HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY

 CALIFORNIA

 Thompson & West, 1892

 

CHAPTER 2:

BIG CANON OF THE COLORADO

 

LIEUTENANT WHIPPLE'S EXPEDITION.

 
                   In the spring of 1854 Lieutenant Whipple in command of an expedition for the exploration and survey of a railroad route near the 35th parallel, reached the Colorado at the mouth of Bill Williams' Fork, and ascended the river from that point about fifty miles and reported the country as mostly impassable. From an elevated point a view of an apparent valley or course of a river could be seen, which seemed to be a network of impassable canons. This partial exploration still further intensified the interest in this region. That any portion of the United States was unapproachable was too absurd to credit.

LIEUTENANT IVES' EXPEDITION.

 
                  It was not until 1857 that an appropriation became available for further exploration. A small steamer was constructed for the purpose of ascending the river and shipped to San Francisco in parts, and thence reshipped to Fort Yuma, where it was put together. When loaded it drew somewhat less than two feet of water, and the river was ascended four hundred and fifty miles above Fort Yuma. Sometimes the little craft was nearly overwhelmed in the treacherous currents and sometimes the men were obliged to tow the steamer over shoals where it would touch bottom continually. Bands of natives would follow the boat, hugely amused with the puffing, snorting canoe that was, apparently, so helpless and good for nothing. At length the party came in sight of the much talked of canon, of which so little was known and so much conjectured. The enormous, perpendicular walls of rocks, hundreds of feet high, which had formed the banks of the rivers in many places, had prepared them for wonders, but they did not expect to see a large river come out of a gate-way two thousand feet high and only a few feet across. If the ancients had known of this place they would have added new horrors to their infernal regions.

FIRST ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE CANON.

 
                   The attempt to navigate the canon with the steamer without a previous reconnoissance was thought too hazardous, and a boat expedition was organized. Lieutenant Ives with three or four men entered the dark gateway. With much labor they worked their way, sometimes rowing and sometimes dragging the boat over rapids. Night coming on, the party took advantage of a small shingle beach for a camping place. Some drift-wood lodged in a cleft of rocks furnished material for a campfire. There was no need of sentinels. Eternal silence reigned; not even the chirping of an insect broke the low murmer of the waters as they wound their tortuous way through the dark depths. We quote freely from his report to the Secretary of War: -
                             "March 10,1858.* * * Darkness supervened with surprising suddenness. Pall after pall of shade fell, as it were in clouds, upon the deep recesses about us. The line of light through the opening above at last became blurred and indistinct, and, save the red glare of the camp fire, all was enveloped in a murky gloom. Soon the narrow belt again brightened as the rays of the moon reached the summits of the mountains. Gazing far upwards upon the edges of the overhanging walls we witnessed the gradual illumination. A few isolated turrets and pinnacles first appeared  in strong relief upon the blue band of the heavens. As the silvery light descended and fell upon the opposite crest of the abyss, strange and uncouth shapes seem to start out, all sparkling and blinking in the light, and to be peering over at us as we lay watching them from the bottom of the profound chasm. The contrast between the vivid glow above and the black obscurity beneath, formed one of the most striking points in the singular picture. This morning as soon as the light permitted, we were again on the way. * * * * The canon continued to increase in size and magnificence. No description can convey an idea of the peerless and majestic grandeur of this water-way. Wherever the river makes a turn the entire panorama changes, and one startling novelty after another appears and disappears with bewildering rapidity. Stately facades, august cathedrals, amphitheatres, rotundas, castellated walls and rows of time-stained ruins surmounted by every form of tower, minaret, dome and spire have been moulded from the cyclopean masses of rock that form the mighty defile. The solitude, the stillness, the subdued light and the vastness of every surrounding object, produced an impression of awe that ultimately became almost painful. As hour after hour passed , we began to look anxiously for some kind of an outlet from the range, but the declining day only brought fresh piles of mountains, higher apparently than any before seen. We had made up our minds to pass another night in the canon and were searching for a spot large enough for a resting place, when we came into a narrow passage between two mammoth peaks that seemed to be nodding across the stream, and unexpectedly found at the upper end the termination of the 'Black Canon,' and we came into rather of an extensive valley, without a trace of vegetation however; but the hills and mountains around were in parti-colors and prevented the scene from being monotonous. The length of the Black Canon is about twenty-five miles. It was evident that the river could be navigated no farther. Climbing a mountain nothing but a confused mass of volcanic rocks piled in confusion upon each other came to view. * * * Farther to the east could be seen the course of the river where it formed the Big Canon."

