298 
The Colorado River 
convey the impression that he was the first to traverse this 
portion, it is an unwarranted assumption, and must be em¬ 
phatically condemned. Powell had descended as far as the 
Virgen, and thus Wheeler was simply following his course 
backwards. 
Passing through another small unnamed canyon, to which he 
applied the term Iceberg on account of the contour of its north¬ 
ern walls, he finally, on October 3d, came to the Grand Wash. 
On the next day the Ute Crossing near the beginning of the 
Grand Canyon was reached. Two or three days before this he 
could see what seemed to be a high range of mountains appa¬ 
rently perpendicular, which was, as he surmised, the foot of the 
Grand Canyon. Progress was now very slow, for the river was 
swifter than it had been below. Perceiving the impossibility of 
taking such a craft farther, the barge was left behind at the Cross¬ 
ing, to form a base of supplies in case the difficulties of ascending 
necessitated falling back. Relief parties from the rendezvous 
at Truxton Springs were to go, one to the mouth of the can¬ 
yon and the other to the mouth of Diamond Creek, about 
thirty-five miles distant from the Springs, but the situation 
was complicated by these parties having no orders to wait at 
these points. Putting all of his land force who were at the 
canyon mouth on the south side of “this turbid, unmanageable 
stream,” and picking three crews of nine persons each, with 
rations for fifteen days, he was ready to go ahead with this 
unwise enterprise, “imagining,” as he admits, “but few of the 
many difficulties that were to be met.” It was on October 7th 
that they entered the mouth of the great gorge. At length 
“a full view, magnificent beyond description, of the walls of 
the Grand Canyon ” was had, and they were fairly on the road; 
as rough a road, going down, as one can well imagine, but go¬ 
ing up in the teeth of the torrential rapids, hemmed in by close 
granite walls, it is about as near the impossible as anything that 
is not absolutely so could be. Wheeler certainly deserves 
credit for one thing in this haphazard affair, and that is for a 
splendid courage and abundant nerve, in which he was well 
supported by Gilbert’s cool fortitude and indomitable spirit. 
Once when I was discussing this journey with Stanton, who, 
