St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-03-26
The Grand Canyon OF the Colorado.
Editorial Correspondencc.l


When a friend of mine presented his
wife to a gentleman friend the latter S
first greeting was this Madam, am
like the man who was asked if he had ever
seen Niagara Falls and who replied, i
have never seen the falls, but | have often
heard EN- iavorabIy spoken OF"
l can say frankly state that this Is
about all knew about the grand can
yon of the Colorado. | did not know
until this winter that it wasn't in Colo
RADIO, but in Arizona. And now have
seen it l can only regret that can so
i'm perfectly describe this Titan OF chasms'
No painting of Moran's nor any photo
graph can do it justice, and 50 shall not
essay any word painting or search my
pocket unabridged dictionary tor aCJect.
ives. My only hope is to interest you
enough to induce all that travel to see
it for yourself, or in the words OF another,
Don't take my word for it, but investi
gate" My story begins with lesson in
geography
In the southwestern corner of WyOm-
ing, at The base of the Rockies, the Green
river Uses and few hundred miles below
it's source it is joined by the Grand river,
the junction being in southern Utah,
Arv1,,a vUho has baan from Denver tO
Salt Lake on the Denver &, Rio Grande
does not need to be told OF the wild seen
cry along the Grand river, but this is
only toretaste of what may be seen tai
Their down stream. TIE Colorado river
is formed by the junction OF the Green
and Grand and after leaving the Mormon
state, literally cuts its way through the
rocks in northwestern Arizona, and be-
coming the eastern boundary OF CaliIor-
MIA and Nevada empties into the gulf of
California below the unjn cresting town
of Yuma, | suppose it was called the
Colorado river because it doesn't flow
through Colorado, though this is only
my theory in regard to it. The grand
canyon lies wholly in Arizona and is
nearly 200 miles long and 13 miles across
at the widest point. Having fms shed
our geography lesson will you bear with
me while we take a short lesson in his
tory.
The Spaniards were the first white set.
tiers in the Southwest and the Colorado
river was first discovered in 1910. 1t
soon became known to the civilized
world that the great river flowed
through impossible canons, and | shall
not weary you with the story of the
earlier voyages that were attempted by
adventurous Spanish cavaliers. In 1857
our government sent Lieut.. Ives to ex.
pIore the river. He never saw the grand
canon, though he thought he did, as he
never got out OF Nevada in his attempt
to run his little steamer up stream
Twelve years later the grand canon
was thoroughly explored by Maj. J. w
Powell OF the United States Geological
Survey His voyage OF 1000 miles occu
pied three months and he lost only foul
boats and two men in his perllous trip
His story OF this voyage is undoubtedly
one OF the most valuable government re
ports ever published and more interos ST
ing than a whole library of Compression
al Records, barring the account of the
recent prize fight in the senate. But {
generation has passed away since Mai
Powell discovered the canon and unit
recently you could hardly find a person
who had visited the grand canon, though
they proudly told you they had walkct
up Mount Rigi aud stood on "Inspra
ton Point" in the Yosemite. Until 1906
the grand canon was in one of the un
beaten tracks OF travel and to reach i
involved dusty stage ride of so miles
Now, thanks to Vermont capital and III
Santa Fe railroad, you can ride to tn
canon's rim in a Pullman car. A few
years ago a slick promoter induced som
Rutland capitalists to build a railroad
from Williams, Arizona, towards tn
canon, andiucdentalIy sold the Vermont
ers some copper claims nearby TIL
railroad had the usual history of road
built by Vermont capital and was abou
as profitable an investment as the 2.
O. of our own section. Then the SAINT
Fe absorbed the little road into it's grea
system and extended the road to tn
jumping off place where the Brigh
Angel hotel stands overlooking tn
canon at its widest point. 1t is at thi
spot that Mr.. Lummis says he has see
strong men break down and weep, so
you have tears to shed, prepare to she
them now.
Those of you who have seen Pike
Peak will recall it is about 1000 fee
high at Colorado Springs. Now if 70