Wichita eagle., 1888-01-31
Daily II Eagle
NATURES MARVEL.
MAJESTIC BEAUTY OF THE GRAND
CANYON OF THE COLORADO.


CANYON OF THE COLORADO.
Peaks of the San Francisco Mounta ins.
A Stupendous Scene-A Valley 6,OoO
Feet Deep.
The whole face of the land now shows
that this region was once the scene of vio-
lent volcanic disturbance One or moro of
the peaks of the San Francisco mountains
display extinct craters. The ground in PLACES
is covered with scaria, and the upheavals
scattered about have that distorted, broken,
uncanny appearance resulting from some
convusion of nature
With an early start we make good head
way. The road all the way from town has
been very good for mountain district, with
only one or two rocky or steep hills. We
pass Red Buttes to our right and stop at Red
Horse Spring, where we water orr stock.
This spring" is simply hole dug in the
ground TO catch The oozing or "seepage" that
flows from the San Francisco mountains. 1t
was not long before the guide pointed to an
abrupt break in the long vista through the
forest-free here as elsewhere from under
brush-and we knew that we were nearing
our goal. In few more minutes we drove
absolutely within few yards of the chasn.
The walls Of the canyon were above us. We
jumped from the wagon and scaled the steep
incline leading to it. There was no hint OF
the glories that awaited lis.
The scene bursts upon the eye in all its
majestic beauty. The brain reels, the facul-
ties are almost paralyzed in contemplating
the stupendous depths, the awful chasms, the
amazing conglomeration Of castellated butte,
mountain, rocky pnnacle-of n thousand
fantastic forms-now unfolded to our view.
1t looks as if the hand of an aven.ing God
had swept the region in wrath 1t is superb,
fearful, fascinating, horrible! The vista ex-
tending for immense distances in every direc-
ton shows the varied weird, uncanny, beau-
tiful forms of peak. cliff, and rocky crag ris-
ing from the depths Of the mighty gorge.
They have a thousand shapes. Some are like
castles, some resemble the ruins of colossal
csthedras. Some are twisted and distorted
so as to resemble nothing but their twin
brothers far of in the distance. The bril-
liant and varied coloring-vermilion, blue,
gray, brown, yellow, white-of rock and cliff
adds to the splendor Of the scene. Do we
know how long the canyon IS? How wide it
least. Its suDlimty sufiices. We have seen
it before We must have seen it before. But
where! In our dreams.
sTUPEyDoUs sCENE.
But the scene is so stupendous that we can
not rely alone upon the eve to take it in We
must call III the aid of other faculties before
we can even form faint conception of the
ilmensity before us. Here is q sermon in
stones imdeedi
The view before US presents a chasm more
than twelve miles wide, more than one mile
in depth and stretches for miles and miles to
the east and to the west. The wall of the can
sbn does not at this point 90 sheer down to
the bottom, hut proceeds to it by series Of
benches" Still il descends pelpendicu,arly
or nearly soto the first bench so many
hundreds of feet that we grow dizzy when we
look over and contemplate il. We cannot see
the river Immediately below US partly from
this circumstance, partly because the view is
obstructed by many gigantic forms of rock
and earth. Far away TO the east we catch q
glimpse of n narrow white thread which we
are tod is the river Through powerful
glass we can see it seethnS and boiling over
rapids, and at times when the breeze dies
away we can hear the roar of the cascade
The distance, however, is so enormous that
we can hardly believe tue statement of the
guide that the stream is here large one sew
eral hundred feet wide
Nearly opposite where we stand, on the top
of an isolated butte, whose foundation seems
almost at the bottom of the abyss, is the sand
stone rock known as Heidelberg castle Miles
away to the northwest is an immense forma-
tion-so distant we cannot determine its COM
position-looking like the ruins of a cathedral.
Scattered throughout the length and breadth
of the gorge as far as theeye can reach and
isolated for the most part, are gigantic peaks,
crags and even mesus. Here and there far to
the north we catch glimpses of the distant
walls of the canyon ''on the other side"
THE BIOLOGISTS STATEMENT.
After the first impression of the beholder-
one of awe, of wonder, almost Of horror
the thought comes, Here has been some
mighty convulsion of nature that seems al !
most rs if it had shaken the earth to its cen
ter" We can scarcely credit the statement
of geologists that the river in its course for
ages has cut this mighty gorge which has
been widened by the combined agencies of !
corroson and disintegration. The mechanical
wear Of streams as performed by the aid Of /,
current is enormous "The element of veloc- |
ity." says Capt Dutton, lis of double i'm
portance. The Colorado in this respect is an
exceptional river. The average fall in feet !
per mile through the district of the Kaibab
(the Grand. cauyon) is 1207." The same
observes: Those who have long
and carefully studied the Grand canyon OF ,
the Colorado do not hesitate for a moment to
IL l.y for nr
earthly spectacles Ii its subiimity consisted !
only in its dimensions it could be sufficiently
set forth in n single sentence 1t is more
than 200 miles long, from to II wide, and
from 5000 TO 6.O0Q feet deep. There are in
the world valleys which are longer and few
which are deeper There are valleys fiauked
10y SUBMITS loftier than the palisades of the
Kaibab Still the Grand canyon is the sublin,-
est thing on earth. 1t is SO not alone by virtue
of Its magnitude, but by virtue of the whole
its ensemble"
There is a trail but difficult one, leading
from a point in this vicinity TO the bottom of
the canyon, and guides can be procured to
conduct the tourist TO it. Sne must have
very steady head. however, to accomplish the
feat and be good strong climber besides.
Some idea of the task may be had from the
fact that the tripoccupies three days and that
the difficulties Of climbing are great that
nothing can be transported but small guam
THY of food The hardships OF such an un-
are therefore apparent Very few
persons have ever attempted il, but among
them have been two ladies, upon one of
whom, Us / am informed, the effect of sur
such an incline has left an indelible
impression. She has never been the same
woman since.-New y ork Times /,