Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-11-21
THE CANYONS OF THE COLORADO.
Prof. BickmOre Describes Some Of the
Wonders of the Mountains.
wv Yori. Times, Nov. Sth.

From the New Yori, Times, Now Sth.
In an oratorical journey through the canons
OF the Colorado, with few hundred school
teachers yesterday, Prof. Bckmore said that
the whole region was grand highway pro-
vided by nature fer men To learn her inner
most secrets; a great book containing the his
tory OF the earth for all who wish TO turn its
leaves and read After getting the teachers ac-
custOmed TO their new geographical surround
ings by y liberal display OF maps, the professor
revealed TO them successive beauties of noun
tain scenery. with which, he said, the Alps
were tame in comparison. No other part OF
the globe could show such q wonderful devel-
Opment of rock structure. nor offer such I'M
cqualed facilities for the study Oft.
These remarkable formations. Prof Bickmore
said, were not EI,I. : nandiwOrk, but had been
carved out OF the solid rock by the ceaseless
flow OF the yellow waters of the Colorado and
by the endless trieklirs vi the rain. Mature"
he said, seems To have been carving these walls
as to give all eyer-ncreasing source Of de-
light" In looking al the weird combinations
OF rock strata Prof. Bickmore felt as though ne
was in the presence of "a series OF deca wing tenn
Piles Of some great race of giants. In fact. this
impression was general that many of the
formations had been named temples. When he
was at the bottom of one OF the fightfGi canOns
Prot. Bcknore could not rid himself %; the i'm
preston thai he was i'll prison. AS the sunlight
faded away and the long shadows stole over the
steep rocks the sense o: loneliness was Oppres-
sive and almost unbearabie.
The school teachers held their breath when
the professor stood with them on rocks tower
ing IL 600 feet above the river md asked them
10 scale ridges four aud One-halI times as high
as the Palisades. They looked shocked when
he showed them Dirty Devil mountain, and
they were delighted when he portrayed the
brilliantly cOlored strata oi the FIamin" Gorge
In ioiiow-the-ieader fashion the teachers hllr-
red over towering masses of. stone. crossed CUR.
CLING waterfalls and stopped short iii surprise
wnen a iOlnlDg torrent daslC fierceiy against
wall of stone forced its way through It, and
came out again miles away in the heart OF the
mountains on the same plane. This, the pro-
lessor said, was because The river had existed
I had cd MI.
cidIy on lis way ana let the mountain rise up
around IL.
Through the Canon of Lodore went the teach
ers, expressing, their constant admiration M
the succession of surprises liz store Tor them adj
miring the mountain views in the changes of
the sunlight, and by the weird effect Of the
Lone Mexican, the Echo Rock, the Canon OF
DeSOiatiOl, the peaks OF the wheat stacks and
an endless variety oi volcanic rock, most OF it
devoid OF vegetation and animal life Animals
could ind nothing 10 feed on up there, the pro-
sesSO- said Sometimes the TEACHERS siuddered
at the sight of explorer holdin, fast to tho
BickmorS how in the world the man ever got
up there and worse yet how he ever managed
10 get dow-I a2aia- Some men. the professor
said, did not get down, but We're killed by bands
OF Indians, The teachers stopped il wonder at
series OF great Inphitheaters that the rushing
river had carved out Ga the ellis i'll the course
OF ages
A laecolite. the professor said. was a lake of
stone under the earth. the generally accepted
theory about the wonderful rock formations he
had been showing was that the surface OF the
earth had been pushed up from underneath by
nuid rock pouring from some deep fissure ex-
lending To inconceivdoie depth.. II had simply
lifted up the HAAS of rock above IL. IL was 5,
beautiful sight To see the sunlight flashing down
The mountain slopes like silver waterfalls. The
sunllght views IN these cstnOns we're superb and
the general effect was greatly enhanced by the
Clear blue air. Ii was strange. the professor
saio. that so many Americans had TO knowI,
edge Of this wonderful region. 1t had no equal
On any part OF the globe.