246 
The Colorado River 
thousand feet high, which extended far in both directions 
athwart our course. It was the edge of the Uinta Mountains. 
At its very foot the river seemed to stop. It could be seen 
neither to right nor to left, nor could any opening be detected 
in the mountain, except high up where Powell pointed out to 
us a bare patch of brilliant red rocks saying it was the top of 
Flaming Gorge, the beginning of the canyon series. Passing 
the mouth of Henry’s Fork on the right, the river doubled 
suddenly to the left between two low cliffs, where there was a 
small whirlpool, which I take to be the “Green River Suck” 
of Ashley and the early trappers. Around another point we 
swept and found ourselves floating on the tranquil waters of 
Flaming Gorge. A fine grove of deep green cottonwoods 
stood out on the left in contrast to the rough red rocks. 
There were moored the other boats, which on this occasion 
had preceded us, and the ever-faithful Andy was engaged in 
preparing dinner. The next and first real canyon was the 
one called Horseshoe, a short and beautiful gorge some sixteen 
hundred feet in depth, and containing rapid “Number One,” 
a very mild affair, but particularly noticeable because it is the 
first of the six hundred, great and small, we had the satisfac¬ 
tion of vanquishing in our war against the falling waters. We 
had already descended something over one hundred and fifty 
of the five thousand feet we expected to go down, but there 
had been only swift water at that stage of flood; nothing that, 
on the Colorado, would be considered a serious rapid. 
Every morning the cabins of the boats were packed like so 
many trunks. The blankets were rolled up and put in their 
rubber cases, all bags of supplies were securely tied and stowed 
away, in short, every article was placed in the cabins and the 
hatches firmly buttoned in place, with the canvas cover drawn 
snugly over the deck. Only a grand smash-up could injure 
these things. Nothing was left out but such instruments as 
were hourly needed, the guns, life-preservers, and a camp- 
kettle in each boat for bailing purposes. On each of two boats 
there was a topographer, whose duty was to sight the direction 
of every bend of the river and estimate the length of the 
stretch. Thompson, on his boat, also kept a similar record. 
