A Canyon Voyage

F >> Frederick S. Dellenbaugh >> A Canyon Voyage

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By F. S. DELLENBAUGH

The North-Americans of Yesterday

A Comparative Study of North-American Indian Life, Customs,
and Products, on the Theory of the Ethnic Unity of the Race.
8º. Fully illustrated. net, $4.00

The Romance of the Colorado River

A Complete Account of the Discovery and of the Explorations
from 1540 to the Present Time, with Particular Reference to
the Two Voyages of Powell through the Line of the Great
Canyons.

8º. Fully illustrated. net, $3.50

Breaking the Wilderness

The Story of the Conquest of the Far West, from the Wanderings
of Cabeza de Vaca to the First Descent of the Colorado by
Powell, and the Completion of the Union Pacific Railway, with
Particular Account of the Exploits of Trappers and Traders.

8º. Fully illustrated. net, $3.50

A Canyon Voyage

The Narrative of the Second Powell Expedition down the
Green-Colorado River from Wyoming, and the Explorations on
Land in the Years 1871 and 1872.

8º. Fully illustrated. net, $3.50

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON

[Illustration: The Grand Canyon

Looking south from the Kaibab Plateau, North Rim, near the head of
Bright Angel Creek, the canyon of which is seen in the foreground. The
San Francisco Mountains are in the distance. On the South Rim to the
right, out of the picture, is the location of the Hotel Tovar. The
width of the canyon at the top in this region is about twelve miles,
with a depth of near 6000 feet on the north side, and over 5000 on the
south. Total length, including Marble Canyon division, 283 miles.

Sketch made in colour on the spot by F. S. Dellenbaugh, June 4, 1903.]

A Canyon Voyage

The Narrative of the Second Powell Expedition down the Green-Colorado
River from Wyoming, and the Explorations on
Land, in the Years 1871 and 1872

By

Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
Artist and Assistant Topographer of the Expedition

"Come on, sir; here's the place. Stand still. How fearful
And dizzy 't is to cast one's eyes so low!"
_King Lear._

With Fifty Illustrations

G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1908

Copyright, 1908
by
FREDERICK S. DELLENBAUGH

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

TO
H. O. D.
MY COMPANION
ON THE
VOYAGE OF LIFE.

PREFACE

This volume presents the narrative, from my point of view, of an
important government expedition of nearly forty years ago: an expedition
which, strangely enough, never before has been fully treated. In fact in
all these years it never has been written about by any one besides
myself, barring a few letters in 1871 from Clement Powell, through his
brother, to the Chicago _Tribune_, and an extremely brief mention by
Major Powell, its organiser and leader, in a pamphlet entitled _Report
of Explorations in 1873 of the Colorado of the West and its
Tributaries_ (Government Printing Office, 1874). In my history, _The
Romance of the Colorado River_, of which this is practically volume two,
I gave a synopsis, and in several other places I have written in
condensed form concerning it; but the present work for the first time
gives the full story.

In 1869, Major Powell made his famous first descent of the
Green-Colorado River from the Union Pacific Railway in Wyoming to the
mouth of the Virgin River in Nevada, a feat of exploration unsurpassed,
perhaps unequalled, on this continent. Several of the upper canyons had
been before penetrated, but a vague mystery hung over even these, and
there was no recorded, or even oral, knowledge on the subject when
Powell turned his attention to it. There was a tale that a man named
James White had previously descended through the great canyons, but Mr.
Robert Brewster Stanton has thoroughly investigated this and definitely
proven it to be incorrect. Powell's first expedition was designed as an
exploration to cover ten months, part of which was to be in winter
quarters; circumstances reduced the time to three. It was also more or
less of a private venture with which the Government of the United States
had nothing to do. It became necessary to supplement it then by a second
expedition, herein described, which Congress supported, with, of course,
Major Powell in charge, and nominally under the direction of the
Smithsonian Institution, of which Professor Henry was then Secretary and
Professor Baird his able coadjutor, the latter taking the deeper
interest in this venture. Powell reported through the Smithsonian; that
was about all there was in the way of control.