LAND PARTY ORGANIZED.
 
                    The exploring party returned to the steamboat and organized an expedition to explore the river on the south side towards the Rocky Mountains, and the boat was sent back to Fort Yuma. In a few days they struck the lofty plateau, through which the Colorado River with its numerous tributaries, or companion rivers, carry the waters formed from the melting snows of the Rocky Mountains. Scarcely any rain falls on this elevated plain, and the banks of the rivers remain as sharp as they were millions of years ago when the channels were first eroded. Century after century the work of deepening the channel goes on. Before the children of Israel went down into Egypt; before the building of the Pyramids; before the rude ancestors of the Egyptians found the Nile valley; even before the Nile valley itself was formed the Colorado Rivers had done the most of their work. It was out of the question to explore the river. They could only approach it at one point. Only the bird that could wing its way for hundreds of miles, could make its way over these cavernous depths that marked the course of the river and all its branches. From elevated points they could see table-land, rising, base on base, height on height, with impassable canons between. As the limits of this work will permit only an abbreviated description of the interesting exploration, an account of one attempt to reach the river, giving nearly the author's own words, which cannot be condensed without doing injustice to the subject, will close the story of this expedition.

ONE SIGHT OF THE RIVER

 
                    "Our altitude is very great. During the last march the ascent was continuous, and the barometer shows an elevation of nearly seven thousand feet. The Colorado is not far distant, and we must be opposite to the most stupendous part of the 'Big Canon.' The bluffs are in view, but the intervening country is cut up by side canons and cross ravines, and no place has yet been found that presents a favorable approach to the gigantic chasm. * * * The snow-storm (this was in the Winter) had extended over but little area, and the road, at first heavy, in a mile or two became dry and good. The pines disappeared and the cedars gradually diminished. * * * The snow-storm (this was in the Winter) had extended over but little area, and the road, at first heavy, in a mile or two became dry and good. The pines disappeared and the cedars gradually diminished. * * * Each slope surmounted disclosed a new summit similar to that just passed, till the end of ten miles, when the highest part of the plateau was attained, and a sublime spectacle lay spread before us.
                  "Toward the north was the field of plateaus and canons already mentioned, and shooting out from these a line of magnificent bluffs, extending eastward an enormous distance, marked the course of the canon of the Little Colorado. Farther south, eighty miles distant, toward the vast pile of the San Francisco mountain, its conical summit covered with snow and sharply defined against the sky. Several other peaks were viable a little to the right, and half way between us and this cluster of mighty and venerable volcanos was the 'Red Butte,' described by Lieutenant Whipple (1853), standing in isolated prominence upon the level plain. * * *
                  "The sun was oppressively warm, and every place whose appearance gave promise of water was searched, but without success. Ten miles conducted us to the head of a ravine, down which there was a well-beaten Indian trail. There was every prospect therefore that we were approaching a settlement, similar to that of the Hualpais, on Diamond River. The descent was more rapid than the former had been, and in the course of a few miles we had gone down into the plateau one or two thousand feet, and the bluffs on either side had assumed stupendous proportions. Still no signs of habitations were visible. The worn-out and thirsty beasts had begun to flag when we were brought to a stand-still by a fall one hundred feet deep in the bottom of the canon. At the brink of the precipice was an overhanging ledge of rock, from which we could look down, as if into a well, upon the continuation of the gorge far below. The break reached completely across the ravine, and the side walls were nearly perpendicular. There was no egress in that direction, and it seemed a marvel that a trail should lead to a place where there was nothing to do but return. A closer inspection showed that the trail still continued along the canon, traversing horizontally the face of the right-hand bluff. A short distance of it seemed as though a mountain goat could scarcely keep its footing upon the slight indentation that appeared like a thread attached to the rocky wall, but a trial proved that the path, though narrow and dizzy, had been cut with some care into the surface of the cliff, and afforded a foot-hold, level and broad enough both for men and animals. I rode upon it first, and the rest of the party and the train followed - one by one - looking very much like a row of insects crawling upon the side of a building. We proceeded for nearly a mile along this singular pathway, which preserved its horizontal direction. The bottom of the canon meanwhile had been rapidly descending, and there were two or three falls where it dropped  a hundred feet at a time, thus greatly increasing the depth of the chasm. The change had taken place so gradually that I was not sensible of it, till glancing down the side of my mule, I found that he was walking within three inches of the edge of the brink of a sheer gulf a thousand feet deep; on the other side, nearly touching my knee, was an almost vertical wall rising to an enormous altitude. The sight made my head swim, and I dismounted and got ahead of the mule, a difficult and delicate operation, which I was thankful to have safely performed. A part of the men became so giddy that they were obliged to creep upon their hands and knees, being unable to walk or stand. In some places there was barely room to walk, and a slight deviation in a step would have precipitated one into the frightful abyss. I