Some weeks later I did it the right way, skidding down the canyon wall on two feet and the seat of my jeans, and when I got to the bottom, the trout were waiting. But they were not like the lazy fish in Buffalo Ford. The canyon cutthroats were pale as the mist and strong as the current, and I wondered if these luminous beings had evolved to feed on smaller trout washed over the falls. The view from the rim is better anyhow, if you don't mind crowds. Old folks climb from their Buicks, stretch stiff muscles, and walk to Artist's Point.
Mothers hold tight to little hands.
And then they see the canyon painted by time. Chances are that you too have seen that sublime view and heard the roar of the Yellowstone River falling more than 300 feet. Today it hangs in the Smithsonian Institution. Moran painted better than he knew. Dam is a cussword now in the Yellowstone Valley, and the longest undammed river in the lower 48 states still runs free for 600 miles.