remarkabIve; e;ntrance: of i^odore; canyon 



Photo by Kolb Brothers 



The river cuts directly through the mountains seen in the distance. One mile inside the 

 entrance the walls are 2,700 feet high and nearly sheer (see text, page 148) 



when we started, for here it was 300 feet 

 wide. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly 

 in the 60 miles of open country — hunting 

 and fishing or listening to Jimmie's songs. 

 He had a trained voice. His singing 

 ceased for some reason or other shortly 

 after we entered the canyons. 



There were no rapids of consequence iti 

 the first three canyons — Flaming Gorge, 

 Horseshoe, and Kingfisher Canyons — but 

 our tranquillity changed shortly after en- 

 tering Red Canyon. 



The water was so low in Red Canyon 

 that we struck many rocks, and we feared 

 if this kept up that our boats would not 

 last through the trip. Being built of 

 cedar, less than half an inch thick, they 

 cracked very easily. 



In swift water, where there were few 



rocks, the boats were taken through in the 

 usual manner, by pulling down stream ; 

 but when running bad rapids the order 

 was reversed and the boats were turned 

 with the bow pointing up stream. In this 

 way we could see where we were going, 

 and by pulling against the current the 

 velocity was checked. The boats, being 

 flat-bottomed and having considerable 

 raise at either end, could be turned very 

 quickly, and enabled us to pull from side 

 to side and avoid the rocks ahead of us. 

 We had been informed before that 

 some of these mountains were the hiding- 

 places of men who were "wanted" in the 

 three States which bordered near here. 

 Some escaping prisoners had also been 

 traced in this direction ; but all signs dis- 

 appeared when the mountains were 



143 



