CANON OF THE COLORADO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3031, 17 April 1912, Page 84

CANON OF THE COLORADO.

(By Day Allen Willey.) The quest for riches has led men to risk their lives in many hazardous feats; but it has remained for two reckless Americans to perform an exploit which few would think of attempting, because of the hardship and danger incurred. To seek gold in that great gap in the earth known as the Canon of the Colorado River is to defy death itself, for this strange watercourse has out into the world to the depth of thousands of feet in its passage through the American desert. For hundreds of miles it passes through a region so barren that it is unfit for habitation, so that any one who goes into it must take with him an ample supply of food and water if he would come out alive. Should he succeed in climbing down the sides of the canon, he comes to a turbid torrent rushing along with tjie force of Niagara, for in many places the ranids of the Colorado are so long and their fall so great that they exceed the famous whirlpols of Niagara in size. Men have gone through this enormous crevice in the earth; but not until the gold-hunters dared to do it has a boat floated the entire length of the gorges. Major Powell, one of the pioneer adventurers, tried to go through with four boats and eight men; but only by taking a boat around the rapids did; he succeed, after three of his little fledr had been wrecked. That was 40 years ago. Since then four other parties have defied the mighty river, but only one of them has navigated the canon for its entire length—the fortune-hunters who took their lives in their hands in search of gold, and made a voyage of 752 miles, perhaps the most perilous ever attempted by men. The canon of the Colorado is really a series of canons.. From the place where its largest tributary, the Green River, flows into it, to far-away • California, where its waters issue from their rockwall and flow out over the Yuma desert, the great river passes through no less than five clefts in the earth’s surface. Their walls rise from the foaming, swirling waters to heights ranging from 3000 ft to 6000 ft. The Grand Canon, which is the

name sometimes improperly, given to all of them, deserves its title, for it is ZII miles long. The Marble Canon, so called because much of its walls are" composed of marble, borders the river for 66 miles. Dante might well have located his Inferno here, for the riveT is lined with toweling cliffs for a distance of four hindred miles, in many places the rock •walls rising more than 1000 ft almost vertically, their surfaces so steep that not even a mountain goat could get a foothold, and it would be impossible to find even a ledge where a boat oould land. Russell and Monett, and another miner named Loper, were the adventurers. They arranged for their trip by securing steel boats, one for each. The boats were 16ft long, and decked over (except m the centre) with sheets of steel fastened by means of a row of small bolts along the gunwale. These covers, or decks, reached from each end to two partitions placed near the centre of the boats, thus leaving only an open compartment 3£ft long for the passenger. The whole of She food was piaoed under cover, and lashed securely to prevent shifting. The boats were also provided with airtight compartments at each end and under the seat, containing sufficient air to float both boat and load should all the other compartments be full of water. They named their boats the Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The start was made at a little town on the Green River, in the State of UtahFour days later the trio had reached the beginning of the/Colorado, having covered the 120 miles in less than five days. From, this point to Hite. a small town in southcast Utah, the first rapids were encountered in the 41 miles of Cataract Canon. Here Loper's boat met with disaster in he rough waer, dashing on a rock in the midst of one of the rapids and rending its side. They managed to reach Hite, where Loper decided to give up on account of his -a recked boat, and Russell and Monett were left to continue. Friday, the 13th of the month, had no terrors for the intrepid pair, and they started off down the river on the morning of that day, with the Marble Canon acting as an introduction to the Grand Canon below. In seven days they passed down the roar.ng torrent, with the perpendicular walls of Marble Canon towering up on either side to an average height of 3000 ft, and came tfcjtjugh safely, although their experience was indeed thrilling, for in one part of the canon there were 67 rapids in a series, some of which have falls of from 16ft to 20ft. Entering the Grand Canon, for the first 16 miles below the entrance of the Little Colorado and the beginning of the big canon they found the water comparatively quiet; but from this point on their way was threatened by the most dangerous falls they had met thus far. The good luck which had attended them from the start, however, still continued, and they managed to force their way, without damage to either boat, down over the almost continuous cataracts for five long days. Christmas Day of 1907 found Russell and Monett huddled over a fire of driftwood on a strip of sand just wide enough to beach their boats. They were in the heart of the Grand Canon, hemimed in on every side by cliffs of black grasite. Coming through miles and miles of rapids, the river, as far as thev could see below them, was covered with breakers, from which the spray dashed high. To remain where they were meant starvation, so they again launched their craft. Immediately below this camping place, and continuing for the succeeding 10 miles, the river dashes through a stretch of water, the most perilous section of which is known as the Sockdologer Rapid. To maJae matters worse, Russell found it impossible to follow his usual custom of "picking a trail" through these rapids. When possible, he would climb along the precipitous sides of the canon beside each cataract, leaving Monett above the rough water in charge of the two boats. From this point Russell could pick out the most dangerous places through the rapids, and "chart" a course accordingly. But in these 10 miles the granite walls are sheer and smooth for over 1000 ft of their rise upwards. Russell could find no foothold, and the men faced the necessity of "shooting' unknown waters. As always, Russell led the way in his boat, swinging it into the boiling current stern first —his own method of taking each cataract—and . making his frail craft respond to his will when possible by a forward pull on one or the other" of his oars. After the first minute the cockpit in which each man sat, and which was shut off from the rest of the boat by watertight compartments, was filled to the gunwale with icy water, in which the oarsmen were soaked. Hundreds of times waves totally submerged them, the little boats staggering out from under the terrific weight of the water only to plunge into another broken wave. Russell heard his companion cry out in terror from behind. Before he could turn to see the cause of the cry he was driven into smooth watei\ Mooring his boat at the foot of the rapids as quicklv as possible, he half-climbed, half-waded along the shore of the river, and made his way, back. Monett, with his boat wedged tightly between two jagged rocks, a foot below" the sweeping water, was hanging desperately to the side of the little craft, his body straightened out horizontally by the Tush of the water about him. The boat was completely wrecked. But when Russell threw the rope to his companion he was astounded to see him carefully work his way closer to the boat, and begin to tie its contents securely to the one means of saving his own life. Against the roar of the rapids it was useless for Russell to yell to his comrade to let the food go and save himself. Four times Monett let Russell haul sides of bacon and sacks of beans through the 30ft of rushing waters between him and the shore before he finally caught the rope himself and allowed Russell to drag him to safety. He had been in the water more than 20 minutes, and

