The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-08-28


the canyon minus two boats and four
men, His narrative Of his escapes and
struggles pictures one of the most des-
perate undertakings ever essayed by
man. The place seems TO have a fas-
cinatioH for many beholders like that
Of Niagara Falls. which tenpts per
sons Of peculiar temperaments 10 rush
over the brink with the green waters
Several lives have been lost in the
endeavor 10 emulate Major PoweIls
feat. but not one attempt has resulted
successfully, except one expedition
Eeaded by a man named stanton Some
OF his PARTY we're crazed- by their fear
ful struggles and the aWesOme sights
while Others were rendered physical
wrecks by their desperate and sus-
tanned efforts.
To the average person the descent
Of theSold Hauce trail offers plenty of
excitement, and ne is willing 10 leave
more dangerous routes 10 sure-foOteh
surveyors old-tfne mounts inmen. IN
the early days this was the only de-
scent 10 the river for a distance OF 800
miles. and it remains the safest and
shortest TO this day. For the first two
miles Of the descent it is sort of
Jacobs ladder down nearly uniform
decline. Al the end Of the two miles
a slope is reached known as the first
level This is $500 feet below the rim
or the canyon. Hance's rock cabin.
q rude shelter. fashioned by piling
bOulders together 50 as to form a sort
OF walled inclosure. over the top of
which are sticks and brush which have
been collected along the trail and car
ried with much labor to the spot IS
located a short distance beyond. or be-
low. the first level. This cabin is a IA
nous landmark in the southwest. II
Is the plan of the government to al
low II 10 remain just as il is at pres
cnt. for the sake Of old ASSOCIATIONS.
After leaving the Hance cabin the
explorer plunges down steep trail
that leads past walls Of red and dark
brown sandstone. Lizards and horned
toads scramble across the path, but all
ABOUT is silent save the ever increasing
roar of the torrent beneath At the
loot OF detached and slanting cliff
900 feet high a solitary Indian grave is
encountered, with some pottery. scat
tered around. Here also is the gigantic
niche named the Temple of Seti BY the
painter Thomas Moran. From this
point the descent must be made with
the utmost care Horses are abandoned
ana the tourist lowers himself into the
ABYSS Sheer deScents are found. which
require the use OF ropes. and at the last
there is drop Of forty feet, each per-
son beng swung over clinging to a
rope, and supporting himself as much
as he may By digging his feet into the
SIDE OF the cliff as he slowly sinks past.
Inc foot Of this cliff is near the edge of
the river, a narrow sandy strip inter
VenlnS The water. is oily in appear
ance, and darts with the swiftness of
an arrow past the little bach. A gi-
ganuc belt 100 yards in width. moving
with lightning speed. is an apt but in
adequate comparison with the river
There are DO eddies. no foam. no whirl-
pools, no rapids but a resistless. on
ward rush Of the whole body of the
stream.
Huge trees are tossed about like
corkS, enormous stones are rolled and
crushed together with a sound ike
thunder. where the water edges into the
loot of some dizzy cliff, thousands of
tons Of stone crash into the water at
intervals. only TO be jostied and rolled
away by the irresistible current
AT many points in the course of the
stream- though the canyon there are
waterfalls of enormous height The
river drops over cIias hundreds OF feet
high. apparently into the deuShs Of the
earth, nothing being visible but mist
and spray. but there is audible such
terrifying roar and rumble as suggests
Titanic forces at work. A mile or 50
below the river emreges having hewn
for itself a passage through the living
rock.