239 
Andy’s Skill 
to give them the finishing touches of preparation, like attach¬ 
ing canvas covers to the cabins, and so forth. Nearby, amongst 
the willows, we established our first camp—a place of real 
luxury, for Mr. Field, who had an outfitting house here, lent 
us a table and two benches. Andy set up some crotches and 
a cross-bar, to hang his kettles on, and with a cast-iron bake 
oven—one of the kind like a flat, iron pot, in which, after it is 
stood upon a bed of hot coals, the bread is placed, and then 
the cast-iron cover is put on, and laden with hot coals—began 
his experiments in cookery, for it was a new art to him. In the 
beginning he was rather too liberal with his salaratus, but the 
product gave us the pleasant delusion of having reached a land 
of gold nuggets. Andy soon improved, and we learned to ap¬ 
preciate his rare skill to such an extent that the moment he 
took his old hat and with it lifted the coffee-pot off the fire, 
and then placed beside it the bread and bacon with the pleas¬ 
ing remark: “Well, now, go fur it, boys!” we lost not a 
moment in accepting the invitation. As bread must be made 
for every meal, Andy’s was no easy berth, for his work on 
the river was the same as that of the rest of us. It was only 
when we were engaged in a portage near dinner or supper time 
that he was permitted to devote his entire attention to the 
preparation of our elaborate meals. Bean soup, such as Andy 
made, is one of the most delicious things in the world; and 
Delmonico could not hold a candle to his coffee. 
Our three boats bore the names Emma Dean, after Mrs. 
Powell, Nellie Powell, after Major Powell’s sister, Mrs. Thomp¬ 
son, and Canonita. The men and their assignment to the 
boats were these: J. W. Powell, S. V. Jones, J. K. Hillers, 
F. S. Dellenbaugh— th.Q Emma Dean; A. H. Thompson, J. 
F. Steward, F. M. Bishop, F. C. A. Richardson—the Nellie 
Powell; E. O, Beaman, W. C. Powell, A. J. Hattan—the 
Canonita, 
Jones had been a teacher in Illinois. He went as a topo¬ 
grapher. Hillers was a soldier in the Civil War, and was at 
first not specially assigned, but later, when the photographer 
gave out, he was directed to assist in that branch, and eventu¬ 
ally became head photographer, a position he afterwards held 
