EDITOR'S LETTER

I counted the horses last year. We've done 48 covers with horses. I haven't counted the saguaros, but I think there might be at least a hundred of those. That's what I thought about the Grand Canyon, too. It's an undeniable choice as editor. Like Walter Alston, if you have Sandy Koufax in your rotation, you trot him out to the mound every chance you get. Turns out, we've amassed quite a collection of Grand Canyon covers. We haven't hit a hundred yet, but we're close. This month's publication puts us at 99.

As you may have noticed, the front page features a beautiful photograph by Adam Schallau. It's never easy zeroing in on cover photos, especially for a Grand Canyon issue. We have so many to choose from — l'embarras de richesses, my French ancestors would say. A lot of that has to do with Adam. There aren't any names on the monitor when we're reviewing images, but it's gotten to the point where I know it's one of his based on the response of everyone in the room. His stuff is that good. This is Adam's fourth Grand Canyon cover. His first was in July 2014. The magazine's first was in March 1926.

It took us 12 issues after our premiere to finally get there. The image is an understated black-and-white. Intriguing, but not revealing. The caption reads: “Our cover this month is an unusual scene of one of the great scenic wonders of the world — the Grand Canyon. The photograph is the property of W.W. Lane, chief engineer of the Arizona Highway Department.” There isn't any information about where the photo was made, but Bruce Aiken, who knows the natural wonder better than anyone, thinks it was shot at Yavapai Point. “I've painted from this location,” he told me. “If you look closely into the shadowy area on the right side, just above the highlighted area, you can see Phantom Ranch. Barely. The word 'Highways' obscures Isis Temple and Buddha Temple at the top.” Our Grand Canyon sequel took a while. Until August 1933. Those 83 months mark the longest drought in our timeline. The cover photo, another black-and-white, one without a credit, features Desert View Watchtower. The weathered edifice, designed by Mary Jane Colter to blend in with its surroundings and “create no discordant note against the time eroded walls of this promontory,” had opened a few months earlier. The next three covers were black-and-white, too. Then, in December 1938, we crossed the threshold with a photograph by G.E. Ruckstell. “December's cover is a study in color photography of the Grand Canyon after a light snow,” Editor Raymond Carlson wrote. But the color model didn't last long. It was back to black-and-white until May 1946, when Ansel Adams made his cover debut with a color image that was more about thesky than the earth. You can barely see the Canyon. The caption describes the scene as “a strange and startling formation of beauty and color.” It's notable because of the man who made it. With the exception of Barry Goldwater's snowy black-andwhite in December 2018, every Grand Canyon cover after Mr. Adams' was produced in color. And there are some superlatives in the mix, with some hefty bylines to match, including David Muench. He's the most prolific. Tied with Gary Ladd at seven. However, if you combine Sir David's number with those of his father, Josef (five), and his son, Marc (two), the family dynasty has 14 Grand Canyon covers to their illustrious surname. They'll be hard to catch.

Next on the list is Esther Henderson. If I could meet just one of our late photographers, she'd be the one. She walks on my water. For so many reasons, including her artistic superiority in what was then a man's world. Ms. Henderson photographed six Grand Canyon covers for us. The first, titled The Last Tips of Light, was in January 1953. “Sometimes the Grand Canyon is a perverse host,” the caption reads, “greeting the admiring visitor and photographer with a tawny look and a 'baldheaded' sky. Sometimes its treasures are concealed under a blanket of clouds as billowy as a feather bed or a curtain of rain as impenetrable as a proscenium of fire. Later, its sharp shadows define each recess and headland until, at sunset, the last tips of light are caught on the crags and the soft glow of heaven lies in the abyss. A million photographs have been taken of the Grand Canyon; a million more remain to be taken; yet every photograph tells a different story of the Grand Canyon.” I don't know if the words are hers, but that would have been customary, and these words could have accompanied any of her covers, including January 1968. It features a twisted, old juniper covered with snow. It's one of 15 covers with snow. Here are some other tallies: Twenty-seven covers include people, 20 feature waterfalls, and 14 showcase the Colorado River. There are a dozen cover photos of Havasu Canyon and three illustrated covers — by Jimmy Swinnerton, Chris Gall and Amery Bohling. Only one cover features a rainbow. We also have one with an airplane. And one more with a decorated Christmas tree.

None of those things are on this month's cover. And it's hard to imagine ever putting another Christmas tree on the front. But, maybe. Time will tell. Meanwhile, on behalf of everyone at Arizona Highways, here's to a safe and happy new year. We'll see you at the Grand Canyon.

— ROBERT STIEVE, EDITOR Follow me on Instagram: @arizonahighways