, 1869-07-19
THE POWELL EXPEDITION,
Letters from Colonel Powell to
June z,
A WnrnIng Written on the
Rocks.


Rocks.
The Gateway Of the Colorado
Reached in Safety.
Correspondence ef TIE Chicago 71db..ne
FLAMING GoR1k.
ON GrKEN K1vEA, June ?, 15d9.
On the 2lth OF May, At half-psst Il No started
from Green River City. The Iattnns, Instruments,
Sc, were 30 divided among tn. boats a. to have 3
fair proportion Of the several articles on e.ch-
This precautlon was taken that We might not be
tenonsly crippled BY tho loss Of boat. The good
people of the city turned out to See rs on Ta!s
does not indicate THAI great crowd came ont, as
the cfties here lack people to make them densely
crowded, But there are plenty OF vacant lots Jet.
We dropped down tho r1ver about eeYep miles,
and Went into camp, satisfied that cur boata were
quite manageable and not overloaded, a. wo bad
feared they would be- ="
Next morning We. got an early STAT and ran
along ut good Eate until about . O'Clock, when
Heran aground on grave1iy bar. AL Jumped
out and helped the boats over by mAtn strength
Then came on rain, and river and cloud seemed
To conspre TO give us q thorough treuchtng- Wet,
chilled md tired almost 10 exhaustion, We stopped
at cottonwood groFe on the btn1 and butit
l,uge ire, then made kettie Of coffee, and were
soon refreshed and quite merry.
When the clouda got ont Of our sunahfne, on VIC
started agsn. 4 lew ules further dnwn, dock
Of Eountain sheep wnl seen On cliff TO the right
The boats were 4p5ci1y tied mp, and three or fur
men went after them. In the courRe Of couple
Of hour they calnA ats.sxttng Ia ssaia+ The
cook only had been successful; bringing In
rne fat limb. The other men
NftN.t r-{f
but It Was soon dressed, cooked and eaten, max
Ing hearty = O'Clock dinner. Then all aboard"
and down the river for another dozen mllea On
the wuy down ne passed the mouth OF Smiths
Fork, dirty little 1iyer that seemed somewhat
swollen, On the 2cth We ran down to poiut
about two mi,es {rom the mouth OF UenEyts Fork,
where cache Of reuons md Instruments had been
made list spring. When We landed 1t waA cold
and stormg, . hrtsk wind blowing from the noun.
tsins. The euehs Ind been made under an over
hanging rock near the river, where 1t was safe
from the clements and Wild beasts, but pot sa!e
from man, and 0A we had learned that party Of
Indians had eanped near 1t Tor several weeks, we
had sofne anxiety for its xafety. That was soon
ala5cd; It was all right, and cnronomeles wheels
were not taken for Ute. ha4r osnaments
barometer tubes for beads, and sextant thrpwu
Into the rises for "bad medicine, ''as had been
prophesied. Taktng up our cache the next day, We
-%@%N1@AAA~*AA
lhts camp
At d distance Of from one to tTenty miles from
this potnt = brilliant rcd gorge Is seen, the red
l.ring surrounded bG broad bands OF mossle'i- bun
und gray nt the summit Of the cllds; and carvlnS
down to the waters edgu ca Ihe nearer SLOPE OF
the mountain THU Is where the river enters tht
mountain E1ngt,-thc head Of the f,rss s2nnn
txe are To explore, or, rather, au introductory
capon to series made By The ft5er through the
.aree We haGs nun:ca II FfltnEDg Gorse. The
-c.,Es OF walls We have Iouud 10 be twelve hun.
dred feet high. You m1ss not tnlnE Of i noun.
tain range as q luo OF peaks standing up out OF
the painE but as broad platform, nff5 OF sl1ty
r1Iies wide, from which mountains have been
carved By the waters- You maat conceive, too,
tAat this plateau has been cut up -hE-
Ru!ches, 1ayineA ind canous in a multitude uf
directions, md that heuE, 1reseas;ered
-,s1,Jur nj tari !rc a,titadr-3 uoantatn range IS
{ u:uunt1!n rcgIon, not = line pf fnouu:atns,
though Guch region Is nnrh Rzeates in length
Ihau Width IN nosr cases. This urst 1ete: oi
cauops NC arc about 10 explore y river chan.
brl cut through such range Of mountains The
EiptAh Mountains here have IN eas1at1F and vest
eEIs direction. The canon ca1i nearly hall way
nc1o.s the range, then turns to the east and runs
along the celtrai line, eio~ly crossing 1t to tho
south, keeping this direction more than my miles;
and then turns to tho southwest and cats dtagao-
ul,y th.ongh the southern hsif Of The range. THIS
made partial exploration Of the region tast ial,
and climbed many Of Its peaks, aud, In j few
places, reached the Ever waits AuI louEed
over *preclplces OF many hundred feet 10 the
Hater heloH. Now and then the walls u1e broken
down by latefsl canons, the channels OF little
Streams entering the r1yer Through two or three
Of these found my WaT down to the water's edge
IN eatly winter, and walked A1ong the low-wa1et
beach tor several nics Ut the foot Of the cliffs.
Where the rtyer has this cas.eriy direction there Is
d canon only on the western ball. Along the east
etn half, broad valley haa bctn mnde by the
rt,er. This las reeesFed the pame OF bEowna
lcle, II honor Of an ofd.tme trappcss Eho once
had hts cabln tnere. and caught beaver aud killed
deer.
The Eccond day IN this camp 1t ratned, nnh We
employed the TING In repairing one OF our bason-
etern, that1ad been broken On the way from New
York 4 ncW tube had 10 be pat IN; taat Is,
long glass tube md 70 Do n'ed Win
mercury, four or nse incheA AT ume7
and each fatta1inent oo1ea over an aacono' iatnp.
1is delicate tas4 10 Dol toe mercury without
breaking the Rlass, but ne hao SUCCESS anu were
ready 10 cllnlo anu 1ncasn1e hona'alns once
more. 20 tue CAY 1ouoHlast We went 10 the SUM-
nit Of the cun on the left. ana took an obscrFa-
lion. Another Gay has ncir1f oeen spent Ia geo.
logical md Typographical WORK. aRa ne arc really
to enter the mysterious canon. With Bone ankle
y We ktart for ihe old luonutatneer5 tell rs that
it cannot ue run. The 1ndtabs EaJ, Water heap,
letch EN-" Dut ali are eager for the trial, and OF
vega.
: JrRsa
NE left rxun at Flaming Gorpc On the 3Jth OF
Nnv snd onlctly ran thrnt1glt the GORE. then
x,eeea In me feIt m the swiftly gliding current