The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-01-22
TRIP NEVER BEFORE ATTEMPT
ED SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED
BY TWO ADVENTUROUS BROTH
ERS.

u
their trip completed in this city, they
have accomplished feat heretofore
deemed altogether impractieahle, if
not almost impossible, says the New
Orleans Picayune
From the lofty Businesses of the
Colorado hills, taking a difficult and
laborious course over the shallow and
uncertain Platte river, the young men
made their way in the light craft; sur
mounting desperate obstacles they
gained the Missouri and then after
days rowing and sailing entered the
great father of waters, to finally end
their adventure in the far southland,
having accomplished their mission,
and proved themselves to be men, re-
sOurceful and courageous.
The Denver Bubble. that is the
name of the Osborne's boat-droppei
down the Mississippi in front of the
city yesterday, and tied alongside the
steamer Charles Chambers, at the
/ head of ClOuet street. In the boat
were three young men, the Osborne
brothers, and H. r. Scott. a druggist
of Portland, Oregon, who had made
the trip with the former from st.
Louis.
An Ordinary Boat.
The Bubble" is a boat of ordinary
appearance, and would not attract
special attention in a port like New
Orleans, where so many craft OF all
descriptions are to be found. She
looks the usual fiat bottom skif, o.
rowboat, and in her forward seat has
a rest for sail pole or mast. In the
hnur and IL, CT orn nl1nnd lnnk-
ers in which the voyagers. kept most
of their effects while on the journey.
w. G. Osborne, one of the brothers,
was seen by a Picayune reporter last
night, and gave an interesting account
of the trip from Denver-Denver was
the starting point-to New Orleans.
I'VE made the long Journey" be-
gan Mr.. Osborne, purely in spirit of
adventure, and with a desire to see
some of the great Mississippi Valley,
we'd heard so much about. My father
is in business in Denver. and | work
ed as a pressman, while my brother
was a stenographer and secretary to
the state engineer of the Idaho Dis
\ trict.
i MY brother and had been all over
/ the northern, eastern and western
portion of the United States, but VS.
had never been south, and we wanted
to see that section of our country.
We conceived the plan of making a
! trip to the Gulf of Mexico in a boat
from Denver, and the people we spoke
to laughed at us, saying that. it woull
be impossible for even a chip To get
through the shallow Platte river.
Despite the scoffing and laughing
/ we went to work on our scheme, and
my brother planned and
Constructed the Skiff Himself.
! He made it fiat-bottomed, so that il
could get through shallow places, and
built it along the lightest lines pos
sible.
! I'VE launched our boat on the
| Platte river at Denver, and filled our
! lockers with clothes and provisions.
! The Platte is little better than a ditch
! at Denver, and there are places so
| narrow that one can jump across it.
/ The whole town laughed at us. but
! we didn't care. and on June 1 we
| started out, taking with us Dan Bar
mum. young high school boy, on his
vacation.
Our troubles began almost from
! the start and we found the Platte
! river in places so shallow that our
boat couldn't float at ALL You know
! in that country every bit OF water
| is used and reused for irrigation pur-
! poses, and the result is that every
river and stream Is shallow For
/ three weeks We made the slowEst
kind of time, and We had to do a lot of
! polling and pulling to move at all.
Some times when we encountered
| sand bars we'd have TO get out. in
the mud, and drag our boat 1t took
us three weeks to get out of Colorado.
| and in our course We came upon forty
or fifty dams. When we met up with
| dams we'd have TO drag our boat out.
and carry it to a point below and
! launch it,
AT night we'd tie our boat up.
and go ashore to sleep. He had
very small canvas tent to serve as
! protection when it rained, and would
| always build a fire before turning in.
TO keep of wild beasts and snakes.
A Mountain Freshet.
"One evening when we pitched our
| tent on shore, the river was shall
| low and still, but that same night
we were arouse by the roar Of waters.
and found that a mountain fresher
| had broken loose and caused a small
! flood Tie river was a leaping, swirl
ing torrent, and the water was churn-
ed to white foam, which showed
clearly in the faint moonlight. Up
rooted trees were being borne past
us, and other debris, which told OF
| the freshet's force.
I'VE could not feat our boat the
next morning, for fear of being wreck
ed, and were compelled 10 remain in
camp for several days until the waters
lad receded somewhat. When we did
resume our trip, we found the country
on either side of US flooded to the ex-
tent Of a mile or two, but the river
bed was still just underneath our
keel, and it was Ike making way on
a pond full of mud bars
When We reached Nebraska our
troubles were. if anything, greater.
The Platte was so shallow that the
three Of us were barefooted in the
water the better part of the time.
dragging and pushing our boat. We
encountered low bridges, dams and
frequently barbed wire fences, but
worst of all the people were most in
tOcnffa HE apI fOr