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. I still wonder but not enough to go down there again. 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. There were proposals to dam the Yellowstone River, in the century just past, but we Americans east and west knew what was at stake.