The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-06-15
The deepest Gorge in the world.
From the Arizona Miner.

From the Arizona Miner.
In March last, a party of prospectors, thir-
teen in number, procured the necessary papers
from General Wilcox allowing them to visit
the Indian village on Cataract creek, inhabit-
ed 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
and smooth, similar to those IN the ocean 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 toughest trails ever travelled
by man for a distance OF fourteen miles,
dropping 5000 feet. At places along the trail
we are told that it is not over twenty inches
wide, and winds around the perpendicular
walls OF sandstone that loom above for hun
dreds of feet, while on the other 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 aud good luck ten of the
party succeeded i'll reaching the village. three
of their number returning ratll er than run
the gauntlet in passing down into this awful
yet marvellous crevlce in the earth.
The Ava Supais practice polygany, each
male having about three wives. They have
1000 acres Of farming land, which is de-
scribed as being of a yellowish color and
mostly composed CT 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 a peach orchard of 250 trees, which
were on the LIST of April loaded with small
peaches about the size Of acorns.
The party was well received by these red
people, who stated that them greatest desire |
was to be left alone in the enjoyment of their |
land and other property. Their houses are
built with poles in a rude manner and thatch-
ed over with bear grass and tule. The only
stock they have are a few ponies.
Cataract creek heads in the Bill Williams
and San Francisco mountains, the streams
connecting some distance above the Indian
village. This stream empties into the Big |
Colorado, fifteen miles below the Ava Supai |
town, and a short distance south of the |
Junction of the Little and Big Colorado !
rivers.
The party attempted to explore Cataract
creek to its confluence with the Colorado, but
were unable to do so from the fact that they
encountered precipice after preclpice from 100
to 200 feet perpendicular, and it was in the
foolhardy attempt of D.. W. Mooney, of Will
liams Valley, to descend one of these per-
pendlcular precipices, 100 feet down, that he
was dashed to a sudden and rocky tomb,
where he now rests as he fell, his companions
being unable to rescue the body. Mr.. Moon
ey took a small rope, hardly halt an inch in
diameter, tied one end to a bank, suspended
it over the brink .hen, taking hold of the
rope, was soon dangling between the bright
heavens and the dark gorge below. Evident
ly cramp came in his arms, or his mind gave
way, and he fell from almos the top to his
rocky and lonely grave below. The party !
renamed nearly two days, devlsing means
ard plans to rescue the corpse, but with fail
ures, as no one cared to risk a descent upon
the weak rope. The Indians Informed the
party that no one man had ever passed
through the canon; that, in fact, a passage
was only possible for the birds of the air or
the spirits of the dead.
The party retraced their steps and went
around Cataract creek to the Grand Canon of
the Colorado. They took in this peculiar
freak of nature, and describe the walls, which
are about perpendicular, as being about two
miles from the apex to the water. Where
they beheld tina Grand Canon the water is
described as being 100 yards across; still,
from the elevated view OF the explorers, the
furious stream appeared to be a silver thread
of only "A few inches in width. A canon two
miles deep is a grand wonder, which will,
when the thirty-ftth parallel road is complet-
ed, draw thousands upon thousands of Won
der seekers annually.