GRAND CANON OF THE CO LOB ADO 4*9 



gigantic volcano. It exploded with such fury that one side became 

 the finest dust and the other toppled over and now forms the channel 

 through which the river is flowing." Much nearer to the truth than 

 any of these explanations is that of Joaquin Miller. He suggests that 

 the canon is due to an underground river which worked away like the 

 Green Eiver has done in Mammoth Cave. Finally the roof fell in and 

 behold the Grand Canon. A picturesque explanation is Miller's and 

 better than any of the others. Its truth consists in representing the 

 river as the active agent, its error in the underground idea. 



The geologist knows that the Colorado Eiver cut out the whole 

 canon and regards the region as the finest example of river work on a 

 grand scale in the world and as the type of all that is gigantic in dis- 

 placement and denudation. The manner in which the river accom- 

 plished its tremendous task can be more easily comprehended by con- 

 sidering a number of facts ; first, such as relate to the geography of the 

 region ; second, to its topography; third, to its stratigraphy and petrol- 

 ogy; fourth, to its denudation and displacements. These different 

 groups are closely interwoven with each other and the facts marshaled 

 in one group are dependent upon those in all of the other groups. 



Many tourists returning from the state of Colorado report that they 

 have visited the Grand Canon of the Colorado when they have simply 

 seen the canon of the Arkansas Eiver — a cation which would be a mere 

 scratch in the side of the Grand Canon. To see the chief canon in the 

 world they should have journeyed several hundred miles farther towards 

 the southwest, to the region where a canon 200 miles long has cut off 

 the northwest corner of Arizona from the remainder of that state. 

 Most tourists will now make their visit at the point called Grand Canon 

 Post Office, while the more fortunate ones will go east to Grand View 

 and west to Cataract Creek. The railroad from the main line has 

 been built to a well-chosen point where the canon is a dozen miles wide 

 and where for fifty miles to the east and west it is most gigantic and 

 impressive. Within this region it displays all the salient points in its 

 topography, succession of geological formations, different kinds of rocks, 

 and erosion and sculpturing. So that one inquiring about the origin 

 of the canon can obtain all the factors to the answer in this locality. 



Thanks to the good topographic map which the government has 

 issued, one does not have to guess at the distances and depths in the 

 region. One may refer to the map and not be disappointed. Accurate 

 measurements do not rob the depths and distances of their magnifi- 

 cence, nor is exaggeration there necessary for impressiveness. 



The new survey shows that the elevation of the plateau through 

 which the river has carved its path is between seven and eight thou- 

 sand feet above sea level. At the head of the canon the elevation of 

 the river is twenty-five hundred feet, and by the time it has flowed 

 two hundred miles to the end of the canon it is onlv a thousand feet 



