The KLVX Steamboats on the Colorado Photograph Collection contains photographic prints and negatives used by the Las Vegas, Nevada television station KLVX (Channel 10) for a documentary on steamboats in the Southwest United States between approximately 1870 and 1979. KLVX made this documentary for the Arizona American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the Nevada American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, who jointly funded the documentary’s production. Some of these photographs may be reproductions of originals gathered during the research for the documentary.
The KLVX Steamboats on the Colorado Photograph Collection contains photographic prints and negatives used by the Las Vegas, Nevada television station KLVX (Channel 10) for a documentary on steamboats in the Southwest United States between approximately 1870 and 1979. KLVX made this documentary for the Arizona American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the Nevada American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, who jointly funded the documentary’s production. Some of these photographs may be reproductions of originals gathered during the research for the documentary.
These photographs primarily depict steamboats navigating the Colorado River, but also feature locations in Arizona including Yuma, Ehrenberg, Fort Mojave, La Paz, and Prescott. Other locations in the collection include Port Isabel, Texas; Searchlight, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; and San Francisco, California. The remainder of the collection depicts views of the Colorado River, Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam), and Native Americans from around the Southwest United States.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Materials remain as they were received.
In preparation for the United States' bicentennial celebration in 1976, KLVX (Channel 10) in Las Vegas, Nevada proposed a half-hour documentary on the steamboat service in the Southwest United States to the Arizona American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the Nevada American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, who jointly funded the project. KLVX assigned Hank Tester to produce the documentary, and contracted with Richard (Dick) Yates of Arizona Western University to write the treatment and script.
Yates and Tester pulled historical facts and photos from repositories throughout the Southwest as well as from the Library of Congress. After shooting concluded in late spring of 1976, the documentary appeared on stations throughout Nevada, southern Utah, Arizona, and southern California.
Source:
American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.
KLVX Steamboats on the Colorado Photograph Collection, approximately 1870-1979. PH-00156. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Materials were donated in 1976 by Ronald Hawley; accession number 76-228.
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Jimmy Chang wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.