The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-07-08
4 Tsrrabrs slsu.sisn.

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ne psnser (col., Trso,as, Ills the fol-
3swins tory Of the Grand Canon. Charles
Gray ana his brother Robert IN te spring Of
1870, bifsarsdt 70 pass sixty thpusadd railroad
ties dowif the Arkansas fronAthss mountain
source. He says: go
q DUR offer was accepted, wheH We started
into the upper entrance of the canon in a
large skiff, provided with six days provisions
and two hundred feet ofrope, with which, by
taking a running turn around some firmly
planted object, we could lower our boat a
hundred feet at a time. In this way, at the
end of three days, having set adrift many
hundred ties, We reached the entrance to the
Royal George. Here we discovered that an
attempt to descend the first waterfall with
two in the boat was certain destruction, and
to return was impossible. Accordingly, I de-
termined to lower my brother down the fall
in the boat, a distance Of two hundred feet,
gave him the rope and let him take the
chance Of the canon (life seemed more GER
cain in that directioh), while I would risk
my physical ability to climb the canon wall,
which was about two thousand feet high.
"About ten O'Clock in the morning l shook
hands with my brother, lowered him IN the
boat safely to tile foot of the fall, gave him
the rope and saw him no more. Then, throw
ing aside my cont, hat and boots, strip
ping the socks from my feet, II commenced
my climbing way, often reaching the height
of one or two hundred feet, only TO be com
PEELED to return to try. some other way. Al
length, about four o'clock in the afternoon, 1
reached a height upon tile smooth canon wall
of about q thousand feet. Here my further
progress was arrested BY q shelving ledge Of
rock that jutted out from the canon side a
foot or more. To advance was without hope;
to return, certain death. Reaching upward
and outward, l grasped the arm of the ledge
feet slipped from the smooth side of the
canon, and my body hung suspended in the
air, a thousand feet above the roaring waters
of the Arkansas.
GA that moment I looked downward TO
measure the distance I would have to fall
when the strength of my arms gave; out. A
singing sensation crept through my hair as
my eye caught the strong root Of a cedar
bush that projected out over the ledge, a little
beyond my reach. My grasp upon the rim
of the ledge was fast yielding to the weight of
my person. Then l determined to make my
best efforts to raise my body and throw it
sideways towards the root, so as to bring it
within my gasp. At the moment of COM
mencing the effort, 1 saw my mothers face as
she leaned out over the ledge reached down
her hand and caught me by the hair. Stran-
ger, my mother died while yet a young wo-
man, when l and my brother were small
boys, but 1 remember her face. 1 was sue
cessful in making the side leap of my arms,
when l drew myself upon the ledge and
rested for a time. From here upward my
climbing way was laborious, but not danger
Gus. l reached the top of the cahon just as
the sun was sinking down behind the snowy
range, and fastened to our camp at the
mouth of the canon, where 1 found my broth-
er all safe. Charley said he, have you
had your head in a11our sack twas then
1 discovered that my hair was as white as
you see it now"