Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-07-02
An Adventure.

! Charles May and mis- brother Robert,
iE the spring of 1870 offered to pass
&c, 900 railroad ties down the Arkansas
from the mountain source. He says :
"Our offer was accepted, when we
started into the upper entrance of the
canon with large skih' provided with
six days provisions and two hundred
feet of rope, with which, by taking a
running turn around some firmly
planted object, we could lower our boat
a hundred feet at time. In this way, =,
at the end OF three days, having set
adrift many hundred ties, we reached
/ the entrance to the Royal Gorge. Here
we discovered TO descend the first
waterfall with two In the boat was
certain destruction, and to return was
| impossible. Accordingly determined
| to lower my brother down the fall in
the boat, distance of two hundred
feet. give him the rope, and let him
take the chances of the canon (life
seemed more certain in that directiOn)
while 1 would risk my physical ability
to climb the canon wall, which was
about two thousand feet high. About
ten o'clock in the morning | shook
hands with my brother, lowered him
in the boat safely to the foot of the fall
gave lin the rope and saw him no
more. Then throwing aside my coat,
hat and boots, and stripping the socks
from my feet, / commenced my climb
ing way, often reaching the height of
one or TWO hundred feet, only to be
compelled to return TO try some other
way. At length, about four O'Clock in
the afternoon, | reached height upon
the smooth canon wall of about a
thousand feet. Here my further prog
ress was arrested by shelving ledge of
rock that jutted out from the canon side
a foot or more. To advance was with
out hope; TO return, certain death.
Reaching upward and outward
graspcd the rim of the ledge with one
hand and then with the other, my feet
slipped from the smooth side of the
canon and my body hung suspended in
the air, thousand feet above the roar
ing waters of the Arkansas. At that
moment | looked downward to measure
the distance | would have 10 fall when
the strength of my arms gave out. \
singing sensation crept through my
hair as my eye caught the strong root
of cedar bush tha protected over the
ledge-a little beyond my reach. My
grasp upon the rim of the ledge was
fast yielding TO the weight of my per-
son. Then | determined to make my
best effort to raise my body and throw
it sideways towards the root so as TO
bring it within my grasp. At that
moment of commencing the effort, |
saw my mothers face as she leaned
over the ledge, reached down her hand
and caught me by the hair. Stranger,
my mother died while yet a young
woman, when / and my brother were
small boys, but | remember her face
was successful in making the side
leap of my arms, when | drew myself
upon the ledge and rested awhile
From here upward my climbing way
was laboriOus, but less dangerous.
reached the top of the cannon Just as
the sun was sinking down behind the
snowy range, and hastened to oul
camp at the mouth of the canon, where
found my brother all safe. Charley,
said he, have you had your head in 3
Hour sack Ii was then discovered
that my hair was as white as you see il
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