Among Canyon Shadows

How many official wedding day photos have you seen where the bride appears somewhat put out with such ceremony? The cover of Joyce Lohse’s latest novel, Among Canyon Shadows, features a snapshot of Beatrice Farnham, newly wedded bride of John Otto, standing at the foot of Independence Monument in Colorado on June 11th, 1911, possibly thinking, Can we just dispense with all this foo fa doo already? But that cover photo is precisely what drew me to the unusual story of Beatrice Farnham, Boston artist, and John Otto, outdoorsman and trail builder. Independence Monument, featuring prominently in the story, perhaps provides the perfect symbol of what was to come for these two striving, motivated adults. Enduring, shaped by the elements, and a curiosity for travelers, the monument became John Otto’s version of the Taj Mahal fashioned to honor his beloved. In this case, his beloved seemed to be Colorado.

Woven together through the use of primary sources such as historical documents, interviews, and newspaper articles, Lohse’s work provides interesting insight into two individuals who might otherwise have escaped the scripts of collected history. “Beatrice, an accomplished artist from South Weymouth, Massachusetts, relished her solo travels on west-bound country trains. Once a year she visited New Mexico to collect artwork and study designs among Native American artisans and local tribes.” She loved western landscapes and native designs, images that she brought back and incorporated into artwork and decor ardently sought by wealthy individuals and gallery owners in New York and along the East Coast. Dressing as she did, Western style with wide-brimmed hat, colorful jackets and serapes, split riding skirts, fringed leather gloves and Western boots, often drew attention from local reporters. Headlines and articles abounded about Beatrice and her artistic work. She was a curiosity. Cordial, yet arrogant. Elegant, yet barbarian. Trendy, yet freakish.

Out there among the canyons and shadowy desert environs, she met up with a man named John Otto, who served as her guide to locations best suited for her landscape painting. (There is some speculation that the two may have met years earlier in California when Beatrice was in art school and John was prospecting, but details remain unclear.) John, the son of a professor of theology, perhaps surprised himself with arrests for theft and making threats some years before he met Beatrice. As for John, some unfavorable journalistic epithets such as “unstable,” “eccentric cave-dwelling recluse,” and “harmless crank” peppered newspaper headlines as he endeavored to be left alone to complete his trail work. In the end, John Otto became best remembered as a trailblazer, a steadfast outdoorsman dedicated to the creation of a place called National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado that he truly hoped people would visit and enjoy.

But what of the union of these two incredibly independent creatures, each with high regard for their own dreams and visions, natural landscapes, artistry, and respect for indigenous ways? That is a mystery for readers to summon in their minds while enjoying this straightforward account of two intelligent, unique, complicated, and striving souls.

Among Canyon Shadows is best for readers who enjoy short biographical stories, Colorado history, readers of Western literature, and anyone who enjoys conjuring a psychological journey into the hearts and minds of people. This type of writing is Lohse’s specialty; she has truly created another high interest historical novel that I certainly recommend for young adult and older readers.