The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-11-15
Trapped in an Eddy.
81 OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

1S4FffYTTY'T 'Ff''T'TY''YTYYYgSSSS
N BOUT twenty years ago my
~ father with two friends, be-
~ sides an experienced plains
man named Ike Thompson
and myself, were hunting and eXplor
ing in that great territory in the
neighborhood of the Colorado River.
We had three prairie-schOon-
ers"-loaded with traps, guns, speci-
MEMS food ammunition and so on, UNI
til our horses fell sick of a strange
disease, and all soon died but two. As
these could not draw our things to
any trading post, we cached" the
bulk of them, and hurried forward
with the remainder and our sorry
team.
We Travelled to the nearest point, the
old pioneer town Of st. George,
through about one hundred and ten
miles of dreary waste, with water
holes not less than twenty-five miles
apart. At st. George we made halt,
but could get no horses; so we fol
lowed the Virgin River to Rioville,
where there was a ferry,
Here we expected to get boat that
would carry us down the Colorado to
the Needles, on the border between
Arizona and California, where we
knew we could get horses with which
to come back for our cached things
a journey Of about four hundred miles.
At Riovllle we found no boat, and
no one who could build one. So my
father proposed the making Of a raft.
We crossed to an island near by, felled
several trees, cut them into twenty
foot pieces twelve inches thick, criss-
crossed the timbers in true lumber
mans fashion, fastening them with
wooden pegs, and soon had a complete
raft with a rude box amidships fol
our baggage.
Early the next morning we started
on a good current lately increased by
heavy rains, and entered the great
Colorado canon an hour later. VIVA
a sight it was had never been il
even tiny gorge before, except a
Watkins Glen, in New York State
and now l was suddenly passing be
tween perpendicular walls of soliC
rock never less and often much NOR
than one thousand feet high and per
feet Kaleidoscope Of changing color
AS Major Powell had descended
bad part of the river only the year be
fore that time, my father supposed on
stout raft would carry up safely; bu
we soon found that the wild waite
required all hands to work. Their
was scarcely mile without rapids
If we could have turned back afte
the first fifteen miles, we should hav
done so; but now there was nothing
do except sweep and swirl on to til
end. The water often washed ovt
us to our arm pits, and often we ha
to work desperately to "fend off" fro
the cliffs at sudden turns and twist
At night we were fortunate enoug
to find a baclIwater where we cou
tie up. Having set watches Of tV
hours each to see that the ropes d
not chafe through, we rested, and
sumed our journey on the followil
morning. About ten o'clock in t
forenoon we turned q corner suddenl
and saw a divided way in front
us, one current turning slightly we
the other slightly east. Utterly po
erless to guide the raft, we were CT
ried furiously toward the entrance
the westerly water.
There the surge seemed to 60 fro
under us, and then we hung for Il
moments, doing our best to push
of danger that we could now cleai
see. Some rocks were so near us
our upstream side that Ike Thon
son seized a lariat, meaning to jul
TO them and hold the raft from fall
into the west water; but just Il
the surge came up again and flung
into the great eddy that we so fear
1t did not seem a terrible place
all when first we were fairly in it,
the raft was then lying on smo
pool. 1t was a pool in blind gora
n gorge which had no opening exc
where we had entered.
Save at that place, the eddy
surrounded by cliffs fully two I'll
eavd foot hi0h The hole or I