I lO 
The Colorado River 
the current in order to trap the canyon, the length of which he 
did not know and underestimated. A purpose of reaching St. 
Louis by this route has been attributed to Ashley, but as Hunt 
and others some years before understood this to be a stream on 
whose lower waters Spaniards lived, Ashley doubtless had the 
same information, and from that he would have knov/n that it 
was no practicable route to St. Louis. Beckwourth, who relates 
the story of the trip,* makes no suggestion of any far-off des¬ 
tination, nor does he say they took their packs along, as they 
Flaming Gorge, Green River. Beginning of the Canyons. 
Picture taken iust inside the entrance. Walls 1300 feet. 
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp. 
would have done if going to a commercial centre. It seems 
to have been purely a trapping expedition, and was probably 
the very first attempt to navigate Green River. They took 
along few provisions, expecting to find beaver plentiful to the 
end of the canyon, but after a few miles the beaver were ab- 
* Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth^ edited by T. D. Bonner. 
Beckwourth was always called “ Beckwith ” in the mountains, but this was probably 
only a perversion of the original, though Chittenden seems to think he only as¬ 
sumed the former spelling on publishing his book. 