The material collected by this expedition was utilised in preparing the
well-known report by Major Powell, _Exploration of the Colorado River of
the West, 1869-1872_, the second party having continued the work
inaugurated by the first and enlarged upon it, but receiving no credit
in that or any other government publication.

As pointed out in the text of this work, a vast portion of the basin of
the Colorado was a complete blank on the maps until our party
accomplished its end; even some of the most general features were before
that not understood. No canyon above the Virgin had been recorded
topographically, and the physiography was unknown. The record of the
first expedition is one of heroic daring, and it demonstrated that the
river could be descended throughout in boats, but unforeseen obstacles
prevented the acquisition of scientific data which ours was specially
planned to secure in the light of the former developments. The map, the
hypsometric and hydrographic data, the geologic sections and geologic
data, the photographs, ethnography, and indeed about all the first
information concerning the drainage area in question were the results of
the labours of the second expedition. Owing, perhaps, to Major Powell's
considering our work merely in the line of routine survey, no special
record, as mentioned above, was ever made of the second expedition. We
inherited from the first a plat of the river itself down to the mouth of
the Paria, which, according to Professor Thompson, was fairly good, but
we did not rely on it; from the mouth of the Paria to Catastrophe Rapid,
the point below Diamond Creek where the Howlands and Dunn separated from
the boat party, a plat that was broken in places. This was approximately
correct as far as Kanab Canyon, though not so good as above the Paria.
From the Kanab Canyon, where we ended our work with the boats, to the
mouth of the Virgin we received fragments of the course owing to the
mistake made in dividing the notes at the time of the separation; a
division decided on because each group thought the other doomed to
destruction. Thus Howland took out with him parts of both copies which
were destroyed by the Shewits when they killed the men. After Howland's
departure, the Major ran in the course to the mouth of the Virgin.
Professor Thompson was confident that our plat of the course, which is
the basis of all maps to-day, is accurate from the Union Pacific Railway
in Wyoming to Catastrophe Rapid, for though we left the river at the
Kanab Canyon, we were able by our previous and subsequent work on land
to verify the data of the first party and to fill in the blanks, but he
felt ready to accept corrections below Catastrophe Rapid to the Virgin.

For a list of the canyons, height of walls, etc., I must refer to the
appendix in my previous volume. While two names cover the canyon from
the Paria to the Grand Wash, the gorge is practically one with a total
length of 283 miles. I have not tried to give geological data for these
are easily obtainable in the reports of Powell, Dutton, Gilbert,
Walcott, and others, and I lacked space to introduce them properly. In
fact I have endeavored to avoid a mere perfunctory record, full of data
well stated elsewhere. While trying to give our daily experiences and
actual camp life in a readable way, I have adhered to accuracy of
statement. I believe that any one who wishes to do so can use this book
as a guide for navigating the river as far as Kanab Canyon. I have not
relied on memory but have kept for continual reference at my elbow not
only my own careful diary of the journey, but also the manuscript diary
of Professor Thompson, and a typewritten copy of the diary of John F.
Steward as far as the day of his departure from our camp. I have also
consulted letters that I wrote home at the time and to the Buffalo
_Express_, and a detailed draft of events up to the autumn of 1871 which
I prepared in 1877 when all was still vividly fresh in mind. In
addition, I possess a great many letters which Professor Thompson wrote
me up to within a few weeks of his death (July, 1906), often in reply to
questions I raised on various points that were not clear to me. Each
member of the party I have called by the name familiarly used on the
expedition, for naturally there was no "Mistering" on a trip of this
kind. Powell was known throughout the length and breadth of the Rocky
Mountain Region as "the Major," while Thompson was quite as widely known
as "Prof." Some of the geographic terms, like Dirty Devil River, Unknown
Mountains, etc., were those employed before permanent names were
adopted. In my other books I have used the term Amerind for American
Indian, and I intend to continue its use, but in the pages of this
volume, being a narrative, and the word not having been used or known to
us at that time, it did not seem exactly appropriate.

