237 
A Trial Trip 
Bagley’s wharf, their ominous porpoise-like appearance gave 
me a peculiar sensation. I had expected rough-water, but this 
was the first understanding I had that the journey was to be 
more or less amphibian. On a day when the waves on Lake 
Michigan were running high we took them out for trial. The 
crews were filled out by Bagley’s men, our party not all being 
present, and with some reporters and a cargo of champagne 
and cigars our course was laid for the open sea. The action 
of the boats was all that could be desired, and, in the great 
billows it was so constant that our reportorial friends found 
The Boats of Powell’s Second Expedition on the Beach at Green River, Wyoming, 
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp. 
some difficulty in obtaining their share of the refreshments. 
We were satisfied that the boats could ride any sea, and they 
were accordingly placed on a car and sent by way of the 
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy and the Union Pacific rail¬ 
ways to Green River Station. These companies charged 
nothing for this service and also transported all the men and 
baggage on the same terms. On the 29th of April we alighted 
at Green River and found the boats already there. This place, 
when the railway was building, had been for a considerable 
time the terminus, and a town of respectable proportions had 
