Henry Beam Piper - "Space Viking"

A. F. Winnington Ingram - "The After glow of a Great Reign"

Matilda Betham Edwards - "East of Paris"

Frederic Bastiat - "Sophisms of the Protectionists"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

A Canyon Voyage

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




From Havasupai Point, South Rim, showing Inner Gorge.

From a sketch in colour by F. S. Dellenbaugh, 1907.


The Grand Canyon 168

From South Rim near Bright Angel Creek.


The Grand Canyon 174

From part way down south side above Bright Angel Creek.


Winsor Castle, the Defensive House at Pipe Springs 186

Photograph by H. Arthur Pomroy, 1903.


Little Zion Valley, or the Mookoontoweap, Upper Virgin River 186

Photograph by H. Arthur Pomroy, 1903.


In the Unknown Country 195

Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.


Navajo Mountain From Near Kaiparowits Peak 201

Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.


Tantalus Creek 206

Tributary of Fremont River.

Photograph by J. K. Hillers.


Example of Lakes on the Aquarius Plateau 211

Photograph by J. K. Hillers.


The Grand Canyon 215

Near mouth of Shinumo Creek. The river is in flood and the
water is "colorado."

Sketch made in colour on the spot by F. S. Dellenbaugh, July
26, 1907.


Marble Canyon 219

Thompson.

Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.


Canyon of the Little Colorado 222

Photograph by C. Barthelmess.


The Grand Canyon 224

From just below the Little Colorado.

Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.


The Grand Canyon 227

Running the Sockdologer.

From a sketch afterwards by F. S. Dellenbaugh.


The Grand Canyon 232

From top of Granite, south side near Bright Angel Creek.


The Grand Canyon 238

Character of river in rapids.

Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh, 1907.


The Grand Canyon 242

At a rapid--low water.


The Grand Canyon 248

At the bottom near foot of Bass Trail.


The Grand Canyon 254

From north side near foot of Toroweap Valley, Uinkaret
District.

Photograph by J. K. Hillers.


The Grand Canyon 258

Storm effect from South Rim.




MAPS


A.
Map by the U. S. War Department, 1868. Supplied by the
courtesy of General Mackenzie, U. S. A., showing the knowledge
of the Colorado River basin just before Major Powell began
operations. The topography above the junction of the Green and
Grand is largely pictorial and approximate. The white space
from the San Rafael to the mouth of the Virgin is the unknown
country referred to in this volume which was investigated in
1871-72-73. Preliminary maps B, C, and D at pages 244-46, and
207 respectively, partly give the results of the work which
filled in this area. 95

B.
Preliminary map of a portion of the southern part of the
unknown country indicated by blank space on Map A, at page 95,
showing the Hurricane Ledge, Uinkaret and Shewits Mountains
and the course of the Grand Canyon from the mouth of Kanab
Canyon to the Grand Wash. The Howlands and Dunn left the first
expedition at Catastrophe Rapid at the sharp bend a few miles
below the intersection of the river and longitude 113 deg. 30',
climbed out to the north and were killed near Mt. Dellenbaugh.
244

C.
Preliminary map of a portion of the central part of the
unknown country indicated by the blank space on Map A, at page
95, showing the Kaibab Plateau, mouth of the Paria, Echo
Peaks, House Rock Valley and the course of part of Glen Canyon
and of Marble Canyon and the Grand Canyon to the mouth of the
Kanab Canyon. El Vado is at the western intersection of the
37th parallel and the Colorado River, and Kanab is in the
upper left-hand corner of the map--just above the 37th
parallel which is the boundary between Utah and Arizona. The
words "Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles" near El
Vado were added in Washington and are incorrect. The old
Spanish trail crossed at Gunnison Crossing far north of this
point which was barely known before 1858. 246

D.
Preliminary map of a portion of the northern part of the
unknown country indicated by the blank space on Map A, at page
95, showing the course of part of Glen Canyon, the mouth of
the Fremont (Dirty Devil) River, the Henry (Unknown)
Mountains, and the trail of the first known party of white men
to cross this area. The Escalante River which was mistaken for
the Dirty Devil enters the Colorado just above the first
letter "o" of Colorado at the bottom of the map. The Dirty
Devil enters from the north at the upper right-hand side.
207

E.
Showing results of recent re-survey of part of the Grand
Canyon near Bright Angel Creek by the Geological Survey with
ample time for detail. Compare with Map C at page 246--the
south end of Kaibab Plateau. 250




A CANYON VOYAGE




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.


