The Washington times., 1910-05-03
"My Story of My Life"
Copyright. 1910. By Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate COpyTiEat n Canada and
Great Britain All Rights Reserved
CHAPTER XIII.
A Wild Hunting Trip Down the
Colorado.

z
mad was early in the summer OF
1902 when 1 took a hunting trip
down the Colorado into the coun-
Try Of the outlaws. where the only law
Is the six-shOoter. and a mans LIE Is as
cheap as a steers
In the first place this wasn't intended
as a hunting expedition al all I had
beer told about q fine mining property
for sale about thirty miles out OF Yuma,
50 went down with q, mining expert 10
look at it, There were several men in
our party one v as a former Roosevelt
Rough Rider. whose Eanne I don't re-
member, and another was a Mexican
named Martinez
We reached the mine after a hard
trip, look Il over, and found It no
good Jnen some one suggested that
we take boat down the river and hunt
Wild boar. That proposition hit me as
just about the right thing Il beat min
ing al hollow. especially when your
mines don't pan out.
50 We managed to get a big scov in
which four or six men could row al the
same time, loaded 1t Up with enough
provisions 10 last for several months
and showed out into the stream one
me afternoon about o'clock
The Colorado river IS one OF the most
tTeacheTous and dangerous streams IN
The world. It is filed with whirlpooIs
and eddies and rapids No one knows
Evila- makes them or where the water
goes TheL Il is sucked down, but it's
LyLt5dA pEH ILe boat Inar gets into one
You can hear the water sucking down
from long way of. It's the most
weird sound IN the wOrld-just q sucking
sound, sometimes soft and sneaky. some
tunes deep and hollow I'd rather hear
2 mountain lion or a bear rnoGchirg
around camp n the dark than one Of
those WhirlpOOls near the boat on a dark
night A fellow has a chance 70 fight
against any animal, but II you once got
dragged down 20 the bottom Of the Col
0Tad0. and perhaps into some under
ground river beneath it-weIl, IL wouldn't
be a pleasant way 10 IND your fnish-s
A Lively Experience.
We were out on the n ser three nights
and two days, and on a -cOunt Of these
whirlpools we had 10 keep some one on
was a strain on a fellows nerves a.
night. sitting there and listening, every
thing pitch black. and the boat drifting
along as silently as II Il were gong
through a cave. The banks would be
swallowed Up in the darkness. The boat
would think Il was resting on sand
bar Then there might Ue little lap
ping sound OF in the distance and nTSt
thing you knew the whole outfit would
be tearing down q rapid and every BODY
would be out with oars and poles ready
20 clear the boat II Il struck snsg
and wondering what on earth was 81
the foot OF the rifle. Then when YOU
struck smooth water again you might
hear that ugly. sucking sound, and then
mere q De llA---ll- ~ ND D-N D4N 49,
the oars and row away from II as hard
as you could
one night I woke I'D feeling uneasy
and not knowing just why / lay still
for couple OF seconds getting my
bearings, and just then. out Just ahead
OF us. I heard the roaring SUCK OF a
big w'hirI. Our Swede guide, fellow
named Gus WIS supposed 10 be on
watch Gus surely knew enough about
the dangers OF the river 10 stay aWak.
but I jumped ID and looked around by
prupped I'D n the stern Of the boat fast
asleep.
I was 50 mad that 7 reached for the
first big oar I could get and banged
Gus over the head yelling AZ the same
time FOR Jhs other fellows 70 turn out
and grab the sweeps and row for their
lives The whirl had already caught Us
ana we began to swing IN a big circle
that slowly narrowed down Almost [
the nasty sucking sound Of the funnel /
and We knew that II ever we got into 1
that Il would be all Up with Us By /
desperate rowing Tor q minute or 50 we 1
managed 70 Poll ourselves out The /
current caught Us again and swept Us /
down the river
For a while We listened for other 4
ThirlpOCls but didn't hear any Il was I
zettiuz near daylight, and most OF Us /
Gus sat in the srearn OF the boat rub
bling his head Guess I nearly split Il i
open with the oar blade-wOuld have 4
split II If the Swede's skull hadn't been /
solid ivory Gus never forgot my crack j
ing him over the head with that oar, a /
you viii see a little further along in /
this story