was nearly exhausted when Russell helped him to his feet. This accident left but one boat available, and as it was decked over with the exception of an opening just large enough for one man, it seemed as if Russell would have to continue alone. But a novel idea occurred to him to carry his comrade on the covered deck of the remaining craft. This was finally decided upon, and the trip resumed. They succeded in reaching another stretch of smooth water at the foot of what is known as Bright Angel trail, one of the few pathways from the rim to the bottom of the canon. Here, while a trail-party of tourists were eating their luncheon on the river shore, they saw two men in a little row-boat swing out of the rapids 200 yards up the river and row leisurely towards them. In the 30 years that tourists have visited the bottom of the canon at this point it is safe to assert that not one ever sa\* a sight like this. This was the only time Monett and Russell came out "of this under-world during the four months they remained in the canons. They stayed three days at a tourist-house on the rim; then, descending, resumed their voyage, one man being carried on the boat-deck. Although another series of dangerous rapids were encountered below Bright Angel, they managed to get through without a wreck and finally ended their journey at the little town "of Xeedles in California, 120 days after leaving the shores of Green River. The way in which they performed the seemingly impossible feat of navigating this great mountain torrent is well explained in Russell's account of their experiences in some of the canons. Speaking of the Cataract Canon, he says: "The rapids presented a terrifying appearance, the rushing, Toaring water, beaten into foam as it plunged over the rocks, rolling in waves five to ten feet high at the foot, stretching away into a tail of vicious, white-capped waves for 100 yards and more before they became quieter, and ended in swirling whirlpools. Hardly does the water quiet down until it takes another plunge, so close are the rapids together. "It was to be my first experience in shooting rapids. I rowed out, taking the centre or tongue of the current. I seemed to go very slowly until very near the brink, when my speed was suddenly accelerated, and over I plunged, the boat taking a stiff angle downward as she went over, only to rise abruptly as she climbed the next one; then another pitch downward for the next, but this she did not climb. This wave combed back fiercely, and the rear end of the boat plunged under. The huge wave deluged the boat, almost taking my breath away as it swept clear across the boat; but she rode nicely, and was out on top of the next one easily, and we were soon through the worst part, and pulled into the eddy. "Our method of running rapids was exactly the opposite of that of most boatmen. We shot in stern first—that is, with the stern down-stream; thus the oarsman is facing his course. When a Tock is to be missed, the oarsman simply turns his bow away from it and pulls up-stream; and the current, now travelling much faster than the boat, whips it quickly away from the rock or obstruction. In this manner a boat can be guided back and forth across current, going much slower than the water itself, and rocks can be easily dodged."