Eyre Powell

I thought that I would say something about the men who accompanied the girls on their trip to Zion.

Eyre Powell was the organizer and photographer of the event. He was a press agent for the Union Pacific railroad and felt that the creation of the new national park could be a great opportunity to promote the use of the railroad for tourists wishing to see Utah's natural wonders. It was his idea to take a group of girls down to the park and photograph them among the rocks. He stayed the whole week with the girls and took many photos. He was the target of many of Anne's practical jokes.

After the trip, Eyre worked to broadcast the trip in as many newspapers around the country as he could. He continued to work as a publicity agent for the Union Pacific for several years later and increased the nation's awareness of southern Utah's natural wonders. He was living in Los Angeles during this time and was soon also helping to promote the beauties of Southern California. He handled the publicity for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and he supervised the photography of the Tournament of Roses parade for a quarter of a century. In 1949, just a few weeks before he died, a television was set up in his hospital room so that he could watch the parade. He lapsed into a coma after the parade. He was only 57 years old when he died.

note: When we were writing the book, we added short biographies on the participants of the trip. These were originally going to include Eyre Powell and Chauncey Parry, but then we decided to just include the girls because this story is really their story.