Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Four Pictures From 1958 Frontierland

From a Disneyland vacation in October 1958 come these four pictures of Frontierland. The first image is of the Disneyland Stage Coach entering one of the tunnels as part of the desert for The Rainbow Caverns area. In the foreground are the paint pot geysers with their colored sand and minerals.

The second image is of the newly opened Columbia ship docked at Fowler's Harbor. In the background is the striped circus tent of Holidayland. Almost an incongrous site as you cruised around the Rivers of America looking at western landscape and then suddenly a circus tent. I believe the image is taken from the deck of the Mark Twain.

The third image is of the Mark Twain taken from Tom Sawyer's treehouse on the island. This is a very nicely framed shot with the leaves in the foreground adding a dimension to the image.

The final shot is of the arch rock in the Rainbow Caverns area. One detail I had not noticed before are the Southwest Pueblos up on the mesa rocks.

4 comments:

Major Pepperidge said...

Re: the first photo....so the Stagecoach went through Rainbow Caverns? I had no idea, thought only the Mine Train could view those.

In the second photo, it seems awfully high up to be taken from the top deck of the Mark Twain...but I can't think of where else it could be from! Castle Rock? The Columbia appears to be in dry dock, even though it debuted only a few months before this picture was taken.

Anonymous said...

Minor clarifications here. The Stagecoach ride did not go through Rainbow Caverns. And we believe the second photo is taken from Tom and Huck's Treehouse - just like the Mark Twain image. Great shots.

Matterhorn1959 said...

Major- I agree with anonymous, the Stagecoach did not go through Rainbow Caverns, but I was trying to place the desert area. And I also agree with anonymous in that the Columbia shot was taken from Tom's Treehouse due to the height and the foreground. If it was from the Mark Twain, the Columbia would be more straight on.

Merlinsguy said...

Omg, could the tent in the background of the Columbia be the never photographed Holidayland?