Show TIE prospector AND HIS BURR 0 1 I see by the papers said the prospector to his burro that the colorado river has again broken through its banks and is once more flowing into the salton sea and that the government is taking vigorous action towards having the break permanently repaired the colorado river according to my idea is one of the most wonderful water courses on the american continent but it is no place for a burro it may not be as great in length as is the mississippi nor as wide yet it is there with the goods and no river in the world is as picturesque and magnificent so grand and inspiring or in places so inaccessible the river proper begins at the junction of the grand anti and green rivers in grand county utah here for a distance of several miles the stream is placid and beautiful and is environed by some of the most fantastic strange and beautiful scenery to be found anywhere in the united states then comes the roar of the falls the churning of the rapids and the river tumbles and plunges into a gorge glorge where walls rise almost perpendicular to a height of several thousand feet this is the grand canyon of the colorado and here a burro could not exist unless he was web footed and was encased in boiler plate in this canyon aside from the threaten ings and entreaties of the captive river the silence is impressive oppressive short are the hours during which the sunlight pierces these awful and gloomy depths and the whole world seemingly is swallowed up lip in in this mighty chasm at points along the river nver between the succession of falls and rapids the boiling torrent spreads itself between widened walls and closely confined shore ore banks olier offer a stopping place for tho the daring spirit whose love of adventure and desire for knowledge has tempted him to make this dangerous trip and in such harming charming nooks where the river has apparently forgotten the rough usage of 0 the cataracts and d rapids it t seems to rest in peace and aa contentment before taking another plunge into the dar dark k abyss below the grand canyon of the colorado practically ends above rioville Ri oville near which place is danellis Bo Do nellis ferry not far from which a few mining companies such as the gold butte the granite gold mining company and the kimberly nevada are doing development work from rioville Ri oville to the mouth of eldorado canyon the river is not as rough hs as it is above and still navigation between these two points is sufficiently perilous to make it interesting to the most hardy and courageous from eldorado to the gulf of california the river is navigable for small boats in the early days of mining in lincoln county nevada eldorado canyon was noted for the abundance and richness of its ores but being far distant from land transportation was mainly reached by boats from down the river the river then was the chief avenue to this bonanza camp and supplies were shipped to this point by sailing vessels from san francisco to the gulf the cargoes being transferred to smaller crafts at the mouth of the colorado in the same came manner ores were transported to san francisco and wales and it was not no until the advent of railroads into the west that this crude and tedious means of travel and transportation was relegated to the shades of a rapidly vanishing vast 1 I want to tell you continued the prospector the colorado river is a wonderful stream in the beauty of its surroundings it has no equal it is a stream that is in a class by itself even as the burro is at times it is caressing soft and yielding even as you are now then again it is as if all hell were set loose a counterpart of your you antics when the pack saddle is cinched cincher too tight for hundreds of miles on either side the country has never been seen or penetrated by a white man and here are the burying places of races long forgotten the river and its watershed water shed might mi lit well be in the most impenetrable portions of darkest africa for no man has had the courage to explore its most hidden fastnesses fast nesses and yet there is every reason to believe that in this inhospitable region there are deposits of gold of silver and of the baser metals so rich and extensive that they surpass the compass of the most vivid imagination inia and this wealth this mighty store of the pre metals will likely be withheld from mankind illan kind until aerial navigation is successfully inaugurated within the reaches of the colorado colora do river are to be found some of 0 the most wonder wonderful fill of the works of nature Sia cious natural bridges span great gorges and nd side canyons mighty cathedrals point their lofty spires skyward and architecture surpassing e in passing the skill of the master mind the master hand is seen in every towering cliff in every windswept wind swept corner of the massive rocks many years ago major stanton made the descent of the canyon of the bo colorado lorado but he barely escaped with his life many attempts have since been made to solve the mysteries of this almost hidden waterway and but few have succeeded I 1 myself once made the passage but it was a most perilous one I 1 was on a prospecting trip and could not take you with me and a staunch friend and a stout boat were my only companions pani pan ions 1 ons you want to know it if I 1 found anything well I 1 should say I 1 did but in such a region the wealth of a midas was of no use to me for I 1 could not get away with the plunder in places below and between the rapids and in the bars I 1 found placer diggings where I 1 scooped up gravel going 5 and 10 to the pan and some of the gold was in nuggets as big as a mans thumb in certain sections the canyon had cut through veins of ore where the quartz fairly glistened with the yellow metal veins of silver were also exposed so rich as to be beyond computation while exposed up and down the almost perpendicular walls great bodies of copper ore were in sight as far as the eye could reach we had the riches of a croesus almost within our grasp but could not benefit by it what little in gold we could add to our already over craft we lost more than once we were capsized and I 1 was glad to get ashore at last clad only in a peek a boo shirt and a pair of socks and with hands as empty as when I 1 was born it if was the experience of my life old long ears and I 1 want to tell you that the river is grand and that it has its fascinations but for me I 1 am now content to wander in the mountains with you in your company I 1 may not be able to see as much gold as I 1 did in the grand canyon but I 1 can scrape up enough to meet my simple wants and my life is not endangered every hour of the day and night the desert and the hills for me hereafter and the peace and satisfaction that plenty and solitude brings to the honest man |