PS , 
THE EHD OF THE YEAR 
MY DISASTER IN THE JEMEZ MOUNTAINS. F m MEXICO , 1887 , 
Our Party Comprised Major Powell, Professor 
Langley, Mr. & Mrs . James Stevenson & others . 
My letters home recite the many interesting events 
occuring from day to day in our camp life and our explorations 
among the ruins, the Indian Puehlos and the rugged mountains and 
charming valleys, "but my season 1 s work came to a sudden close. 
About the end of September I joined Major Powell in a mountain ex- 
cursion and one afternoon, descending on horseback from a high peak, 
I had the misfortune to suffer a very serious injury. The Major 
rode a large, free-going horse and I rode a pony, selected for con- 
venience in mounting and dismounting in gathering specimens and mak- 
ing sketches. This pony had a gait, when on good roads, as com- 
fortable as a rocking chair, but he had stiff forelegs and coming 
down the mountain trail I had great difficulty in keeping up with 
Powell. I suffered terribly from the long continued jar and by 
the time we reached camp my back was broken, or near-abouts, and I 
was quite helpless. The injury was so serious that Stevenson con- 
structed a litter of long poles on which, with a mule attached, I 
was placed and drawn out to the railway and sent home. Mrs. Steven 
son aided materially in caring for me, and in due course I arrived 
safely in Washington, and was soon fully restored. 
The only mention or note I have of this episode is a 
brief letter from Colonel Stevenson written in answer to a letter 
from Mrs. Holmes thanking him for his care of me. This letter is 
as follows: 
(However, after the lapse of 42 years (1929) the back of my neck 
is still sensitive to any decided jar as in driving rapidly over 
rough streets.) 
r 
