Kodachrome was originally named Thorley’s Pasture for a rancher, Tom Thorley, who ran cattle there. That all changed in 1948, when a party from the National Geographic Society came through the region. Inspired by the spectacular rainbow hues displayed in the rocks, the party’s leaders felt inspired to name the little valley Kodachrome Flat for the color film that was then being made famous by the Society’s magazine. After a rumor circulated that Kodak was unhappy with the park’s nomenclature, the Bryce Lions Club came up with “Chimney Rock State Reserve” — a name that referred to the park’s many tall and slender rock spires. As it turned out, Kodak decided it missed the free advertising, and the basin has been officially known as Kodachrome Basin ever since.