Zane Grey (1872-1939) was a well-known writer who wrote Western novels during the early 20th century. He was born Pearl Zane Grey in Zanesville, Ohio. Before he was a writer, Zane Grey was a baseball player and a dentist. In 1905 he married Lina Roth, more commonly known as Dolly Grey. With her help, in 1910 Grey published his first best seller, The Heritage of the Desert. Zane Grey published other novels, articles, and short stories, with his most renowned being Riders of the Purple Sage.

Zane Grey was a lover of nature, fishing, and the West. He went on several trips to Northern Arizona, where the landscape inspired the scenes in his novels. In 1911, Zane Grey visited Rainbow Bridge for the first time, which provided the backdrop to the sequel, The Rainbow Trail. Zane grey made three other trips to Rainbow Bridge —1922, 1923, and 1929. This photo album records his April 1922 journey.

Zane Grey is also well known for his mistresses, whom often accompanied him on his travels. On the 1922 Rainbow Bridge trip, he brought Louise Anderson who was a native of Zanesville and the daughter of Nelly Dennis, one of Grey’s previous lovers.

Others who accompanied Grey on the Trip were Romer C. Grey, Grey’s younger brother; Dr. J. Auburn Wiborn and Mrs. J. Auborn Wiborn, Grey’s fishing partner who is also known as “the Lone Angler” and his wife; Lillian Wilhelm Robertson, Dolly Grey’s cousin who was the painter for the covers of many of Grey’s books; Lee Doyle, the son of Grey’s deceased Arizona guide, Al Doyle; George Takahashi, Grey’s cook; and John Wetherill, a trader at Kayenta trading post who, with the help of Native American guides, guided Grey’s party to Rainbow Bridge. Kayenta residents Jack King and Dean Allen, and Flagstaff resident Con Sullivan also accompanied Grey on this trip.

Grey’s party began their trip near Flagstaff and traveled towards Tsegi Canyon, passing the Red Lake Trading Post and the Little Colorado River. At Tsegi canyon, they took a detour to view the Betatakin cliff dwelling ruins, and then made their way East towards Kayenta Trading post, where they stayed for a few days to rest their horses and rearrange their supplies. From Kayenta, John Wetherill and few Navajo men guided the party towards Rainbow Bridge heading Northeast above Navajo Mountain, riding over the glass mountains and finally reaching Rainbow Bridge.