Nevills, Norman D., 1908-1949

Norman Davies Nevills was born in April, 1908 to William Eugene and Mae Davies Nevills of California. In 1921, William left his family to seek his fortune drilling for oil in Utah, where he became fascinated by rivers. In 1924 he took an open boat trip down the San Juan River. Mae joined her husband in Utah in 1925 while Norm stayed in California to complete his education, attending the College of the Pacific in Stockton for two years before joining his parents in Mexican Hat, Utah in 1927. William's river adventures greatly influenced Norm, who wanted to run the river himself. Norm met Doris Drown in July of 1933 in Monticello, Utah and they married in October 1933. For their honeymoon they planned a trip down the San Juan River. Norm built a homemade boat out of his mother's horse trough and they traveled the river in 1934 with few problems. The trip fanned Norm's desire to guide paying customers down the river.

In 1938, Norm made a complete run of the Colorado River from Green River, Utah, through Cataract and Grand Canyons, to Boulder Dam. The publicity generated by this trip created other commercial opportunities. Dr. Elzada Clover, a University of Michigan botanist, wanted to make a river trip to catalog the flora of the Grand Canyon. Dr. Clover brought graduate student Lois Jotter as her assistant. The trip began in July of 1938, lasted for 43 days, and brought Norm additional publicity for another successful run accompanied by the first women to make the trip. Nevills Expedition made many runs of the San Juan and Colorado Rivers, including six more of the Grand Canyon, with his wife Doris and their daughters, Joan and Sandra, often accompanying him. To ease transportation problems he sometimes faced on the river, Norm bought his first airplane in 1946. When Doris' uncle died in 1949, Norm and Doris took off from Mexican Ha, Utah, destined for Sacramento, California. Right after take off the plane's engine died and the plane crashed, killing Norm and Doris. Nevills Expedition was sold to J. Frank Wright and Jim Rigg, two of Norm's boatmen, and renamed Mexican Hat Expeditions. In 1950, family, friends, and fellow river runners gathered to dedicate a plaque honoring Norm and Doris at Navajo Bridge, Marble Canyon.

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