Historic photo taken by EC LaRue of men on a beach along the Colorado River on the Birdseye Expedition, 1923

A historic image taken on September 25, 1923, by E.C. LaRue during a survey trip on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon during the Birdseye Expedition. The image caption says, "Forty miles below Havasu Creek. Lunch time and the crew at play while waiting for a side canyon survey to be completed." The men are playing horseshoes under willow trees. "Eugene Clyde LaRue was an engineer who worked for the USGS until 1927. He conducted investigations for potential dam sites, irrigation systems, and power generation. He was interested in Colorado River water development, and in 1922 became the chairman of the Arizona Engineering Commission. LaRue was the expedition hydrologist and photographer. The Birdseye expedition of 1923 surveyed the 251-mile stretch of the Colorado River which ran between Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek. The two major goals of the expedition were to locate potential dam sites and create a series of maps and profiles of the area. Eventually, the expedition published 14 maps that were used in the creation of Hoover and Parker Dams, as well as the Colorado River Aqueduct and the Central Arizona Project" (courtesy of ArchivesWest, Orbis Cascade Alliance). The 1923 image was taken along the Colorado River, at River Mile 197, from the left bank, and repeat images were taken by the USGS in 1972, 1983, 1994, and 2016. The series is stored in the SBSC's Southwest Repeat Photography Collection, stake (camera point) s0720, original number (LaRue) 629.