Some readers may wish to provide themselves with full maps of the course
of the river, and I will state that the U. S. Geological Survey has
published map-sheets each 20 by 16-1/2 inches, of the whole course of
the Green-Colorado. These sheets are sent to any person desiring them
who remits the price, five cents the sheet, by post-office money order
addressed: "Director U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.," with
the names of the sheets wanted. The names of the seventeen sheets
covering the canyoned part are: Green River(?), Ashley, Yampa,(?) Price
River, East Tavaputs, San Rafael, La Sal, Henry Mountains, Escalante,
Echo Cliffs, San Francisco Mountains, Kaibab, Mount Trumbull, Chino,
Diamond Creek, St. Thomas, and Camp Mohave.

Several parties have tried the descent through the canyons since our
voyage. Some have been successful, some sadly disastrous. The river is
always a new problem in its details, though the general conditions
remain the same.

Major Powell was a man of prompt decision, with a cool, comprehensive,
far-reaching mind. He was genial, kind, never despondent, always
resolute, resourceful, masterful, determined to overcome every obstacle.
To him alone belongs the credit for solving the problem of the great
canyons, and to Professor Thompson that for conducting most successfully
the geographic side of the work under difficulties that can hardly be
appreciated in these days when survey work is an accepted item of
government expenditure and Congress treats it with an open hand.

I am indebted to Mr. Robert Brewster Stanton, who completed the Brown
Expedition triumphantly, for valuable information and photographs and
for many interesting conversations comparing his experiences with ours;
to the Geological Survey for maps and for the privilege of using
photographs from negatives in the possession of the Survey; and to Mr.
John K. Hillers for making most of the prints used in illustrating this
book. My thanks are due to Brigadier-General Mackenzie, U. S. Engineers,
for copies of rare early maps of the region embraced in our operations,
now nearly impossible to obtain.

In 1902 when I informed Major Powell that I was preparing my history of
the Colorado River, he said he hoped that I would put on record the
second trip and the men who were members of that expedition, which I
accordingly did. He never ceased to take a lively interest in my
affairs, and the year before he wrote me: "I always delight in your
successes and your prosperity, and I ever cherish the memory of those
days when we were on the great river together." Professor Thompson only
a month before he died sent me a letter in which he said: "You are heir
to all the Colorado material and I am getting what I have together."
These sentiments cause me to feel like an authorised and rightful
historian of the expedition with which I was so intimately connected,
and I sincerely hope that I have performed my task in a way that would
meet the approval of my old leader and his colleague, as well as of my
other comrades. One learns microscopically the inner nature of his
companions on a trip of this kind, and I am happy to avow that a finer
set of men could not have been selected for the trying work which they
accomplished with unremitting good-nature and devotion, without
pecuniary reward. Professor Thompson possessed invaluable qualities for
this expedition: rare balance of mind, great cheerfulness, and a sunny
way of looking on difficulties and obstacles as if they were mere
problems in chess. His foresight and resourcefulness were phenomenal,
and no threatening situation found him without some good remedy.

Some of the illustrations in Powell's _Report_ are misleading, and I
feel it my duty to specially note three of them. The one opposite page 8
shows boats of the type we used on the second voyage with a middle
cabin. The boats of the first expedition had cabins only at the bow and
stern. The picture of the wreck at Disaster Falls, opposite page 27, is
nothing like the place, and the one opposite page 82 gives boats in
impossible positions, steered by rudders. A rudder is useless on such a
river. Long steering sweeps were used.

Time's changes have come to pass. You may now go by a luxurious Santa Fe
train direct to the south rim of the greatest chasm of the series, the
Grand Canyon, and stop there in a beautiful hotel surrounded by every
comfort, yet when we were making the first map no railway short of
Denver existed and there was but one line across the Rocky Mountains.
Perhaps before many more years are gone we will see Mr. Stanton's
Denver, Colorado Canyon, and Pacific Railway accomplished through the
canyons, and if I then have not "crossed to Killiloo" I will surely
claim a free pass over the entire length in defiance of all
commerce-regulating laws.

