CHAPTER V 
Breaking the Wilderness—Wanderings of the I'rappers and Fur Traders—General 
Ashley in Green River Valley, 1824—Pattie along the Grand Canyon, 1826— 
Lieut. Hardy, R.N., in a Schooner on the Lower Colorado, 1826—Jedediah 
Smith, Salt Lake to San Gabriel, 1826—Pattie on the Lower Colorado in 
Canoes, 1827-28. 
A S the “sweet Afton “ of old gently flowing among its 
green braes compares with the fierce Colorado, so do 
those earnest padres who so faithfully tried to plant their cross 
in the waste places, as sketched in the chapter just closed with 
the martyrdom of Garces, compare with the new set of actors 
that now appear, as the development of this drama of the 
wilderness continues. The former fitted well into the strange 
scenery; they became a part of it; they fraternised with the 
various tribes native to the land, and all things together went 
forward with pictorial harmony. They were like a few mellow 
figures blended skilfully into the deep tones of an ancient can¬ 
vas. But now the turbulent spirit of the raging river itself per¬ 
vades the new-comers who march imperiously upon the mighty 
stage with the heavy tread of the conqueror, out of tune with 
the soft old melody; temporising with nothing; with a heed¬ 
less stroke, like the remorseless hand of Fate, obliterating all 
obstacles to their progress. Not theirs the desire to save na¬ 
tives from perdition ; rather to annihilate them speedily as use¬ 
less relics of a bygone time. They are savages among savages; 
quite as interesting and delightful in their way as the older oc¬ 
cupants of the soil. It became in reality the conflict of the old 
and the new, and then was set the standard by which the na¬ 
tive tribes have ever since been measured and dealt with. 
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