NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. VIII 



Powell reproduced his original diary, keeping the narrative in 

 the present tense as when written in the canyon, with the result 

 of giving a vivacity to his story unusual in government publi- 

 cations; yet one may read it without learning that the author 

 had lost his right forearm ! 



The climax of the journey is reached when, after the party 

 had made nearly all the dangerous distance in a little less than 

 three months, three of the men insist that further progress is 

 too perilous, and that the river must be abandoned : they seek 

 a way out by climbing up to the plateau surface. The others 

 persist in following the river, and that very afternoon come 

 upon a group of the most dangerous falls in the whole journey. 

 It is interesting to note that these falls do not constitute an ex- 

 ception to Powell's expectation that the river must have al- 

 ready graded its course in the uplifted rocks of the plateaus, 

 for the obstruction which here caused the falls was formed in 

 an exceptional manner by flows of lava that had, in altogether 

 unpredictable fashion, cascaded down from the volcanoes of 

 the Uinkaret plateau on the north, so recently that they have 

 not yet been cleared away by the river. 



As these falls are approached from upstream, there is no 

 possibility of seeing their face and choosing the least danger- 

 ous point for descent. The walls are too steep for a portage 

 along the bank; so one of the men, Bradley, approaches the 

 brink of the fall in a boat, held by a tow-line from the cliffs. 

 The current soon becomes so strong that the boat cannot be 

 drawn back; Bradley promptly cuts the line and plunges over 

 the falls, whirling in waves and foam, sinking out of sight, 

 rising again, safe on board and waving his hat. Powell then 

 tells his own manner of descent with two of his men : "We 

 run to the other boat, jump aboard, push out, and away we go 

 over the falls. A wave rolls over us, and our boat is unman- 

 ageable. Another great wave strikes us, the boat rolls over, 

 and tumbles and tosses, I know not how. All I know is that 

 Bradley is picking us up. We soon have all right again, and 

 row to the cliff, and wait until -Sunnier and [W. H.] Powell 

 can come [along the wall]. After a difficult climb they reach 

 us. We run two or three miles farther, and turn again to the 

 northwest, continuing until night, when we have run out of 

 the granite once more." An early start is made the next morn- 



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