102 
The Colorado River 
it was probably about at Toquerville/ They were now trying 
to make their general course south-east. Could I but see the 
original I certainly could identify the route from here on, hav¬ 
ing been over the region so often. As Escalante was obtaining 
what information he could from the natives, it seems to me 
that his first course “south-east “ was to Pipe Spring along the 
foot of the Vermilion Cliffs, then his “north-east “ was up to¬ 
ward Kanab and through Nine-Mile Valley to the head of the 
Kaibab, where a trail led him over to House Rock Valley, on 
his “south-east “ tack, skirting the Vermilion Cliffs again. But 
they lost it and struck the river at Marble Canyon, through a 
misunderstanding of the course of the trail, which bore easterly 
and then northerly around the base of the cliffs to what is now 
Lee’s Ferry, where there was an ancient crossing. Another 
trail goes (or did go) across the north end of the Paria Plateau 
and divides, one branch coming down the high cliffs about 
three miles up the Paria from the mouth, by a dizzy and zig¬ 
zag path, and the other keeping on to the south-east and strik¬ 
ing the river at the very point for which Escalante was evidently 
now searching. Perhaps the Pai Utes had told him of this 
trail as well as the one he tried to follow, which would have 
taken him to the Lee’s Ferry crossing about thirty-five miles 
below. He seems to have reached the brink of Marble Can¬ 
yon, perhaps half-way between the Paria and the Little Col¬ 
orado,“ and followed up-stream first north and then (beyond 
Paria) north-east, hunting for a ford. Twice he succeeded in 
descending to the water, but both times was unable to cross. 
They had now become so reduced in food that they were 
obliged to eat some of their horses. With great difficulty they 
climbed over the cliffs, and at the end of twelve days from 
their first arrival at the river they found the ford, which ever 
since has been called El Vado de los Padres. This was the 
8th of November, 1776. The entrance to the river from the 
^ From here to the California mission of San Gabriel would hardly have been 
as difficult as the route taken, excepting perhaps the matter of water, and little if 
any further than the distance to Santa Fe, but the Pai Utes could give him no in¬ 
formation of the distance to the sea. 
^ There was an old crossing near there, also. 
