naked mountain of rock

One hardly knows just how to think of it. Never before has such a naked mountain of rock entered into our minds! Without a shred of disguise its transcendent form rises preeminent. There is almost nothing to compare to it. Niagra has the beauty of energy; the Grand Canyon, of immensity; the Yellowstone, of singularity; the Yosemite, of altitude; the ocean, of power; this Great Temple, of eternity.

Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Scribner's. 1904. As quoted in A Century of Sanctuary: The Art of Zion National Park By Robert Redford, Peter H. Hassrick, Lyman Hafen, Deborah Reeder, Leslie Courtright, Roland Lee, Erica Cottam. University of Utah Press, 2008. p.34

this immense prodigality of color

To the eye prejudiced by the soft blues and grays of a familiar Eastern United States or European district, this immense prodigality of color is startling, perhaps painful; it seems to the inflexible mind unwarranted, immodest, as if Nature had stripped and posed nude, unblushing before humanity.


Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Scribner's. 1904. As quoted in A Century of Sanctuary: The Art of Zion National Park By Robert Redford, Peter H. Hassrick, Lyman Hafen, Deborah Reeder, Leslie Courtright, Roland Lee, Erica Cottam. University of Utah Press, 2008. p.9