Burton Holmes Travelogues 1898-9
Burton Holmes coined the term "Travelogue" and was an inspiration for Lowell Thomas. Accompanied by his entourage that included pioneer cameraman Oscar B. Depue, Holmes visited northern Arizona in 1898 and 1899. They made the first movies taken in Arizona of such subjects as the Hopi Snake Dance and Captain John Hance at the Grand Canyon. While visiting the Navajo, the company staged a chase scene where a young white woman from Denver challenges the braves to catch her when she steals the Chief's horse. Given the context of film making in 1898, this is as close to a narrative film as was being made, making "Rattlesnake Jack" Arizona's 1st Movie Star.
In 1899 the Burton Holmes Company returned to Arizona and this time showed the Navajo the films of themselves that had been made the previous year. When white audiences saw films for the first time, some panicked but the Navajo clasped their hands over their mouths to stifle yells lest they scare the ghosts they were seeing. When the show was over, the audience expressed no interest whatsoever in the projection equipment but rubbed their cheeks against the white projection screen. This has been explained by a respected modern Navajo radio commentator as relating to their Crystal Ceremony where the facets of the crystal are looked upon as windows into other worlds. If we appreciate this wisdom and look at historic films as windows into the past, we can accept their stereotypes as being part of another time, and not be afraid of them.
Copyright 2000 George C. Hall