The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1880-07-08
THE DEKPEsT GORGE.

A party of prospectors, thirteen In num-
ber, recently procured the necessary papers
from General Wilcox allowing them to visit
the Indian village on Cataract creek, inhab-
tied by the Ava Supais, a tribe of Indians
numbering all told 200 souls. The party
went from Williamson Valley to the Bill
Williams range, and thence to Pine Spring
Here they found every indication of an old
sea bed, the gravel and rocks being round
bed: From Pine Spring the party directed
their course for the Ava Supai village, which
is reached by descending from the table
land down one of the roughest trails ever
travelled by man for distance of fourteen
miles, dropping 5000 feet. At places along
the trail we are told that it is not over twen-
ty inches wide, and winds around the per
pendicular walls of sandstone that loom
above for hundreds of feet, while ON the
side dark, deep canons exist, hundreds upon
hundreds of feet deep, where, by one false
step or move, man or beast would be sent to
eternity. With great care and good luck,
ten of the party succeeded in reaching the
tuIOO VI tueH IttufuiHsS5
rather than run the gauntlet in passing down
into this awful yet marvellous crevice in the
earth. -ie
The Ava Supais practice polygamy, each
male having about three wives. They have
1000 acres of farming land, which is de-
scribed as being of yellowish color and
mostly composed of sand. However, it is
said to produce good corn, pumpkins,
melons and beans, with the aid of irrigating
water, of which they have an abundance.
They have peach orchard of 25O trees,
which were at that time loaded with small
peaches about the size of acorns.
The party were well received by these red
people, who stated that their greatest desire
was to be left alone in the enjoyment of
their land and otherproperty. Their houses
are built with poles in rude manner and
matched over with bear grass and tule.
The only stock they have are few ponies.
Cataract creek heads in the Bill Williams
and San Francisco Mountains, the streams
connecting some distance above the Indian
village. This stream empies into the Big
Colorado, fifteen miles below the Ava Supai
town, and short distance south of the
junction of the Little and Big Colorado
rivers. H..
The party attempted to explore Cataract
creek to the confluence with tho Colorado,
but were unable to do so from the fact that
they encountered precipice after precipice
from 100 to 200 rect perpendicular, and it
was in the foolhardy attempt of D. w.
Mooney, of Williams Valley, to descend one
of these perpendicular precipices, 100 feet
down, that he was dashed to sudden and
rocky tomb, where he now rests as he fell,
his companions being unable to rescue the
body. Mr.. Mooney took small rope,
hardly half an inch in diameter, tied one
end of it to a bank, suspended it over the
brink then, taking hold of the rope, was
soon dangling between the bright heavens
and the dark gorge below. Evidently cramp
came in his arms, or his mind gave way,
and he fell from almost the top to his rocky
and lonely grave below. The party re-
NAMED nearly two days, devising means
and plans to rescue the corpse, but with
failure, as no one cared to risk o descent on
party that no one man had ever passed
through the canon; that, in fact, passage
was only possible for the birds of the air or
the spirits of the dead.
g The party retraced their steps and went
around Cataract creek to the Grand Canon
of the Colorado. They took in this pecu-
liar freak of nature, and describe the walls,
which are about perpendicular, being
about two miles from the apex to the water.
Where they beheld the Grand Canon the
water is described as being one hundred
yards across still, from the elevated view
of the explorer, the furious stream appeared
to be a silver thread of only a few inches in
width. A canon two miles deep is grand
wonder, which will, when the thirty fifth |
parallel road is completed, draw thousands
upon thousands of wonder-seekers annually. |
-A9izoaG Miner.