The Coconino sun. (Flagstaff, Ariz.) 1898-1978, 1916-08-11

name of the Black Chasm of the Gun
nison, torrentiai, horrible in its dan
gers, must be added another now
the Unconquered. To the terrors of
that great earthly incision of scraggy
stone and leaping, roaring natural
millraces must be added another
chapter. For the Gunnison has won,
won against the human efforts to con-
quer it, won and sent away its COM
batants bleeding, tired, heart weary.
The expedition of Ellsworth Kolb,
who. Sought to be the first man to
traverse the current of the Mad Gun
nison, has failed. And the Gunnison
roars on---unconquered.
Twelve miles below the mouth of
the Cimmaron river, four men are
resting now-resting and recuperat-
ing from the most perilous trip Of ex-
ploration in the history Of Colorado.
Beyond them the Gunnison river tum-
bles on through its black-ribbed can
yon, roaring its defiance-while- the
four men talk and plan of the future,
then shudder with the memory Of the
past.
For it was only through climb of
$500 feet up the sheer side of a
greasy-stoned precipice that the men
who sought to conquer the Gunnison
escaped from death.
The trip, which was to make his
tory in the story Of Colorado explora-
ton, began for the second time last
Friday. Then, equipped with boats,
motion picture cameras and other
necessities, Ellsworth C. Kolb, photo
grapher, of Grand Canyon, Ariz. N.
B. Stearn, New York business man;
]. F. Stone, manufacturer, of Co.
lumbus, Ohio, and John Shields, a
Grand Canyon guide, the four men
started on what was to end strug-
gle--not to conquer the canyon, but
to loosen the clutching fingers of
death.
On Wednesday they had launched
their two boats and a life raft, just
above the mouth of the Cimarron
river, only to see one of the boats and
the raft torn to pieces in the eddies
and the whirlpools of the angry Gun
nison. At that time escape from
death had been narrow also, but the
expedition had not been daunted. And
so it was that Friday afternoon, after
a rest of several days, they again
made their attempt to travel the rag
ing river.
Ropes Cut Deep Into Mems Hands
This time canvas boat, loaded
with equipment and food formed their
only conveyance. Tow lines were
stretched fore and aft, while the men,
struggling and scrambling along the
steep sides of the canyon, sought to
take the boat through the narrows
and on into the deeper recesses Of the
chasm. Here and there shot the boat
as the torrent caught it and whirled
It about. The noise of the plunging
current was terrific. The ropes cut
into the hands of the struggling men,
but their fight had begun and they
intended to contest the Unconquered
Chasm to the end.
Now and then the stream would
whirl and dash through lining Of
perpendicular walls, while the men,
hanging to the tow ropes, would
swim to the nearest vantage points,
then again take up their struggling
progress along the rocky walls and
lodges. The hours passed. The roar
ing deafened them. The day dragged
away. Once, after terrific swim
through a laundering, poundering
mealstrom, Stone and Shields were
dragged from the water by the other
two members of the party, almost
unconscious.
Six Horrible Miles Travelled in Day
A wait for resuscitation, then the
struggle began again. Slowly the
day died, to find the four men,
crumpled on the spray-dashed rocks
of the canyon, half dead from fatigue,
struggling against odds even as they
tried to sleep. A day had passed,
day of terrors, Of horrors-and they
had traversed six miles.
A small amount-yet creator
with the dawn of the next day the
four weakened men found that they
could not struggle against the cur
rent with the strength and the resist
ance they had shown before. Then,
too, there were more times when the
water ran between sheer bluffs, and
when the only possible progress was
by swimming.
There were more times when the