-03
Paintings Utah Artist of Three Greatest Natural Bridges the World
II. L. A. Culmer Com
pletes Canvases of
THO of Nature S
Wonders In Utah for
Col. E. F. Holmes.

Tho paintings Of the three natural
bridges i'm San Juan county. the largest
known i'm the whole world. which were
made thc objective point of a comP1nX
Of local travellers last year. nave been
completed by h. l.. a. Gunner and are
now framed and occupying d place Of
honor in the art gallery Of the Amelia
Palace. the FTUp~. ~ g Colonel Edwin
r. Holmes with vhost financial back
ing the party made tho trip. The few
friends Who nave seen the work pro-
uoun,c the paintings among the best
" crk ever done by Mr. CulmeT. They
represent fun year of earnest work
ou his part md are noble examples of
his art.
The largest bridge. Augusta is rep
resented on a canvas 6Ox90 inches and
is stUpoudous i'm its majesty. Ike huge
bridge rises to height OF 26j feet
above the bed 81 the channel and has a
span of &2a feet The bridge nat is
S. feet thick and at its narrower IOint
10 has d width Of s. feet. It's attitude
is $3.50 above sea level.
Idealizrd by the brush II stands
wonderful monument to the forces
which SHAPED its gigantic pillars The
view beneath the arch gives a glimpse
Cf the far cliffs of sandstone which rise
away beyond. The scattered brush and
trees growing i'm the ravinc and the
arc all felt tn the full in the magic Of
the painters art
Edwin Bridge Described.
The Edwin. the bridge discovered for
tHg first time by IT. /. 4. Gunner. :. T.
Whitaker and Carleton Woods Holmes
I'm March 1908. and named for Colonel
Holmes. who managed and financed the
expedition. Is a much smaller bridge.
being III feet high with a span of 2G5
feet II Is 4 little TO the north and east
of the Augusta and is ON slightly
higher land. being $3.50 feet above sea
level The width a the uarTOWest span
part of the passage is 80 feet and light
sandstone fOTmatiO gives II the same
general appearance as the others.
Caroline bridge, which lies on the
fsrthest side Of Augusta. is lS2 feet
high and 90 feet across the chasm- Al
though it was known before. it was
scaled for the first time by young Mr..
Holmes George Perkins and z. y. Mel
son on the same expedition. the party
getting 10 the top with great difficulty.
The cliffs forming the span of the
bridge are so preCipitOUs that it was
necessary TO use ropes and lower each
person onto the span in order to take
the measurements.
All in San Juan.
I'm shadOwy color and the golden light
Of the setting sun Is seen on the Ia
rounding cliffs beyond, just visible be
low the arch. A placid pool lies below
the bridge and in this is reflected the
light from the yellow cliffs touched by
the sunlight The deep purple tones Of
the twilight hour are brought out in
wonderful haTmOnies in the foreground,
the brilliant light beyond emphasizing
them.
These wonderful structures Of nature
are all within a few miles of one an
other in San Juan county The two
smaller were formed by streams ap-
parently tributary 10 the gigantic river
which once swept beneath the majestic
Augusta Some idea Of the last named
may be formed by the thought that the
entire temple square might be set be
meath its arch and the statue of MOTOni
would not reach the arch. 1t is quite
likely that reproductions Of the three
wonderful paintings (Which will short
" be exhibited publicly, will be used
with effect in the See America First
movement as natural wonders such as
they present are not TO be found else
where i'm such grandeur