The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-04-08

Nation Win Honor Daring of John
Wesley Powell.
monument TO BE ERECTED.
Shaft on Brink of Colorado River
Gorge Will Commemorate Deed OF
the Illinoi. Soldier First Man to Go
Through the Grand Canyon.

The daring of an lllinoiSAn. John
Wesley Powell. the first explorer I"
brave successfully the dangers OF dc
ScemiinE the t"lorad" river through
the chasm Of the Grand canyon. is I"
be mcln"rialiZ.N h. II monument that
will stand an he brink of the gorge.
There Is among the congressional
appropriations the sum of S'!NN for
the shaft. and plans are being made for
n tribute that fittilHly will comment
crate u feat that Is almost unique. II
Is for PuwclrS record MS II soldier and
n scientist us we'll Ms IN explorer that
the nation sets aside the sum of mon
cy. but the peculiar h"ldncss Of under
taking to shoot the unknown rapids OF
II humc. accomplishing 4 vertical dr
scent Of 5000 feet IN Il distance "f less
than Il thousand miIcs, courSiug most
or the way through unScalahlc wallis,
distinguishes his career
The explorer died seven years age.
aud already the remembrance Of his
noted expedition Is helm. lost, The
fact that. though born in New York.
Powell chose /" reside IN Illinois. that
he enlisted In the civil war as an iii
noiS volunteer and was y professor or
geology at Bloomington. while his OK
petition started from Chicago" has af-
forticd interest there T." the proposed
tribute "f the government.
The imrc of the blank places on the
map and Indian tales Of N mysterious
1,,., ,Is.,.
ton Of the undertaking. which WINS be-
gun In May. 1869. Four boats. none Of
them over twcnty-onc feet long. were
shipped from Chicago to the end Of tho
partly completed Union Pacific line
and the small party set out.
I'VE start with some anxiety. reads
one Of the entries In the diary Of the
trip odd m",intainccrs tell us that
the current cannot be run. The In
tlinns say. Water heap catch 'em.
But all are eager to be or"
SO into the flaming gorge they
plunged on II trip that WIS to take
mont ls aud from which the more timii
Of the party, whose courage failed
at the final test. were not L" return
alive They soon encountered rapids.
over which they had I" lower the
boats with ropes. themselves climbing
sides IF the canyon. The bntS were
provide with air tigLt compartments.
50 that they were buoynnt even when
filed with water.
Early in June one Of the boats was
wrecked IN this arduouS process.
brcakim. from control and dashing
away downstream. Fortunately 1t ran
into an eddy s"Iuc miles far, her on
and the party caught up with IT,
1t was IN the middle Of August.
three months after the start. that diff
cultics were met that first caused the
intrepid explorers to pause and con
slider a stretch Of water was before
them, to which the name of Hell'S
Half Mile has clung. In which the
hume dashed downward eighty feet In
a distance uf one third OF a mile On
either side were walls Ut granite 1000
feet high TINT gave no foothold.
Beyond the cliffs gained rapidly in
altitude until they reached Il nile In
height They must run the rapids or
abandon the trip. and they did not
faltcr. though 1t was slipping into Il
dark crevice from which there was no
going back Powell's boat was Ell
quilted IN the plunge through the rap
Ids. but its compartments kept It from
sinking. and no lives were lost.
On through the grand and gloomy
depths If the most marvellous part 81
the gorge they proceeded for TIVE
weeks more. when they approached "
point where the rOnr OF turbulent VA
tiers announced many miles away that
the greatest test was ahead. They put
In to one bank. and Il day was spent
studying the series Of fearful cataracts
| ahead
Here for the only time Powell. the
| leader, considered the wisdom Of seal
Ing the walls of the gorge and aban
dOning the trip. He took observations
! by the stars to determine their latitude
and longitude and estimated they had
seventy 1--WE VIJleS u1OTc W 20 uStS
provisions were low. AT one time
almost concluded to leave the river.
his diary records.
| On further study of the situation
however. he decided that II would bt
possible to let the boats over the trs
fall with ropes. then steer them neal
the right cliff to II point just above tho
second plunge There. he figured, there
was u chute that could he run safely
after which. by pulling with all power
across the stream to avoid great rocks
below. they could again proceed
| He announced that the party would
10 on. Three members dcnurrcd ant
determined to leave the river tryinl
IL reach safety over the mountains
The party split yp. and one boat. "
charge OF Its captain. y. G.. Rowland
and two others. was left behind. TIL,
three who stayed. II aftcrward was
learned. were killed hy Indians while
crossing the range. Powell and hi:
party made the descent In safety. wcr.
swept onward by u smooth and rapid