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Title: 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
Author: Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
Release Date: February 25, 2007 [EBook #20667]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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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
frontispiece, colour sketch
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.
line drawing: forest, mountains, tipis
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
[Page v]
[Page vi]
[Page vii]
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 Fé 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
[Page viii]
[Page ix]
[Page x]
line drawing: bison
CONTENTS
[Page xi]
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
1
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
9
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
19
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
34
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
49
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
[Page xii]
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
61
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
72
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
94
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
115
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
135
The Cañonita 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
line drawing: mountain goat
CHAPTER XI
Great Echo—At the Mouth of the Paria
152
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
[Page xiii]
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
Index
174
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
195
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
Cañonita—John D. Lee and Lonely Dell
215
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
242
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
269
line drawing: dance
[Page xiv]
ILLUSTRATIONS
[Page xv]
The Grand Canyon
The Toll
Red Canyon
Before the Start at Green River City, Wyoming
Flaming Gorge
Horseshoe Canyon
Facing Page
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.
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.
6
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
9
The dark box open. Andy, Clem, Beaman, Prof. Steward, Cap., Frank, Jones, Jack, the Major,
Fred, Cañonita, Emma Dean, Nellie Powell.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
17
The beginning of the Colorado River Canyons, N. E. Utah.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
21
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
[Page xvi]
Red Canyon
Red Canyon
In Red Canyon Park
The Head of the Canyon of Lodore
Canyon of Lodore
The Heart of Lodore
Canyon of Lodore—Dunn's Cliff
Canyon of Lodore
25
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
28
Ashley Falls from below.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
29
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
34
Just inside the gate.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
37
Low water.
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1874.
40
F. S. Dellenbaugh.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
43
2800 feet above river.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
44
Jones, Hillers, Dellenbaugh.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
Echo Park
Whirlpool Canyon
Split Mountain Canyon
Canyon of Desolation
49
Mouth of Yampa River in foreground, Green River on right.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
54
Mouth of Bishop Creek—Fourth of July camp.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
59
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
81
Steward.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
[Page xvii]
Colorado River White Salmon
Dellenbaugh Butte
Labyrinth Canyon—Bowknot Bend
Stillwater Canyon
Cataract Canyon
Cataract Canyon
Narrow Canyon
Mouth of the Fremont River (Dirty Devil)
Glen Canyon
Looking Down Upon Glen Canyon
Tom
Glen Canyon
The Grand Canyon
98
Photograph by the Denver, Colorado Canyon and Pacific Railway Survey under Robert Brewster
Stanton, 1889.
102
Near mouth of San Rafael.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
108
The great loop is behind the spectator.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
110
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
119
Clement Powell.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
128
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
133
Photograph by Best Expedition, 1891.
135
Photograph by the Brown Expedition, 1889.
140
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
142
Cut through homogeneous sandstone.
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, U. S. Colo. Riv. Exp.
147
A typical Navajo. Tom became educated and no longer looked like an Indian.
Photograph by Wittick.
149
Sentinel Rock—about 300 feet high.
Photograph by E. O. Beaman, 1871.
162
From Havasupai Point, South Rim, showing Inner Gorge.
From a sketch in colour by F. S. Dellenbaugh, 1907.
[Page xviii]
[Page xviii]
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
Winsor Castle, the Defensive House at
Pipe Springs
Little Zion Valley, or the Mookoontoweap,
Upper Virgin River
In the Unknown Country
Navajo Mountain From Near Kaiparowits
Peak
Tantalus Creek
Example of Lakes on the Aquarius Plateau
The Grand Canyon
Marble Canyon
Canyon of the Little Colorado
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
168
From South Rim near Bright Angel Creek.
174
From part way down south side above Bright Angel Creek.
186
Photograph by H. Arthur Pomroy, 1903.
186
Photograph by H. Arthur Pomroy, 1903.
195
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.
201
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.
206
Tributary of Fremont River.
Photograph by J. K. Hillers.
211
Photograph by J. K. Hillers.
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.
219
Thompson.
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.
222
Photograph by C. Barthelmess.
224
From just below the Little Colorado.
Photograph by J. K. Hillers, 1872.
227
Running the Sockdologer.
From a sketch afterwards by F. S. Dellenbaugh.
232
From top of Granite, south side near Bright Angel Creek.
238
Character of river in rapids.
Photograph by F. S. Dellenbaugh, 1907.
[Page xix]
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
242
At a rapid—low water.
254
At the bottom near foot of Bass Trail.
254