The upper continuation of the Colorado River of the West is Green River
which heads in the Wind River Mountains at Fremont Peak. From this range
southward to the Uinta Mountains, on the southern boundary of Wyoming,
the river flows through an open country celebrated in the early days of
Western exploration and fur trading as "Green River Valley," and at that
period the meeting ground and "rendezvous" of the various companies and
organisations, and of free trappers. By the year 1840 the vast region
west of the Missouri had been completely investigated by the trappers
and fur-hunters in the pursuit of trade, with the exception of the
Green-and-Colorado River from the foot of Green River Valley to the
termination of the now famous Grand Canyon of Arizona. The reason for
this exception was that at the southern extremity of Green River Valley
the solid obstacle of the Uinta Range was thrown in an easterly and
westerly trend directly across the course of the river, which, finding
no alternative, had carved its way, in the course of a long geological
epoch, through the foundations of the mountains in a series of gorges
with extremely precipitous sides; continuous parallel cliffs between
whose forbidding precipices dashed the torrent towards the sea. Having
thus entrapped itself, the turbulent stream, by the configuration of the
succeeding region, was forced to continue its assault on the rocks, to
reach the Gulf, and ground its fierce progress through canyon after
canyon, with scarcely an intermission of open country, for a full
thousand miles from the beginning of its entombment, the entrance of
Flaming Gorge, at the foot of the historical Green River Valley. Some
few attempts had been made to fathom the mystery of this long series of
chasms, but with such small success that the exploration of the river
was given up as too difficult and too dangerous. Ashley had gone through
Red Canyon in 1825 and in one of the succeeding winters of that period a
party had passed through Lodore on the ice. These trips proved that the
canyons were not the haunt of beaver, that the navigation of them was
vastly difficult, and that no man could tell what might befall in those
gorges further down, that were deeper, longer, and still more remote
from any touch with the outer world. Indeed it was even reported that
there were places where the whole river disappeared underground. The
Indians, as a rule, kept away from the canyons, for there was little to
attract them. One bold Ute who attempted to shorten his trail by means
of the river, shortened it to the Happy Hunting Grounds immediately, and
there was nothing in his fate to inspire emulation.

The years then wore on and the Colorado remained unknown through its
canyon division. Ives had come up to near the mouth of the Virgin from
the Gulf of California in 1858, and the portion above Flaming Gorge,
from the foot of Green River Valley, was fairly well known, with the
Union Pacific Railway finally bridging it in Wyoming. One James White
was picked up (1867) at a point below the mouth of the Virgin in an
exhausted state, and it was assumed that he had made a large part of the
terrible voyage on a raft, but this was not the case, and the Colorado
River Canyons still waited for a conqueror. He came in 1869 in the
person of John Wesley Powell, a late Major[1] in the Civil War, whose
scientific studies had led him to the then territory of Colorado where
his mind became fired with the intention of exploring the canyons. The
idea was carried out, and the river was descended from the Union Pacific
Railway crossing to the mouth of the Virgin, and two of the men went on
to the sea. Thus the great feat was accomplished--one of the greatest
feats of exploration ever executed on this continent.[2]

[Illustration: The Toll.

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 of the early spring of 1900 in the pocket of the
clothes. Photograph 1906 by Kolb Bros.]

Circumstances had rendered the data collected both insufficient and
incomplete. A second expedition was projected to supply deficiencies and
to extend the work; an expedition so well equipped and planned that time
could be taken for the purely scientific side of the venture. This
expedition was the first one under the government, the former expedition
having been a more or less private enterprise. Congress made
appropriations and the party were to start in 1870. This was found to be
inexpedient for several reasons, among which was the necessity of
exploring a route by which rations could be brought in to them at the
mouth of what we called Dirty Devil River--a euphonious title applied by
the men of the first expedition. This stream entered the Colorado at the
foot of what is now known as Narrow Canyon, a little below the 38th
parallel,--the Fremont River of the present geographies. Arrangements
for supplies to be brought in to the second expedition at this place
were made by the Major during a special visit to southern Utah for the
purpose.

