Smyrna times., 1936-01-02
MAY EXPLORE
SALMON RIVER
To Find Out More About An
Area That Is Little
Known
PHOTOGRAPH RESULTS

Washington.-The Salmon river
canyon in Idaho, sne of the largest
primitive areas in the United
States, with a gorge SURPRISING the
Grand canyon of the Colorado IN
depth and steepness, will be ex-
plored and photographed soon by
the Salmon river expedition OF the
National Geographic society, ac-
cOrding to an announcement mace
by Vice President John Oliver La
Gorce.
The expedition personnel includes
Philip ]. Shenon and John c. Reed
of the e. S. Geological survey;
MAYNARD Owen Williams. staff rep
resentative of the National Geo
graphic society; Robert Marshall,
naturalist; D. Worth Clark, and
two local boatmen.
Travel Upstream impossible.
"The Salmon river, which winds
through rugged central Idaho, has
been truly designated the River
of No Returns" the announce
ment continues. "The falls and
roaring rapids of the swift stream.
and the sheer cliffs and rugged
ness of the canyon, make travel up
stream impossible. downstream
navigation can be accomplished only
in stout, fiat-bottOmed boats, rein
forced to Withstand numerous col
lisions with boulders in the rap
ids and low falls.
1.-THE source of the river is in the
rugged sawtOOth mountain range
of southern Idaho. For many miles
il flows north. About 20 miles be-
low the town of Salmon it turns
westward TO enter the main gorge.
| The Salmon river expedition Will
| begin its exploration at Salmon
/ early in October, working down the
river through the main gorge to
/ the lower gorge. The latter begins
at Whitebird and extends about 30
miles TO the junction of the Salmon
] ana Snake rivers.
"The wildly beautiful main gorge
of the Salmon river is one Of the
lOneliest regions In the country.
For 150 miles along a deep, twist
ing canyon the only settlement Is
an occasional cabin. The rushing
torrent has cut through several
thousand feet of lava flows and
| deep into older formations beneath.
The canyons great depth, 5000 feet
in places, permits scientific study
oe formations more than mile
below the original surface of the
main body of granite rock.
Subjects for Color Camera.
1.-THE walls of the canyon itself
are brilliantly colorful. On Big
Creek, in the canyon area, are ex-
tensive but little known prehistoric
Indian picture writings that have
not been studied.
In addition, the forests and flow
ers of the region are expected TO
provide excellent subjects for the
color camera. In the Salmon and
the Clearwater mountains, bear,
mountain goat, mountain sheep
deer. elk and moose roam far from
the usual haunts of man. In add.
ton to salmon, there are several
varieties of fish. including the rare
red fish trout.
"The Salmon river area has an
interesting historical background
beginning with the Lewis-Clark ex,
pedition to the Northwest in 1905
Stories of Indian warfare, pictur
esque early settlers and exciting
gold rushes lend glamour TO the
region. Scenes of earlier gold rusf
days are again being re-enacted In
this section of Idaho. The granite
rock. known as Idaho Batholith
through which the Salmon rivel
cuts Its way, is similar to that o.
the Coeur d'Alene region, source o.
most of the states mineral wealth.