The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-02-26
IMPOSSIBLE TO DESCRIBE
GRAND CANYON SCENERY

Volumes have been written about
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado;
many paintings exist. the work of tall
ented artists; the camera has done
its best; Nat Brigham and others have
told Of the wonders from the platform
and still all agree that no cOnceD-
ton can be conveyed by brush, pen
or tongue of what nature has done in
this little known country.
II. L. 4. Culmer and =. T. Whitaker
spent the month OF June, 1901, in the
strip" and as "a result a number of
beautiful canyon paintings from the
brush of Mr.. Culmer have found their
way into the homes of Salt Lake.
the homes of eastern cities, and even
London. England Gunner and Whit
aker left the railroad at Milford and
returned to it at Lund- From Mil
ford they went to Beaver from there
TO Panguitch. from there to Kanab.
and from there across the desert to
the Coconino mine at the foot of the
Kaibab. Speaking of the trip, Mr..
Gunner said:
Beauties of the Desert.
To a person in search of rivers
and luXuriant vegetation, there is lit
tie in the desert to attract; but to me
il was full of beauty. The color ef-
fectS can never be forgotten. the soft,
dreamy. oDalescent haze of the even
ing has "A wonderful charm. We We're
three or four days on the desert There
for the first time IN my life l saw cat
tie herders taking their MONDAY nap
in the shade OF their horses The men
would lie down under their horses
feet and sleep in the little patch of
shade made by their horses bodies
1T was the only shade anywhere in
sight.
ION our trip TO and from the Colo
RADIO river we We're i'm the strip" all
the time except a few days spent on
the Rio Virgin. We found one Gu
rfous device here. The kolob pleateau
was named by the Mormons. KOlOb
means nearest to the sun Part or
this plateau is known as Long val
ley. This is a heavily timbered coun-
try: there are SawmillS in operation.
and quite a settlement. But this Long
valley IS not easily reached. II Is 3,OUO
feet above the Rio Virgin. To get mail
nm and down to the people il was
necessary 10 go around by the way OF
Kanab and the Kanab desert, a dis
lance of many miles. one chap with
an idea got the government contract
TO carry the mail on the basis of go
ing over this long route. Instead or
that. however. he built windlass on
the lowest point of the cliff he could
reach readily. Then with some dis
carded telegraph wire ne made an
aerial tramway or wireWay. BY TINS
means ne conveyed the mail up and
down a distance of $500 feet From
the bottom il was taken TO Sprlngdale
Rockville and Virgin city, saving hIty
miles. BY this ingenious device the
contractor was making a nice income
When we were there they We're plan
ming to enlarge the tramway TO car
nv lumber, fruit and vegetables.
Islands in the Air.
Among the chief wonders of thai
wonderful country to me were The
Islands in the Air They are found
in the Vermillion cliffs. and from there
south to the river in many places
These islands are fertile spots on TOP
of the buttes often 5000 feet in the
air. Around the base of the butte
there is nothing but ssgebrush and
sand. intense heat. hot winds and des-
olation. On the top of the butte viii
be found perfect little parks with
luxuria7t wild grass, a Drofusion Oi
flowers. fine forests and even trout
streams in some cases. Many of these
are absolutely inaccessible. and must
remain 50 forever, or until the flying
machine comes into use. To reach
some of them il would be necessary
20 climb cliffs that rise almost per