32 JOHN WESLEY POWELL. 



1869, the party of explorers launched their boats in the Green 

 River, one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado. The boats 

 were four in number; three were built of oak, staunch and firm, 

 double-ribbed, with double stem- and stern-posts, and further 

 strengthened by bulk-heads, dividing each into three compart- 

 ments. Two of these were decked fore and aft, forming water-tight 

 cabins which it was expected would buoy the boats should the 

 waves roll over them in rough water. The little vessels were 

 twenty-one feet long, and without cargo each could be carried by 

 four men. The fourth boat was made of pine, very light, sixteen 

 feet in length, with a sharp cut-water ; this was built for fast row- 

 ing, and was divided into compartments like the others. They 

 were fitted out with rations for ten months, all kinds of implements 

 needed on a voyage, plenty of ammunition, and many scientific in- 

 struments. 



Of that memorable expedition of four months in the canyons 

 of the Colorado I can only give a glimpse. 



The hero was never daunted. He had a fixed purpose, and 

 was willing, if need be, to face death to accomplish something for 

 science. Let us follow him and hear in his own words how the 

 expedition was manned. 



" J. C. Sumner and William H. Dunn are my boatmen in the 

 'Emma Dean'; then follows 'Kitty Clyde's Sister,' manned by W. 

 H. Powell and G. T. Bradley; next the 'No Name,' with O. G. 

 Rowland, Seneca Rowland, and Frank Goodman; and last comes 

 the 'Maid of the Canyon' with W. R. Hawkins and Andrew Hall." 1 



The general course of the river is southward, and to the south 

 is a great upland, the Uinta Mountains, lying athwart its course. 

 Through this upland the river burrows in a series of deep canyons; 

 and in these canyons the excitement and danger of the voyage 

 begin. 



" May jo. This morning we are ready to enter the mysterious 

 canyon, and start with some anxiety. The old mountaineers tell 

 us that it cannot be run; the Indians say, 'Water heap catch 'em,' 

 but all are eager for the trial, and off we go. 



"Entering Flaming Gorge, we quickly run through it on a 

 swift current and emerge into a little park. Half a mile below, the 

 river wheels sharply to the left, and we turned into another canyon 

 cut into the mountain. We enter the narrow passage. On either side 



iThe full narrative of the voyage through the Colorado Canyons, from which these passages 

 are extracted, is contained in Exploration of the Colorado River of the West, by J. W. Powell, 

 Washington, 1875. A popular account of the voyage, likewise .by Powell, appeared in Scribner's 

 Monthly for January, February and March 1875 



