, 1898-08-18


Denver Post: 1t was by crawling
upon stomachs on a ledge of insecure
rock overlooking a precipice with a
sheer drop of 1000 feet that the sum-
nit Of the Grand Teton was gained last
Thursday. The rock in places was 50
narrow that progress was made only
by seeking out with the fingers crevices
in which to secure a hold to drag the
body along.
4 lock down for a moment only
would have been sufficient to turn the
brain and send a body ~careering
through the air to a grave nearly a
mile below.
The story of the ascent of the Grand
Teton. for the first time in the history
Of the most inaccessible peak in the
Rocky mountains, forms a chapter OF
Is thrilling interest as was ever writ
Ten. 1t rivals the most difficult feats
If Alpine climbing. Crevices, snow
banks. glaciers and ice-great fields Of
.t-precipices and ~crumbling. falling
granite were encountered by the ven
.uresCmC party who made the ascent
ma planted the metal flag of the
Rocky Mountain club on a pyramid OF
,ock never seen before by man. That
some one was not killed is a mystery.
As it was a large boulder became dis
lodged and fell, seemingly, straight on
the head of John Shive. one Of the
guides. The man looked up. grasped
the rope more tightly and laughed.
The great mass of rock had suddenly
swerved. scraped the brim of his hat
as he jumped, and fell into the vast
stretch of distance below.
The Grand Teton is the subject OF
hundreds of legends by the Indians and
is still a mysterious temple Of the Great
Spirit to them. No m has eve been
able to get to the top of the immense
Wyoming peak. 1t has been regarded
rs folly, and a belief of the ranchers
and countrymen around the pyramid
of granite and ice is that the govern
ment has a standing offer of $40 900
cash to anyone who will climb to the
summit. When the clubs representa-
tives announced that they were going
to the top the Idaho Falls Register, in
long editorial. warned them against
the folly of the undertaking and ad-
vised them to give up a wild scheme
that was sure to result disastrously.
There were four men who made the
ascent-Rev. Frank S. S%palding. for
merly of Denver and now of Erie. Pa.
= son of Bishop John +. Spalding Of the
diocese of Colorado; w. o. Owen of
Cheyenne; Frank S. Peterson. of Jack
son. Wyo.. and John Shive, of Elk.
Wyo.
This morning Rev. Frank Spaldins
passed through Denver On his way to
he Bishops cottage at Slaght's, in the
Platte canon. He arrived over the I'm
ion Pacific from Cheyenne. and left on
the sis o'clock South Park. AT the
depot he was greeted enthusiastically
by a crowd of members of the Rocky
Mountain club. President George H.
KniftOn congratulated the successful
climber in the name of the club, saying
that the climbing of the Grand Teton
is the proudest achievement yet ac-
complished by that body of hard noun
taireers.
Mr.. Sp%alding's story is a graphic re-
cital of how the summit was gained.
The party left Denver on August 5.
I'VE reached Market Lake, Idaho. on
August s." said Mr.. Spalding. I'VE
secured a team and rode to Jackson's
Hole. a two and one-half days journey.
At the Hole we took pack horses and
made twelve miles on the Teton range.
just inside the Wyoming line. Our
the 10th of August. That afternoon was
spent in perfecting our plans. In adj
dition o Owen. Peterson and Shive,
were Tom Cooper and Hugh McDer-
mott. two old-timers and royal good
fellows.
THE camp was right beyond the
Grand Teton and it was a sight hat I
shall never forget, when early on the
morning of the 18th we saw it wreath
ed with clouds and somber as if rebuk-
ing us for daring to scale it.
We started at 5 o'clock. The first
difficulty encountered was that we
would select an easy route which would
end abruptly in a precipice. We went
up something like 900 feet, and being
confronted with a wall of rock went
down again. Finally We made the val
ley again and determined to follow il
up. We reached our first glacier and
found that it was three-fourths Of a
mile across, solid ice covered with
rocks and checkered with deep crew.
asses.
I'VE began to realize what was be-