By great good fortune I became a member of the second expedition. Scores
of men were turned away, disappointed. The party was a small one, and it
was full. We were to begin our voyage through the chain of great
canyons, at the same point where the first expedition started, the point
where the recently completed Union Pacific Railway crossed Green River
in Wyoming, and we arrived there from the East early on the morning of
April 29, 1871. We were all ravenous after the long night on the train
and breakfast was the first consideration, but when this had
re-established our energy we went to look for the flat car with our
boats which had been sent ahead from Chicago. The car was soon found on
a siding and with the help of some railroad employes we pushed it along
to the eastern end of the bridge over Green River and there, on the
down side, put the boats into the waters against whose onslaughts they
were to be our salvation. It was lucky perhaps that we did not pause to
ponder on the importance of these little craft; on how much depended on
their staunchness and stability; and on our possible success in
preventing their destruction. The river was high from melting snows and
the current was swift though ordinarily it is not a large river at this
point. This season had been selected for the start because of the high
water, which would tide us over the rocks till tributary streams should
swell the normal volume; for our boats were to be well loaded, there
being no chance to get supplies after leaving. We had some trouble in
making a landing where we wanted to, in a little cove on the east side
about half a mile down, which had been selected as a good place for our
preparatory operations. Here the three boats were hauled out to receive
the final touches. They were named _Emma Dean_, _Nellie Powell_, and
_Canonita_. A space was cleared in the thick willows for our general
camp over which Andy was to be master of ceremonies, at least so far as
the banqueting division was concerned, and here he became initiated into
the chemistry necessary to transform raw materials into comparatively
edible food. But it was not so hard a task, for our supplies were flour,
beans, bacon, dried apples, and dried peaches, tea and coffee, with, of
course, plenty of sugar. Canned goods at that time were not common, and
besides, would have been too heavy. Bread must be baked three times a
day in the Dutch oven, a sort of skillet of cast iron, about three
inches deep, ten or twelve inches in diameter, with short legs, and a
cast-iron cover with a turned-up rim that would hold hot coals. We had
no other bread than was made in this oven, or in a frying-pan, with
saleratus and cream of tartar to raise it. It was Andy's first
experience as a cook, though he had been a soldier in the Civil War, as
had almost every member of the party except the youngest three, Clem,
Frank, and myself, I being the youngest of all.

For sleeping quarters we were disposed in two vacant wooden shanties
about two hundred yards apart and a somewhat greater distance from the
cook-camp. These shanties were mansions left over, like a group of
roofless adobe ruins near by, from the opulent days of a year or two
back when this place had been the terminus of the line during building
operations. Little remained of its whilom grandeur; a section house, a
railway station, a number of canvas-roofed domiciles, Field's
"Outfitting Store," and the aforesaid shanties in which we secured
refuge, being about all there was of the place. The region round about
suggested the strangeness of the wild country below, through the midst
of which led our trail. Arid and gravelly hills met the eye on all
sides, accentuated by huge buttes and cliffs of brilliant colours,
which in their turn were intensified by a clear sky of deep azure. In
the midst of our operations, we found time to note the passing of the
single express train each way daily. These trains seemed very friendly
and the passengers gazed wonderingly from the windows at us and waved
handkerchiefs. They perceived what we were about by the sign which I
painted on cloth and fastened across the front of our house, which was
near the track: "Powell's Colorado River Exploring Expedition." Above
this was flying our general flag, the Stars and Stripes.