was a good deal alarmed lest some obstacle should be encountered that would make it impossible to go ahead, for it was certainly impracticable to return. After an interval of uncomfortable suspense, the face of the rock made an angle, and just beyond the surface fifteen or twenty yards square that would afford a foot-hold. The continuation of the wall was perfectly vertical, so that the trail could no longer follow it, and we found that the path descended the steep face of the cliff to the bottom of the canon. It was a desperate road to traverse, but located with a good deal of skill, zigzaging down the precipice, and taking advantage of every crevice and fissure that could afford a foot-hold. It did not take long to discover that no mule could accomplish this descent, and nothing remained but to turn back. We were glad to have even this privilege in our power. The jaded brutes were collected upon the little summit, where they could be turned around, and then commenced to return from the hazardous journey. The sun shone directly into the canon, and the glare reflected from the walls made the heat intolerable. The disappointed beasts, now two days without water, with glassy eyes and protruding tongues, plodded slowly along, uttering the most melancholy cries. The nearest water, of which we had any knowledge, was almost thirty miles distant. There was but one chance of saving the train, and after reaching an open portion of the ravine the packs and saddles were removed, and two or three Mexicans started for the lagoons, mounted upon the least exhausted animals and driving the others loose before them. It was somewhat dangerous to detach them thus from the main party but there was no help for it. Some of the mules will give out before the night march is over, but the knowledge that they are on the road to water will enable the most of them to reach it in spite of their weariness and the length of the way.
                    "It was estimated that, at this point which was within a few miles of the main canon, about one-half of the original plain had been cut away by the action of the river and its branches.
                   "A party was made up to explore the canon. The distance to the precipice where the mules were turned back was about five miles. The precipice was descended without difficulty, though in one or two places the path traversed smooth, inclined plains that made the footing insecure and the crossing dangerous. The bottom of the canon which from the summit looked smooth, was found to be covered with small hills thirty or forty feet high. Along the middle of the cannon started another one with low walls at the starting point, which became lofty precipices as the base of the new ravine sunk deeper and deeper into the earth. Along the bottom of this gorge we followed the trail, distinctly seen when the surface was not composed of rocks. Every few minutes low falls and ledges were met with, which we had to jump or slide down, till a formidable number of obstacles were to be met in returning. Like other canons this was circuitous, and at each turn we expected to find some-thing new and startling. We were deeper in the bowels of the earth than we had ever been before, and surrounded by walls and towers of such imposing dimensions that it would be useless to attempt describing them; but the effects of magnitude had begun to pall, and the walk from the foot of the precipice was monotonously dull; no sign of life could be discerned above or below. At the end of thirteen miles from the precipice and obstacle presented itself that there seemed to be no possibility of overcoming.  A stone slab, reaching from one side of the canon to the other, terminated the plain which we were descending. Looking over the edge it appeared that the next level was forty feet below. This time there was no trail along the side of the bluffs, for these were smooth and perpendicular. A spring of water rose from the canon above and trickled over the precipice, forming a beautiful cascade. It was supposed to procure water; but this theory was not satisfactory and we sat down to consider the situation.
                     "Mr. Egloffstein lay down by the side of the creek, and projecting his head over the ledge to watch the cascade discovered a solution to the mystery. Below the shelving rock, and hidden by it and the fall, stood a crazy-looking ladder, made of rough sticks bound together with thongs of bark. It was almost perpendicular and rested upon a bed of angular stones. The rounds had become rotten from the incessant flow of the water. Mr. Egloffstein, anxious to have the first view of what was below, scrambled over the rock and got his feet upon the first round. Being a solid weight, he was too much for the insecure fabric, which commenced giving away. One side fortunately stood firm, and holding on to this with a tight grip he made a precipitate descent. The other side and all the rounds broke loose and accompanied him to the bottom in a general crash, effectually cutting off the communication. Leaving us to devise means of getting him back he ran to the bend to explore. The bottom of the canon had been reached. He found that he was at the edge of a stream ten or fifteen yards wide fringed with cottonwoods and willows. The walls of the canon spread out for a short distance leaving room for a narrow belt of bottom-land on which were fields of corn and a few scattered huts. It was impossible to follow the stream to its union with the main river, which was not far off. Nor could a situation be found where a complete view of the great canon might be obtained; at one spot the top could be seen, at another the bottom. Measurements were taken which showed the walls of the canon to be over six thousand feet in height."
                    Notwithstanding all the efforts backed by money and government the great canon was not entered, at least from the side. The parties safely made their way out of the chasm, and resumed their journey towards Fort Defiance, finding on their way the towns of stone houses which the early Spanish explorers saw and which had since remained unknown and mostly forgotten.

