6o 
The Colorado River 
than the finish of Cataract, a superb gorge about 40 miles long 
with a depth of 2700 feet, often nearly vertical. The rapids 
here are many and violent, the total fall being about 450 feet. 
At its head is the mouth of the Grand River. The altitude of 
the junction is 3860 feet.’ Following up the Green, we have 
first Stillwater, then Labyrinth Canyon, much alike, the first 
42| and the second 62^ miles in length. The walls of sand¬ 
stone are 1300 feet. Their names well describe them, though 
the Stillwater of the first is very swift and straight. There are 
no rapids in either. All these canyon names, from Green River 
Valley to the Grand Wash, were applied by Powell. Between 
Labyrinth and the next canyon. Gray, so called from the 
colour of its walls, 2000 feet high, is Gunnison Valley, where 
the river may first be easily crossed. Here the unfortunate 
Captain Gunnison, in 1853, passed over on his way to his 
doom, and here, too, the Old Spanish Trail led the traveller in 
former days toward Los Angeles. The Denver and Rio Grande 
Western Railway has taken advantage of the same place to 
cross. The 36 miles of Gray are hardly more than a continua¬ 
tion of the Canyon of Desolation’s 97 miles. Desolation is a 
fine chasm, whose walls are 2400 feet. The view on page 206 
gives an excellent idea of their average character. The mouth 
of the Uinta River, not far above its head, is 4670 feet above 
the sea, while Gunnison Valley is 4083, showing a descent for 
the river, in Desolation and Gray, together of 587 feet. Deso¬ 
lation is full of rapids, some of them bad. Wonsits Valley, 
which succeeds Desolation, is the longest of the few valleys, 
being about 87 miles, with a width of 6 or 8 miles. There is a 
considerable amount of arable land, and along the river bank 
large groves of cottonwood trees. The river course is winding, 
the current sluggish, the width being 600 to 800 feet. At the 
head of this valley is Split-Mountain Canyon, 8 miles long, 
with ragged, craggy walls 2700 feet high. It contains a number 
of medium rapids. Island Park separates it from Whirlpool 
Canyon. It is a charming little valley, full of islands, a mere 
’ The character of the Grand River is similar to that of the Green, but the 
canyons above the mouth of the Dolores are not so long nor so deep. The river 
also carries less water. 