Frederick S. Dellenbaugh.
Cragsmoor,
August, 1908

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

A River Entrapped--Acquaintance not Desired--Ives Explores the
Lower Reaches--Powell the Conqueror--Reason for a Second
Descent--Congressional Appropriation--Preparation--The Three
Boats--The Mighty Wilderness--Ready for the Start 1

CHAPTER II

Into the Wilderness--The Order of Sailing--Tobacco for the
Indians Comes Handy--A Lone Fisherman and Some Trappers--Jack
Catches Strange Fish--The Snow-clad Uintas in View--A Larder
Full of Venison--Entrance into Flaming Gorge 9

CHAPTER III

The First Rapid--Horseshoe and Kingfisher Canyons--A Rough
Entrance into Red Canyon--Capsize of the _Nell_--The Grave of
a Bold Navigator--Discovery of a White Man's Camp--Good-bye to
Frank--At the Gate of Lodore 19

CHAPTER IV

Locked in the Chasm of Lodore--Rapids with Railway Speed--A
Treacherous Approach to Falls of Disaster--Numerous Loadings
and Unloadings--Over the Rocks with Cargoes--Library Increased
by _Putnam's Magazine_--Triplet Falls and Hell's Half
Mile--Fire in Camp--Exit from Turmoil to Peace 34

CHAPTER V

A Remarkable Echo--Up the Canyon of the Yampa--Steward and
Clem Try a Moonlight Swim--Whirlpool Canyon and Mountain
Sheep--A Grand Fourth-of-July Dinner--A Rainbow-Coloured
Valley--The Major Proceeds in Advance--A Split Mountain with
Rapids a Plenty--Enter a Big Valley at Last 49

CHAPTER VI

A Lookout for Redskins--The River a Sluggard--A
Gunshot!--Someone Comes!--The Tale of a Mysterious Light--How,
How! from Douglas Boy--At the Mouth of the Uinta--A Tramp to
Goblin City and a Trip down White River on a Raft--A
Waggon-load of Supplies from Salt Lake by Way of Uinta
Agency--The Major Goes Out to Find a Way In 61

CHAPTER VII

On to Battle--A Concert Repertory--Good-bye to Douglas
Boy--The Busy, Busy Beaver--In the Embrace of the Rocks Once
More--A Relic of the Cliff-Dwellers--Low Water and Hard
Work--A Canyon of Desolation--Log-cabin Cliff--Rapids and
Rapids and Rapids--A Horse, whose Horse?--Through Gray Canyon
to the Rendezvous 72

CHAPTER VIII

Return of the Major--Some Mormon Friends--No Rations at the
Elusive Dirty Devil--Captain Gunnison's Crossing--An All-night
Vigil for Cap. and Clem--The Land of a Thousand Cascades--A
Bend Like a Bow-knot and a Canyon Labyrinthian--Cleaving an
Unknown World--Signs of the Oldest Inhabitant--Through the
Canyon of Stillwater to the Jaws of the Colorado 94

CHAPTER IX

A Wonderland of Crags and Pinnacles--Poverty Rations--Fast and
Furious Plunging Waters--Boulders Boom along the
Bottom--Chilly Days and Shivering--A Wild Tumultuous Chasm--A
Bad Passage by Twilight and a Tornado With a Picture
Moonrise--Out of One Canyon into Another--At the Mouth of the
Dirty Devil at Last 115

CHAPTER X

The _Canonita_ Left Behind--Shinumo Ruins--Troublesome Ledges
in the River--Alcoves and Amphitheatres--The Mouth of the San
Juan--Starvation Days and a Lookout for Rations--El Vado de
Los Padres--White Men Again--Given up for Lost--Navajo
Visitors--Peaks with a Great Echo--At the Mouth of the Paria
135

CHAPTER XI

More Navajos Arrive with Old Jacob--The Lost Pack-train and a
Famished Guide--From Boat to Broncho--On to Kanab--Winter
Arrives--Wolf Neighbours too Intimate--Preparing for Geodetic
Work--Over the Kaibab to Eight-mile Spring--A Frontier
Town--Camp below Kanab--A Mormon Christmas Dance 152

CHAPTER XII

Reconnoitring and Triangulating--A Pai Ute New Year's
Dance--The Major Goes to Salt Lake--Snowy Days on the
Kaibab--At Pipe Spring--Gold Hunters to the Colorado--Visits
to the Uinkaret County--Craters and Lava--Finding the
Hurricane Ledge--An Interview with a Cougar--Back to Kanab
174