The white boats were thoroughly gone over with caulking-iron and paint.
Upon the decks of the cabins, canvas, painted green, was stretched in
such a way that it could be unbuttoned at the edges on three sides and
thrown back when we wanted to take off the hatches. When in place this
canvas kept the water, perfectly, out of the hatch joints. Each boat had
three compartments, the middle one being about four feet long, about
one-fifth the length of the boat, which was twenty-two feet over the
top. Two places were left for the rowers, before and abaft the middle
compartment, while the steersman with his long oar thrust behind was to
sit on the deck of the after-cabin, all the decks being flush with the
gunwale, except that of the forward cabin the deck of which was carried
back in a straighter line than the sheer of the boat and thus formed a
nose to help throw off the waves. It was believed that when the hatches
were firmly in place and the canvases drawn taut over the decks, even if
a boat turned over, as was expected sometimes might be the case, the
contents of these cabins would remain intact and dry. As so much
depended on keeping our goods dry, and as we knew from Powell's previous
experience that the voyage would be a wet one, everything was carefully
put in rubber sacks, each having a soft mouth inside a double lip with a
row of eyelets in each lip through which ran a strong cord. When the
soft mouth was rolled up and the bag squeezed, the air was forced out,
and the lips could be drawn to a bunch by means of the cord. When in
this condition the bag could be soaked a long time in water without
wetting the contents. Each rubber bag was encased in a heavy cotton one
to protect it; in short, we spared no effort to render our provisions
proof against the destroying elements. At first we put the bacon into
rubber, but it spoiled the rubber and then we saw that bacon can take
care of itself, nothing can hurt it anyhow, and a gunny-sack was all
that was necessary. Though the boats were five feet in the beam and
about twenty-four inches in depth, their capacity was limited and the
supplies we could take must correspond. Each man was restricted to one
hundred pounds of baggage, including his blankets. He had one rubber bag
for the latter and another for his clothing and personal effects. In the
provision line we had twenty-two sacks of flour of fifty pounds each.
There was no whiskey, so far as I ever knew, except a small flask
containing about one gill which I had been given with a ditty-bag for
the journey. This flask was never drawn upon and was intact till needed
as medicine in October. Smoking was abandoned, though a case of smoking
tobacco was taken for any Indians we might meet. Our photographic outfit
was extremely bulky and heavy, for the dry plate had not been invented.
We had to carry a large amount of glass and chemicals, as well as
apparatus.

The numerous scientific instruments also were bulky, as they had to be
fitted into wooden cases that were covered with canvas and then with
rubber. Rations in quantity were not obtainable short of Salt Lake or
Fort Bridger, and we had Congressional authority to draw on the military
posts for supplies. The Major and his colleague, Professor Thompson,
went to Fort Bridger and to Salt Lake to secure what was necessary, and
to make further arrangements for the supplies which were to be brought
in to us at the three established points: the mouth of the Uinta, by way
of the Uinta Indian Agency; the mouth of the Dirty Devil; and the place
where Escalante had succeeded in crossing the Colorado in 1776, known as
the Crossing of the Fathers, about on the line between Utah and Arizona.

[Illustration: Red Canyon.

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.]

Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Powell, who had come out on the same train with
us, had gone on to Salt Lake, where they were to wait for news from the
expedition, when we should get in touch with the Uinta Agency at the
mouth of the Uinta River, something over two hundred miles further down.
At length all was provided for and the Major and Prof. returned to our
camp from Salt Lake bringing a new member of the party, Jack Hillers, to
take the place of Jack Sumner of the former party who was unable to get
to us on account of the deep snows in the mountains which surrounded the
retreat where he had spent the winter trapping. Prof. brought back also
an American flag for each boat with the name of the boat embroidered in
the field of blue on one side while the stars were on the other. We all
admired these flags greatly, especially as they had been made by Mrs.
Thompson's own hands.

We had with us a diary which Jack Sumner had kept on the former voyage,
and the casual way in which he repeatedly referred to running through a
"hell of foam" gave us an inkling, if nothing more, of what was coming.
Our careful preparations gave us a feeling of security against disaster,
or, at least, induced us to expect some degree of liberality from
Fortune. We had done our best to insure success and could go forward in
some confidence. A delay was caused by the non-arrival of some extra
heavy oars ordered from Chicago, but at length they came, and it was
well we waited, for the lighter ones were quickly found to be too frail.
Our preparations had taken three weeks. Considering that we were obliged
to provide against every contingency that might occur in descending this
torrent so completely locked in from assistance and supplies, the time
was not too long. Below Green River City, Wyoming, where we were to
start, there was not a single settler, nor a settlement of any kind, on
or near the river for a distance of more than a thousand miles. From the
river out, a hundred miles in an air line westward, across a practically
trackless region, would be required to measure the distance to the
nearest Mormon settlements on the Sevier, while eastward it was more
than twice as far to the few pioneers who had crossed the Backbone of
the Continent. The Uinta Indian Agency was the nearest establishment to
Green River. It was forty miles west of the mouth of the Uinta. In
southern Utah the newly formed Mormon settlement of Kanab offered the
next haven, but no one understood exactly its relationship to the
topography of the Colorado, except from the vicinity of the Crossing of
the Fathers. Thus the country through which we were to pass was then a
real wilderness, while the river itself was walled in for almost the
entire way by more or less unscalable cliffs of great height.

