over us, and plunging into the troughs, 

 until we reach the quiet water below; 

 and then comes a feeling of great re 

 lief. Our first rapid run. Another 

 mile and we come into the valley again. 



"Let me explain this canon. Where 

 the river turns to the left above, it takes 

 a course directly into the mountain, 

 penetrating to its very heart, then 

 wheels back upon itself, and runs into 

 the valley from which it started, only 

 half a mile below the point at which it 

 entered; so the canon is in the form of 

 an elongated U, with the apex in the 

 center of the mountain. We name it 

 Horseshoe Canon. 



"Last spring, I had a conversation 

 with an old Indian named Pa-ri-ats, 

 who told me about one of his tribe 

 attempting to run this canon. 'The 

 rocks/ he said, holding his hands 

 above his head, his arms vertical, look 

 ing between them to the heavens 'the 

 rocks h-e-a-p, h-e-a-p high; the water 

 go h-oo-woogh, h-oo-woogh! water- 

 pony (boat) h-e-a-p buck; water catch 

 'em; no see 'em Injun any more! no 

 see 'em squaw any more! no see 'em 

 pappoose any more!' 



"June 7. On a rock we find a pool 

 of clear, cold water, caught from yes 

 terday evening's shower. After a good 

 drink we walk to the brink of the 

 canon, and look down to the water be 

 low. I can do this now, but it has 

 taken several years of mountain climb 

 ing to cool my nerves, so that I can sit, 

 with my feet over the edge, and calmly 

 look down a precipice two thousand 

 feet. And yet I cannot look on and 

 see another do the same. I must either 

 bid him come away or turn my head. 



"This evening, as I write, the sun is 

 going down, and the shadows are set 

 tling in the cafion. The vermilion 

 gleams and roseate hues, blending with 

 the green and gray tints, are slowly 

 changing to somber brown above, and 

 black shadows are creeping over them 

 below; and now it is a dark portal to a 

 region of gloom the gateway through 

 which we are to enter on our voyage of 

 exploration to-morrow." 



The gth of June brought disaster to 

 a boat containing three of the men, who 

 were carried down the rapids, but all 

 were rescued. 



They pass the mouths of the Uintah 

 and the White Rivers, with constantly 

 changing scenes, making a tortuous 

 journey through many dangerous rap 

 ids, much of the time between high, 

 perpendicular walls. 



On the 1 5th they pass around a great 

 bend, five miles in length, and come 

 back to a point one-quarter of a mile 

 from where they started. Then they 

 sweep around another great bend to 

 the left, making a circuit of nine miles, 

 and come back to one-third of a mile 

 from where the bend started. The fig 

 ure 8 properly describes the fourteen 

 miles' journey. July 17 they arrive at 

 the junction of the Grand and Green 

 rivers, having traversed about eight 

 hundred and four miles. 



On the morning of July 19, the Major 

 and a companion start to climb the left 

 wall below the junction of the Grand 

 and Green Rivers. They reach the 

 summit of the rocks. The view is thus 

 described: "And what a world of 

 grandeur is spread before us! Below 

 us is the canon, through which the Col 

 orado runs. We can trace its course 

 for miles, as at points we catch glimpses 

 of the river. From the northwest comes 

 the Green, in a narrow, winding gorge. 

 From the northeast comes the Grand, 

 through a canon that seems bottomless 

 from where we stand. Away to the 

 west are lines of cliff and ledges of 

 rock not such- ledges as you may have 

 seen, where the quarry-man splits his 

 blocks, but ledges from which the gods 

 might quarry mountains, that, rolled 

 on the plain below, would stand a lofty 

 range; and not such cliffs as you may 

 have seen, where the swallow builds his 

 nest, but cliffs where the soaring eagle 

 is lost to view ere he reaches the sum 

 mit. Between us and the distant cliffs 

 are the strangely carved and pinnacled 

 rocks of the Toom-pin-wu-nearTu-weap. 

 On the summit of the opposite wall of 

 the canon are rock forms that we do 

 not understand. Away to the east a 

 group of eruptive mountains are seen 

 the Sierra La Sal. Their slopes are 

 covered with pines, and deep gulches 

 are flanked with great crags, and snow 

 fields are seen near the summits. So 

 the mountains are in uniform green, 

 gray, and silver. Wherever we Jook 



1C8 



