294 
COLORADO RIVER BASIN 
country to the brink of the Canyon proper, but in order to see 
the gorge in its sublimest aspect he must climb the slopes of the 
broad Kaibab plateau and look down from a point where the 
River has cut directly through this mighty uplift. The Kaibab 
forest forms a proper entrance to that which is beyond. Sixty 
miles of densely forested country fittingly screens from the com¬ 
mercial world the greatest handiwork of God. 
No one with propriety can attempt to describe the spectacle of 
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The picture of a gorge six 
thousand feet deep and fifteen miles wide, surrounded by myriad- 
colored rocks, all carved into colossal minarets, towers and cathe¬ 
drals, cannot be conveyed by human words. The observer im¬ 
mediately finds himself in a state of admiring fear mingled with 
reverence and awe. The tremendous bigness of the thing, coupled 
with its sublimity, seems to close in upon him and impress him 
with his own insignificance. First he is tempted to run away, but 
it compels him to stay and to admire. His presence is tolerated 
but not welcomed. He is admitted but does not feel at home. 
The only answer that can be given as to how the river looks is to 
“go and see.” 
If nature had given this region only the Grand Canyon, the 
gift would have been an unusually precious one, but, seemingly, 
when the storehouse of God’s treasures was once opened a flood 
of jewels rolled forth and filled the country almost to overflowing. 
While, of course, it must not be denied that the Grand Canyon is 
supreme among all the wonders associated with the unmatched 
panorama, yet it is equally true that any one of a dozen others is 
easily sufficient to command the admiration of the world. Glen 
Canyon, Marble Canyon, Kainab Wash, and scores of other 
mighty incisions are wonders by themselves. 
The San Juan tributary, just below Mexican Hat, has pre¬ 
served an interesting remnant of its former history. It appears 
that this river, like many others of the Colorado Basin, was at 
one time a sluggish stream, winding in broad, crooked curves over 
the country that it traversed. Later, an uplift was slowly raised 
across its course, but the stream easily maintained its meandering 
path, and slowly embedded itself into the rising strata. As the 
water now flows through the uplift it forms a series of broad 
