Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-10

1T really was not as bad as II looked.
When water is going down a grade like that
1t is moving some. You cannot really run
a boat on rock even II You want to. and
the only thing was to hold our breath
until we got through
The three men who left the party decided
that they had enough river in theirs and
quit in the neighborhood of what is now
known as Peach Springs. They were
given their share OF the provisions and
undertook to climb out of the canyon.
this being one Of the three points where
It was possible to scale the wall, and
they were given also what was thought
then to be the duplicate of the scientific
records There had been a record kept
in duplicate on the whole trip. but in the
confusion of parting, it was afterward
part OF both copies of the record, while
part of both copies was kept by the boat
crew. The three men did manage to
climb out of the canyon. but were after
on the warpath in the surrounding coun-
try. All of the papers they had with
them were burned. and so the record Of
this first expedition was only fragmen-
verse map. but as all of the small sheets
put together made a map less than four
feet long covering 1000 miles of I'M
known territory. 1t will be seen that the
map was not on very large scale
The Atlas Sheets.
The particular atlas sheet which has
just been finished by the survey includes
the course of the Bright Angel river,
which enters into the very heart of the
canyon. The way that this came to be
named forms one of the incidents of the
story: There are no fish in the Colorado.
1t being too turbulent and muddy but
many of the side streams coming in
through equally deep canyons are as
clear as crystal and furnish splendid
hsh1ng. When the party was on the up
per stretches of the river it struck
what Is now the mouth of the Fremont
river. coming in from one side. The Ere
mont Is almost as big as the Colorado and
fully as muddy. One of the men, Bill
Hawkins, the cook, had crossed over to
see what sort of stream it was. and
when one OF the party called across TO
know, he yelled back oh she's dirty
devil. Such was an accurate though
not very polite description of the FIRE.
mont river, and 1T was carried on the
maps as the Dirty Devil river for a
number of years. Afterward the name
was changed to the Fremont. in honor of
the Pathfinder.
When the party reached the mouth of the
Bright Angel river it found one of the
most beautiful stretches of country and
the purest and most delightful water imag-
Unable. Maj. Powell remarked. I'VE have
paid our respects to one side of the house
and as We don't want to play favorites. /
think we had better name this the Bright
Angel Canyon" Bright Angel 1t was and
has remained so up to date.
The party continued down the river to
the mouth of the Virgin, and here the great
canyon breaks down suddenly within two
miles from a height of 6,oOO to less than
1000 feet. The course of the river was
known from this point on. and leaving
some of the boats to the men who went in
them down to Yuma. Maj. Powell took the
rest of the party across country on horse
back and thus the first expedition ended.
The second was quite as full of hardships,
but more satisfactory from scientific
standpoint. There were three boats, lit
tie larger than the first ones. but, like
them, made in Chicago and shipped west.
One of these was lost in the passage OF
the river but a considerable mass OF
scientific notes was accumulated, and
those two expeditions under Maj. Powell
opened the eyes of the world to what
marvellous natural phenomenon Grand
CANYON really is.