Finally all of our preparations were completed to the last detail. The
cabins of the boats were packed as one packs a trunk. A wooden arm-chair
was obtained from Field and fastened to the middle deck of our boat by
straps, as a seat for the Major, and to the left side of it--he had no
right arm--his rubber life-preserver was attached. Each man had a
similar life-preserver in a convenient place, and he was to keep this
always ready to put on when we reached particularly dangerous rapids. On
the evening of the 21st of May nothing more remained to be done. The
Second Powell Expedition was ready to start.

[Illustration: Before the Start at Green River City, Wyoming.

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

Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.]


FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Powell had received an appointment as Colonel before he
left the Volunteer Service, but he was always called Major.]

[Footnote 2: For the history of the Colorado River the reader is
referred to _The Romance of the Colorado River_, by F. S. Dellenbaugh.]




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.


The 22d of May, 1871, gave us a brilliant sun and a sky of sapphire with
a sparkling atmosphere characteristic of the Rocky Mountain Region. The
great buttes near the station, which Moran has since made famous, shone
with a splendour that was inspiring. To enable us to pick up the last
ends more easily and to make our departure in general more convenient,
we had breakfast that morning at Field's outfitting place, and an
excellent breakfast it was. It was further distinguished by being the
last meal that we should eat at a table for many a month. We were
followed to the cove, where our loaded boats were moored, by a number of
people; about the whole population in fact, and that did not make a
crowd. None of the Chinamen came down, and there were no Indians in town
that day. The only unpleasant circumstance was the persistent repetition
by a deaf-mute of a pantomimic representation of the disaster that he
believed was to overwhelm us. "Dummy," as we called him, showed us that
we would be upset, and, unable to scale the cliffs, would surely all be
drowned. This picture, as vividly presented as possible, seemed to give
him and his brother great satisfaction. We laughed at his prophecy, but
his efforts to talk were distressing. It may be said in excuse for him,
that in some paddling up the river from that point, he had arrived at
perhaps an honest conviction of what would happen to any one going
below; and also, that other wise men of the town predicted that we would
never see "Brown's Hole," at the end of Red Canyon.

At ten o'clock we pushed out into the current. There were "Good-bye and
God-speed" from the shore with a cheer, and we responded with three and
then we passed out of sight. The settlement, the railway, the people,
were gone; the magnificent wilderness was ours. We swept down with a
four-mile current between rather low banks, using the oars mainly for
guidance, and meeting no difficulty worse than a shoal, on which the
boats all grounded for a few moments, and the breaking of his oar by
Jones who steered our boat. About noon having run three miles, a landing
was made on a broad gravelly island, to enable Andy to concoct a dinner.
A heavy gale was tearing fiercely across the bleak spot. The sand flew
in stinging clouds, but we got a fire started and then it burned like a
furnace. Andy made another sample of his biscuits, this time liberally
incorporated with sand, and he fried some bacon. The sand mainly settled
to the bottom of the frying pan, for this bacon was no fancy breakfast
table variety but was clear fat three or four inches thick. But how good
it was! And the grease poured on bread! And yet while at the railway I
had scorned it; in fact I had even declared that I would never touch it,
whereat the others only smiled a grim and confident smile. And now, at
the first noon camp, I was ready to pronounce it one of the greatest
delicacies I had ever tasted! They jeered at me, but their jeers were
kind, friendly jeers, and I recall them with pleasure. In warm-hearted
companionship no set of men that I have ever since been associated with
has been superior to these fellow voyageurs, and the Major's big way of
treating things has been a lesson all my life. We had all become fast
true friends at once. With the exception of the Major, whom I had first
met about two months before, and Frank whom I had known for a year or
two, I had been acquainted with them only since we had met on the train
on the way out.

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