Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Encyclopedia
Brighty of the Grand Canyon is a 1967 film
based on a 1953 children's novel of the same name by Marguerite Henry
, a fictionalized account of a real-life burro
named "Brighty", who lived in the Grand Canyon
of the Colorado River
from about 1892-1922.
Originally named "Bright Angel" after a creek that flowed into the Grand Canyon from his summer dwelling on the North Rim
, Brighty spent summers carrying water from a spring below the rim to accommodate tourists coming to the canyon, located in northwestern Arizona
. He was smart—he would kick a man he thought dishonest. He was gentle—children could ride endlessly on his back without his being provoked.
Brighty was the first to have crossed the suspension bridge
built over the Colorado River at the base of the canyon, having even helped in the building of the structure. The burro hunted mountain lions with former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
, an avid student of the American West who once operated two ranch
es in South Dakota
. The role of Roosevelt is portrayed in the film by Karl Swenson
, later cast as the Scandinavia
n Lars Hanson on Michael Landon
's NBC
television series, Little House on the Prairie
.
Henry penned her novel after she read an article about the original Brighty in Sunset Magazine, which was given to her by a friend. Brighty camouflages himself against the gray rock when a stranger approaches. When only his friends are nearby, he is known to fill the canyon walls with bellows of his laughter. Thomas McKee, the former manager of Wiley's Camp on the North Rim of the canyon, read Henry's novel and wrote to express his interest in the book. McKee told Henry that his son, Bob, was Brighty's closest companion. He sent Henry a photograph of young Bob McKee sitting on Brighty's back. The youngster hence became the composite character Homer Hobbs, played in the film by Dandy Curran in his second and last acting role.
The other film characters are Old Timer, a prospector
played by Dick Foran
(1910–1979), a former star of matinee films. Versatile actor Joseph Cotten
played Uncle Jim Owen. Pat Conway
, who portrayed the lead role of the fictitious Sheriff
Clay Hollister in the syndicated
western
television series Tombstone Territory
from 1957–1960, appears as Jake Irons, who murder
s Old Timer for his copper
ore. Uncle Jim then proceeds to help bring Irons to justice. Conway, who died in 1981, was a maternal grandson of the silent film
star Francis X. Bushman
.
The book Brighty of the Grand Canyon won the 1956 William Allen White Children's Book Award
.
Brighty is honored with a bronze
statue in the lobby of Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim
, accessible through southern Utah
. Grand Canyon Lodge
is a National Historic Landmark
, located near Arizona State Route 67 some forty-three miles south of the junction with U.S. Route 89
alternate route. The monument of stone walls and high timbers has a memorial inscription written by Marguerite Henry: "the artist captured the soul of Brighty, forever wild, forever free."
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
based on a 1953 children's novel of the same name by Marguerite Henry
Marguerite Henry
Marguerite Henry was an American writer. Henry inspired children all over the world with her love of animals, especially horses. The author of fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals, her work has captivated entire generations of children and young adults and won...
, a fictionalized account of a real-life burro
Burro
The burro is a small donkey used primarily as a pack animal. In addition, significant numbers of feral burros live in the Southwestern United States, where they are protected by law, and in Mexico...
named "Brighty", who lived in the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
of the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
from about 1892-1922.
Originally named "Bright Angel" after a creek that flowed into the Grand Canyon from his summer dwelling on the North Rim
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, Brighty spent summers carrying water from a spring below the rim to accommodate tourists coming to the canyon, located in northwestern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. He was smart—he would kick a man he thought dishonest. He was gentle—children could ride endlessly on his back without his being provoked.
Brighty was the first to have crossed the suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
built over the Colorado River at the base of the canyon, having even helped in the building of the structure. The burro hunted mountain lions with former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, an avid student of the American West who once operated two ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
es in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. The role of Roosevelt is portrayed in the film by Karl Swenson
Karl Swenson
Karl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York of Swedish parentage, Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 40s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who...
, later cast as the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n Lars Hanson on Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series, Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
.
Henry penned her novel after she read an article about the original Brighty in Sunset Magazine, which was given to her by a friend. Brighty camouflages himself against the gray rock when a stranger approaches. When only his friends are nearby, he is known to fill the canyon walls with bellows of his laughter. Thomas McKee, the former manager of Wiley's Camp on the North Rim of the canyon, read Henry's novel and wrote to express his interest in the book. McKee told Henry that his son, Bob, was Brighty's closest companion. He sent Henry a photograph of young Bob McKee sitting on Brighty's back. The youngster hence became the composite character Homer Hobbs, played in the film by Dandy Curran in his second and last acting role.
The other film characters are Old Timer, a prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
played by Dick Foran
Dick Foran
John Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
(1910–1979), a former star of matinee films. Versatile actor Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
played Uncle Jim Owen. Pat Conway
Pat Conway
Patrick Douglas Conway, known as Pat Conway , was an American actor best known for his role as young but tough Sheriff Clay Hollister on the ABC and then syndicated western television series Tombstone Territory . He was a maternal grandson of silent film star Francis X...
, who portrayed the lead role of the fictitious Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Clay Hollister in the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
television series Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory
Tombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...
from 1957–1960, appears as Jake Irons, who murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
s Old Timer for his copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
ore. Uncle Jim then proceeds to help bring Irons to justice. Conway, who died in 1981, was a maternal grandson of the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
star Francis X. Bushman
Francis X. Bushman
Francis Xavier Bushman was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. His matinee idol career started in 1911 in the silent film His Friend's Wife, but it did not survive the silent screen era....
.
The book Brighty of the Grand Canyon won the 1956 William Allen White Children's Book Award
William Allen White Children's Book Award
The William Allen White Children's Book Award is an annual book award chosen by Kansas students. It was established by Ruth Garver Gagliardo in 1952, in memory of William Allen White and is administered by Emporia State University. It was the first statewide readers' choice book award in the United...
.
Brighty is honored with a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
statue in the lobby of Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, accessible through southern Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Grand Canyon Lodge
Grand Canyon Lodge
Grand Canyon Lodge is a hotel and cabins complex at Bright Angel Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood who also designed The Ahwahnee, Bryce Canyon Lodge, and Zion Lodge....
is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, located near Arizona State Route 67 some forty-three miles south of the junction with U.S. Route 89
U.S. Route 89
U.S. Route 89 is a north–south United States Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for 848 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park...
alternate route. The monument of stone walls and high timbers has a memorial inscription written by Marguerite Henry: "the artist captured the soul of Brighty, forever wild, forever free."