Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1903-11-25

. ~ EAaAA1AN1 EEAHA1 ~ w @Aab
were reflected in its depths-the beau
ty Of the tropical skies, the changing
effects Of the glow of the Aurora 30
reals were caught and imprisoned in
the ebb and flow of this petrihec
s%torm-beaten mystical semblance OF
waters, whose profound stiffness filed
me with terror mingled with rapture
that only those who appreciate and
love Nature can understand.
/ know l wa hypnotized by the
canyons vastness, by the magic OF
the pale blue mists half yelling the
temples, ~cathedrals, walls and bas.
lions that show along endless shelves,
where the armies Of the whole world
might find Judgment. / was helpless
and overpowered by it's beauty, its
mystery, as It stretched away in er.
ratio windings for miles and miles be.
yond the uttermost power of vision.
The ineffable beauty Of this prodigi.
Gus furrow plowed by the Colorado rlv.
or moved and stirred my whole being;
1t made my eyes sting with unbidden
tears, and evoked an involuntary sob
that startled me into a realization of
the emotions that chained me, a viii
ling captive, to the witchery of it's
magic spell-a spell that haunted me
through all the hours that came with
the night, after the dreadful ascent
from those fearful abysses, from the
sepulcher wrought and fashioned by
the agony of ages.
AT last / reached the brink, worn
and weary physically and mentally:
thankful that | had escaped from the
perils Of the trail unhurt; and more
than thankful for my day in the can
yon, which holds within its abyss a
weird, tangled, ~bewilderlng vortex of
supernal and undreamed-of impossi.
bic scenes of a real and unreal lower
world-scenes that haunted me
through all the hours that anne with
the night. when fatigue and sleep
stole my weary senses All that night
my hopes lowered over that won.
drous chasm, over those marvellous
terraced sleeps. At times | was once
again down into those vast silences:
then stood on some vast pinnacle.
discovering fresh colors; gold and
glistening blues intermlngled with
vivid reds, chromes and greens-all
the %colorings OF the earth and sky Is
conferred there, with the mystical tints
Of the ocean in the distance that had
so impressed me during the day. and
was with me in my dreams.
The canyons beauty. its awful
s%olitudes, We're still vivid in my mind
when | stole out In the gray dawn.
watching It turn 70 gold when the
sun sprang over the rim and stabbed
the gloomy depths with shafts Of
light melting away the vapors. light.
ing up the deep red sandstone and
tinted marbles that flashed and scin
ullated in the bright rays. That
mornings beauty and the glamor of
It, the majesty OF the scene spread
before me a panaroma OF color.
light and shade. mingled with celes.
ual beauty, win never be forgotten.
Other points were visited during my
stay at Bright Angel hotel. Often /
would wander away to a point and
seat myself on the rim-on the ery
edge OF the world il seemed-where
| could muse in peace, away from the
tongues that vex the soul. and look
out across the canyon | had so long
ed 10 see. Far as the eye could reach.
Il stretched In sinuous curves away
and away into the blue line OF forests
ON the opposite brink showed dimly
above the stratas OF pale yellow stone
a tumbled world, sloping down, down
from the far.of ancient banks OF a
now nearly a mile beneath me
There We're strange, gr~otesque. fan.
'inl upheayals and phantasmal forms
watched the play OF light and shade;
saw the sunstrike deep into the torn
ragged scars that were cut In the
ace OF the cliffs, Frightening the pink
red OF the limestone into deeper
.hades and showing the waterways
might have been fashioned By
igzag streaks Of lightning, as in con
used w%anderings they wind around
'innaclos and buttes worn into a
abyrinth OF ehasms and impenetrable
hadowy depths. 70 where the river
les-a river that I know Is foaming
own there below all this tangled
Of limestone sandstone. gneiss
quarts, that lies In ~indiscrimin. ,
confusion, yet so sublime, that
ften closed my eyes. unable 70 en. II
lure the wonderful mirages that show. !
81