CHAPTER XIII

Off for the Unknown Country--A Lonely Grave--Climbing a
Hog-back to a Green Grassy Valley--Surprising a Ute
Camp--Towich-a-tick-a-boo--Following a Blind Trail--The
Unknown Mountains Become Known--Down a Deep Canyon--To the
Paria with the _Canonita_--John D. Lee and Lonely Dell 195

CHAPTER XIV

A Company of Seven--The _Nellie Powell_ Abandoned--Into Marble
Canyon--Vasey's Paradise--A Furious Descent to the Little
Colorado--A Mighty Fall in the Dismal Granite Gorge--Caught in
a Trap--Upside Down--A Deep Plunge and a Predicament--At the
Mouth of the Kanab 215

CHAPTER XV

A New Departure--Farewell to the Boats--Out to the World
Through Kanab Canyon--A Midnight Ride--At the Innupin
Picavu--Prof. Reconnoitres the Shewits Country--Winter
Quarters in Kanab--Making the Preliminary Map--Another New
Year--Across a High Divide in a Snow-storm--Down the Sevier in
Winter--The Last Summons 242

Index 269

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING
PAGE

The Grand Canyon _Frontispiece_

Looking south from the Kaibab Plateau, North Rim, near the
head of Bright Angel Creek, the canyon of which is seen in the
foreground. The San Francisco Mountains are in the distance.
On the South Rim to the right, out of the picture, is the
location of the Hotel Tovar. The width of the canyon at top in
this region is about twelve miles, with a depth of near 6000
feet on the north side, and over 5000 on the south. Total
length, including Marble Canyon division, 283 miles.

Sketch made in colour on the spot by F. S. Dellenbaugh, June
4, 1903.

The Toll 1

Unidentified skeleton found April, 1906, by C. C. Spaulding in
the Grand Canyon 300 feet above the river, some miles below
Bright Angel trail. There were daily papers in the pocket of
the clothes of the early spring of 1900.

Photograph by Kolb Bros. 1906, Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Red Canyon 6

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Before the Start at Green River City, Wyoming 9

The dark box open. Andy, Clem, Beaman, Prof. Steward, Cap.,
Frank, Jones, Jack, the Major, Fred, _Canonita_, _Emma Dean_,
_Nellie Powell_.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Flaming Gorge 17

The beginning of the Colorado River Canyons, N. E. Utah.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Horseshoe Canyon 21

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Red Canyon 25

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Red Canyon 28

Ashley Falls from below.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

In Red Canyon Park 29

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

The Head of the Canyon of Lodore 34

Just inside the gate.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Canyon of Lodore 37

Low water.

Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1874.

The Heart of Lodore 40

F. S. Dellenbaugh.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Canyon of Lodore--Dunn's Cliff 43

2800 feet above river.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Canyon of Lodore 44

Jones, Hillers, Dellenbaugh.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Echo Park 49

Mouth of Yampa River in foreground, Green River on right.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Whirlpool Canyon 54

Mouth of Bishop Creek--Fourth of July camp.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Split Mountain Canyon 59

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Canyon of Desolation 81

Steward.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Colorado River White Salmon 98

Photograph by the Denver, Colorado Canyon and Pacific Railway
Survey under Robert Brewster Stanton, 1889.

Dellenbaugh Butte 102

Near mouth of San Rafael.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Labyrinth Canyon--Bowknot Bend 108

The great loop is behind the spectator.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Stillwater Canyon 110

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Cataract Canyon 119

Clement Powell.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Cataract Canyon 128

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Narrow Canyon 133

Photograph by Best Expedition, 1891.

Mouth of the Fremont River (Dirty Devil) 135

Photograph by the Brown Expedition, 1889.

Glen Canyon 140

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

Looking Down Upon Glen Canyon 142

Cut through homogeneous sandstone.

Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.

Tom 147

A typical Navajo. Tom became educated and no longer looked
like an Indian.

Photograph by Wittick.

Glen Canyon 149

Sentinel Rock--about 300 feet high.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.

The Grand Canyon 162

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