FIRST EXPLORATION - UNWILLING VENTURE

 
                   Some of my readers may inquire whether this canon has never been explored? Twice only of which any record has been found. Some time in the sixties, three men, prospecting on the head-waters of the river in the Colorado Territory, fell into a difficulty with the Indians. Two succeeded in reaching their boats, and escaped by rowing swiftly down the stream, the swift current and bold banks facilitating their flight. When they had gone so far as to feel secure from pursuit, and took time to consider the situation, they found them-selves floating in a stream, so swift as to prevent their return, even if they desired it, and with banks so precipitous as to make escape in that direction impossible. The stream became swifter and the banks or walls of the canon higher every hour.

THEY CONSIDER THE SITUATION

 
                   A council of war was held, and all evidence attainable was considered. The questions put forth in one of Addison's essays a hundred and fifty years ago, "Where am I? What sort of place do I inhabit?" seemed particularly applicable to the situation. As to the first question, they could only say, we are in "Uncle Sam's" dominion, and as to the last, it is a "hell of a place." One of them remembered of hearing some old trappers, while sitting around a camp fire near Salt Lake, tell a story of a great river that was lost in a range of mountains and flowed hundreds of miles under ground. Another said that it did not flow under ground, but in a narrow channel thousands of feet in depth, so deep that daylight never reached the bottom. None of them, however, had ever seen the river under these circumstances. The Indians believed, some of them at least, that the deep gorge led to Heaven, and others thought it led to Hell! It was certain that the route to the blessed regions would not go through any such country as they were passing; and as to the latter place, had not Beecher knocked the bottom out of it? So they concluded to go on; in fact, there was no other alternative. About the third day they heard a great roaring of falling water, and before they had time to consider were plunged over a cataract, that proved not a very high one, for though the boat was smashed, they saved their lives by swimming to an island at the foot of the falls, and were able to save most  of their provisions. They now constructed a raft of dry, cotton-wood logs, which they found lodged high up on the island, and continued their voyage.

DEATH OF ONE OF THE PARTIES

 
                   Falls and rapids being now frequent, and the plunges often throwing them off their craft, they imprudently lashed themselves to it. Passing the next cataract the raft was upset, and one of the two was lost. The survivor found himself on the raft, now bottom side up, though entirely ignorant as to how he succeeded in disengaging himself while under the water.
                   Day after day, week after week, until the weeks became months, he floated down the river, encountering many obstacles but escaping with his life. The river was destitute of fish or animals, but in places he found the mesquite bean which would sustain life. Months afterward a soldier at Fort Colville saw a log floating in the river appearing to have come out of the canon. The unusual circumstance caused him to turn a telescope upon it. "My God!" said he, "there is a man on that log!" A boat was dispatched, and the man was brought ashore, nearly famished, speechless, naked, and his body covered with sores. After some nourishment had been taken, he was able to say that he had come through the great canon. The man recovered, and for many years afterward drove a stage in Arizona.          

EXPLORATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE

 
                   The Government of the United States during these years had enough business on hand without attending to expeditions in the cause of science, for, so far, the river had no value. But the Smithsonian Institute undertook the exploration of the river. Lieutenant Powell, an eminent scientist and explorer, was sent out to gather all the information about it that was possible. The transcontinental railroad now  made the matter easier. He interviewed the trappers and hunters at Salt Lake and Fort Bridger; visited Arizona, and heard all that the stage-driver could remember, and went East to make preparations for the descent of the river. The scientific public were now aroused, and many were anxious to accompany the expedition. Several boats were made in water-tight compartments so contrived as to float though they might be stove. Provisions, instruments and all necessary articles were inclosed in water-tight, rubber bags. On the 24th of May, 1869, he left the line of the Union Pacific Railroad at the Green River Station. Those who love to read of the grand, the picturesque, the terrible, will find their satisfaction in reading "Powell's Explorations of the Colorado Canon." The limits of this book will only permit a short account of the trip which was full of dangers as well as pleasure. They passed safely down the upper waters. Some hundred miles below the starting point, the labor commenced. Sometimes the river would zig-zag between metamorphic slates and granite spears, making a channel like a line of saw teeth; then it would leave the granite and cut a vast amphitheatre in the sandstone, miles across and thousands of feet high. Towers, domes, castles, minarets, and all the forms of ancient and modern architecture seemed anticipated. Even sculpture was not forgotten, for in many places gigantic figures seemed to be guarding the great canon, and threatening to overwhelm all who should dare to invade the ancient solitude. For months the party continued their voyage. Not withstanding their ample preparations, it was nearly a failure. They lost their boats and most of their provisions, as well as their scientific instruments. They were uncertain whether the canon was three, four, or five hundred miles long. When nearly through it was proposed to leave the river and try to ascend its banks. It was urged that more rapids on the junction of the granite and slate would end the expedition. Part of the men determined to try to scale the walls. They were given a part of the scant provisions, and also a copy of the records of the trip. Both parties bid each other "good-bye," with the firm belief that the other was destined to certain destruction. Powell remained with the party to continue down the river, hoping that if he perished some record of their trip would be picked up on the Lower River or the Gulf of California. His judgment proved the best. August 30th he emerged from the Canon, in somewhat better plight than the stage-driver did, having witnessed undoubtedly the greatest wonder of the world. Nothing was heard of the other party for years. A prospector brought the news that they scaled the walls of the canon, but were soon afterwards killed by the Indians, being mistaken for a party of white men who had committed an outrage on an Indian woman.

GEOLOGY AND CLIMATE

 
                   The Colorado river drains a territory of three hundred thousand square miles. A portion of this, eight hundred miles in extent, resting on the Rocky Mountains, is fed by snows, and has numerous rivers which, with all their branches, form canons - one leading into another and all finally merging into the grand gorge, six thousand feet deep and three hundred miles long. The lower part of the Colorado for one thousand miles runs through an almost rainless country. There is no wearing away of the banks into the rounded, graceful forms so usual in the vicinities of rivers. The channels of the rivers being so deep the country is thoroughly drained of water, and very few springs emerge from the surface. The soil is consequently destitute of vegetation. There are evidences, however, of an extensive alluvial deposit, of a time when the river meandered through fertile plains like the Mississippi. The elephant, the mastodon, and their contemporaries wandered in herds over suitable pastures where now desolation reigns.
                    It is difficult to estimate the influence which this strange system of rivers has exerted over California. Had not the early explorers when in search of gold met this obstruction, our mines would have been discovered and worked, and California would have been cursed with the blight that has covered all the Spanish possessions. It was reserved for a more vigorous race to develop.
                    The climatic influence is also great. It is now believed that our dry, desicating north winds find their way from the Arizona deserts, and that the particles of red dust with which our summer atmosphere is loaded, is finely-pulverized Arizona soil.
 
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta

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