The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-11-21
shooting the Rapids.

,.;rv--hlllS, ana iittie points or tOCh JuttihE
49,, into the water; now and then long
,.r;o Of bunch-graSs land: here some In
I.aT> were fishing; there were large bands
"'t'.,o,,lc and horses. owned hv Indians;
,,,, and then an Indian garden; but moth
~, Grand. ! got very tired of IL. so went
-, huilainS few more air-caStles, and Sec
;vr how much tobacco the Indian in The
i,|w ot the boat would smoke. Then [
vq,,.hrd white man washing gold on one
y. INC many "harS" we passed: went
r,hayc "a talk 10 him. lay on n log, and
hrt,li me some most admirable lies. He
is Without any doubt, the gfandest liar
:. America. just had to start him
m any subject. and he was sure to
IT, in the most astounding manner about
= lie lied about the river, about
thr Gold he was getting, about the land,
snn,.I the snakes. about every mortal and
~, law 10 contradict him or even doubt
I.- word, likewise, he was much larger
than ~ hut when he said he had killed
snakes sixty feet long OH the Columbia. |
,l,usht il time for me 10 paddle. He said,
: .,>t into the canoe, " stranger, thar is
. ns3 bit Of water at the Hell Gate. Look
49,, ." | thought he was lying, and so
ogy nodded TO him. What's the He'll
GI;e: | found out before long. At He'll
cafe and n more lifting name | never could
IanN % the river narrows down 10 half its
u>uH width. and there are three large
r.,h> III the stream, making il still
,a.aD.cr, The water is forced through
IN, passages with great force and ra-
rg,f'v. most Of it taking the left passage.
A. >i-hl Of II | "peeled," and thought
wat i! Got ashore with. my skin I would
~ my shirt and tobacco go to the dogs. /
paGi'cd that canoe; | padded until
Thought the skin across my back would
surely give way. Two hundred pounds
were. 2ut IN every stroke, and l made about
=, .Aty per minute. The rocky banks looked
q. :hough they were being dragged back at
l.i.road speed. Uurrah through the Gate
af hcil without shipping drop OF water !.
I krd back and Rugged myself: | took a
smoke: Dragged liz" a mosquito about it /;
a, 70 myself. 1t is flip OF 4 cent which l
had rather DO. run Spokane Canon or the
Hell Gate and | would rather walk ten
niles than do either again.
Dressed, and tioated down the river in
uy la2v manner. enjoy ing the air, my pipe,
md looking forward 10 my supper OF bacon
anI flour. with the greatest satisfaction.
,aw a house on the bank, and went there
!n.ud TWO white men, and Is 1t was late.
decided 10 camp. The men gave me onions,
,,ra>, corn. melons. and coffee. l had Il rare
meal After supper Invent upto the house
=, talk and smoke. | wonder what makes
The men ofthiS river So proiane, and so eX-
,,,,i.u"lv Inaccurate in their statements.
rar>riwo Quilted the noble liar met in the
morning. They told Inc woniertultales and
u.cgur>c believe them. One told me about
Tie Columbia river canon | would pass
Through about noon the next day told ME
%, The GREAT number Of men who had found
. n IN those
- he Hudson Bay canoe men that had been
.n-t there. And seeing that was getting
bit anxious, lie ruined All by saying that
h" had seen great cedar trees broken
in TWO hy the whirlpoolS in the canon.
That tree was little more than /
"nU!d take in, and us | don't like TO re-
rcrt part OF the tale. Just set AL his
description down rs one magnificent. lie,
ag! himself down aS a very promising
,pUn. Baron Munchau>en. H. the morn
az started oil with a great contempt for
tar rauon-but still the feeling grew On ME
That the Baron could not have made up all
Of those tales. >owhen heard the rush Of
ID. water beyond rocky point. stripped
10 ~" skin, covered myself with Il blanket,
md lay back looking 1t the water getting
i,~'r" amt faster. and IN" river getting mar
IuWrr aud narrower: ! noticed that he
h-ti-WHtcr line was far above the
banks. or rather far above the present
water: - | knew the canon must be very
narrow to pile hack the water in that man
ncr. Ny courage was still good but when
! saw the water foam and suddenly boil
up. and then retire into whirlpool, and
rush madlv down the stream. fairly howl
!ug for something to suck in. ''wcakcn-
Ed" wanted to 20 ashore, hut saw that
one could not get away from Tie spot he
landed 1t. owing to the nature O! the banks.
y" grabbed the paddles. and that canoe
lad Il very anXinlis white man in II. There
III front Of us, hiding from our eyes, was
IN Internal point OF rocks, round which
the river curved. and there. l sup
posed from The noise, the real canon COM
InrnccG. When there. it was picture for
painter. Two naked Indians and one
naked white man--the Indians standing
up--l on ny knccSAali with uplltted pad
Gir>-all bent well forward and with tightly
compressed lips--ili looking anXioilsly ut
the point and wondering Wha, was beyond
X. Round we came 1t Il ten-nl!e-pcrholl
.:aii There in the centre Of the narrowed
river was "A mound Of water ut least ten
l"ct high. and that mound seemed to be the
-iLnal for the waters to break into waves,
wnilpool>. and foam. III went the pad
dies. and we shot n little TO the LEFT Of the
rock that formed the mound, and then !
-.w that | was in for il. As far rs the eye
,ou!d reach the water was white. said to
myself. "Good.by wife and baby, father
and ali. | am salmon bail. Sure rs shooting
will see Mary and Bayard tonight )" and
then | crew bit reckless, and thought
might a> we'll enjoy the novel trip till
we went under, still meaning to get ont
il work would take me out. Far above
our heads, at least thirty feet, were the
lytiurms from which the Indians spear
tn. salmon in high water. The water
had fallen about one-half: so the canon
U.s. not near as bad as it is ut times. Then
paidicd and looked about me, and yelled
and got excited. and lost all fear and ell
loved it. | took hastily chew OF tobacco.
got drink Of water. Suddenly the water
boiled up Just under Us. We were nall
tlcd in about Il second. Not time 10 bail
out. Shove those paddles into the water,
and do ii almighty fast and strong, or
W" will be sucked under! We made
about thrcc-quarters Of turn around
lie whirlpool, and then, with and effort
tlat was ;in effort, got into the white water
where the Great waves were, and away the
canoe went like q frightened racehorse. 1t
WAS glorious, The fighting at Cold Harbor,
&Ultn Anna and Petersburg, was tame III
comparison. in fifteen minutes we were
through four miles OF canon-canoc full OF
water: blankets gone clothes all wet so
WAS my -four and tobacco. ! shook my fist
At the canon and tainted it. | was very
brave then, but, little woman, don't ride
through that cunon again. | was Il TOOL for
doing it; yes. an ignorant fool.-BuBdio
f.pVUl prrJui dBrcr{jspy