Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1911-06-29

ern sky. And over all is the illusion
of distance.
One cannot conceive the vastness of
1t all and is met by a series of sur
prises. as it is borne in upon him that
yonder gorge, or rock, or peak, or cape
lies miles in the distance. At the
bottom of the gorge the river, turbu-
lent and picturesque, madly rushes on
amid its rock environment lashing it.
self into foam. About the mighty
peaks scars the eagle, and struggling
vegetation contends against fate for a
foothold among the rocks. But the
beasts of the forest and the flowers Of
the field rarely intrude upon these
lonely solitudes
1t is conceded that the Grand canyon
cannot be adequately painted in words,
yet some comparisons may give an
idea of its immensity. Its total length
from the confluence of the Green river
to it's outlet in the Gulf of California
Is more than 700 miles. With its nu-
merous laterals, some of which are
shown in the accompanying illustra-
tions, its length is more than 1000
miles. The great scenic section com
monty meant by the words, the Grand
canyon of Arizona, with a depth of
more than mile from the rim of the
river. is 217 miles long. 1t has been
estimated that if all the earth and
rock that has been and will be exca-
waited for the building of the Panama
canal, from the first inception of that
great enterprise by the French COM
pany to it's ultimate completion to sea
level by the American government
could be dumped into this great rift
in the Arizona plateau, it would still
require twenty thousand times as
much more to fill it; and the surface
area of the built up territory would be
more than $1,000 square miles, or
to Massachusetts, Delaware, Conecti-
cut and Rhode Island, combined. If 1t
were possible to take the whole chain
of the Allegheny mountains, turn them
upside down and dump them into the
Grand canyon, there would still be a
peak east of the Rockies could be
planted at the level of the Colorado |
river, its summit would still be far
below the feet of the observer stand |
ing on the rim. The greatest of the
pyramids of Egypt is 485 feet high, the |
Washington monument is 555 feet tall |
and the hat on the statue of William |
Pen that surmounts the City hall at
is 557 feet above the
level of the street If one placed the
Pyramid of Cheops upon the floor of
the canyon, planted the Philadelphia
City hall upon it's apex, and then
poised the Washington monument up
on that their aggregate height would
reach only quarter of the way to the
top.
1t is A years since Maj. Powell, long
the distinguished head of the United
States Geological survey signaled to
his fellow countrymen that be had
made the run of 1000 miles of Ameri-
can canyons. The scientific world
stood agape, for the feat was believed
20 be all btu impossible. Up to Pow
Ills time man thought of the canyon
Is something altogether forbidding
md unapproachable-s little was It
,nown, so much was 1t dreaded-and
,ven. now when men have descended
% the river by man-made trails and
he telephoto lens has searched out
he unreachable places, though tour
SITS have confronted It with battery
Il cameras, thought geologists have
,orne their testimony and artists have
ketched and painted. and travellers
AVE exhausted vocabularies to give
.xpression to their wonder-still we
ave caught but a glimpse Of this
manifold mystery. for the particular !
lew that enthralls us is but one OF
en- thousand views.
Thomas Moran, whose masterful
ainting Of the canyon adorns the capt.
Of at Washington. and who. above all
ther painters. has succeeded In de-
icting It's illusive atmosphere, once
aid: Il can understand how q man O
an attempt to paint the canyon, but
ov can a man be foolish enough to 4
tempt To describe it,"