| OCR Text |
Show Floats Down Grand Canyon 4 ' Narrative Reads JLike Fiction TAMES WHITE, left, the first man to go down the Colorado river through 1 tJ the Grand Canyon of the Colorado en a raft, and Thomas Edwin Farish, Itate historian of Arizona, who died Thursday In Los Angles, author of the rtory. , i y " , ; he fell to the ffround. White, firing a: I the Tncilans as he advanced, and followed ; I by Strole, hurried to the aid of his wounded leader. Baker Mortally Wounded. "Baker with an effort turned to his comrades and said with 'hi las' breath. 'Back, Soys; save yourselves. I am dying.' "To the credit of White and Strole be it i said, they faced the savages and fought j until the last tremor of the powerful frame j tuld them that Baiter was dead "Then slowly they began to retreat, t followed by the exultant Indians, who, I ' stopping to srrip and mutilate the dead j I body, grave the white men a chance to j secure their animals and retrace their . steps. Here the white men hold a hurried hur-ried consultation. To the east for COO miles stretched an uninhabited country, over which, if they attempted to escape In that direction, the Indians, like bloodhounds, blood-hounds, would follow their track. Xorth, south and west was the Colorado, with its tributaries, all flowing through deep chaamSi across which it would be impossible im-possible for men or animals to travel. "Their deliberations were necessarily short, and resulted in a decision to abandon tho animals, first securing their arms and a small stock of provisions. I Through the;" descending side canyon they traveled duo west for four hours, a nd emerged at Inec on a low strip of bottom land on the Grand river, above which for 2000 feet on either bank the COld, gray walls rose to block their path, , leaving to them but one avenue for escape es-cape the dashing currents of the river. Survivors Build Raft. "They found considerable quantities of drift wood along the bank, from which they collected enough r.o enable them to construct a raft capable of floating themselves, with their arms and provisions. provi-sions. This raft consisted of three sticks of cottonwood about ten feet in length and eight inches in diameter, lashed firmly together with their lariats. Procuring Pro-curing two stout poles with which to guide the raft and fastening the bag of provisions to the logs, they waited for mid night to come witM the waning moon, so as to drift off unnoticed by the Indians. They did not consider that even the sun looked down into that chasm for but one short hour in- the twenty-four and then left it to the angry waters and blackening shadows, and then that tho faint moonlight reaching reach-ing the bottom of the canyon would hardly serve to reveal tho horror of their situation. A3 idnight came, as they thought by the measurement of the dark, dreary hours, when, seizing the poles, thoy untied the rope that held the raft and, tossed about by the current, they rushed through the yawning canyon on their adventurous voyage to an unknown un-known landing. Through the long night they clung to the raft, as it dashed against half-concealed rocks or whirled about like a plaything in some eddy, whose white i'oarn was perceptible even in tbje blackness. Dangerous Voyage Begun. "They prayed for the daylight, which came at last and with it a smoother current and less rugged banks, though the canyon walls appeared to have increased in-creased in height. Early in the morning morn-ing (August 2f) they found a spot where they could make a landing and went ashore. After eating a little of their water-soaked provisions, they returned and strengthened their raft by the addition ad-dition of some light pieces of cedar, which had been lodged in clefts of the river whore they landed. After a short stay they again embarked and during dur-ing the rest of the day had no difficulty in avoiding the rocks and whirlpools that met them at every bend of the river. "In the afternoon, and after having floated over a distance estimated at thirty miles from the point of starting, they reached the mouth of Green river, or rather where the Green and Grand unite to form the Colorado proper. Here the canyons of both streams form one of but little greater width, but far surpassing sur-passing either in the height and gran- South Park In tho region around. Tho 1 people of Colorado tried to dissuade the party from their rash undertaking. One of the party was affected, and Captain Baker, James White and Henry Strole Completed their outfit for their prospecting prospect-ing tour. The journey wti3 undertaken on foot, with two pack mules to carry tho provisions, mining tools and blankets. On May 2d they left Colorado City. Crossing the Rocky mountains through Ute paaa, i they entered South Park, being still on ; the Atlantic slope of the continent. Nine miles brought them across the park (o tho upper Arkansas, near the Twin lakes. Cross Sierra Madre. "They then crossed the Snowy range, Sierra Madre, and descended toward the Pacific. Turning southwest, they passed around the headwaters of the Rio Grande del Norte and after a journey of 400 miles thoy reached in safety the Animas, the most northern branch of the San Juan river, which flows into the great Colorado from the east. They were now in the land where their hopes centered, and there was gold there, but not in the quantity they expected, so they gradually moved west along tiie beautiful San Juan valley val-ley tor 200 miles, when they found that the San Juan entered a deep and gloomy canyon. To avoid this they forded the river. Having traveled through this rough country for fifty miles, they reached Grand river, being still above the junction junc-tion of Green river, tho united . waters of which" two streams form the Colorado proper. At the point where they struck the river It was hemmed in by cliffs of penpendicular rocks, down which they could gaze at the coveted water, dashing and foaming 2000 feet below. Arizona Historian Recounts Thrilling Adventure of James White. THOMAS EDWIN FARISH, tho aped historian of Arizona, who died Thursday in Los Angeles, during, his roccnt visit to Salt Lake told the following story : "Twenty yours ago thu trapper and hunter were the romantic characters of the far west. They still figure in fiction,' and there is a fascination about their daring dar-ing deeds, which in America makes Boone a household name, and throws an air of chivalry Hcldom to he felt nowadays around the exploits of such men as Carson, Car-son, Crockett and Williams. Nor is our admiration for those hardy men undeserved; unde-served; they have trapped on every western west-ern stream and hunted on every mountain-wide, mountain-wide, despite t lie opposition of tho Indian and the barrier of winter snows. They have been the skirmish lino of that great a rmy of occupa t ion which daily pushed westward, and they have taught the savage sav-age to respect thn white man's courage and to fear the white man's power. Prospectors Replace Trappers. "While the field for the trapper and hunter gradually grew less, another class of adventurers came into existence the prospectors' in search of precious ; metals. Within the last nineteen years i these men have traversed every mountain Slope, and have searched the sands of fleur or its walls. At the junction the wails were estimated at 1000 feet. Detached De-tached pinnacles appeared to rise, one above the other, for 1000 feet higher, and from amidst huge masses of rock confusedly piled like grand monuments to commemorate this 'meeting of the waters.' The fugitives felt the sublimity of the scene and in contemplating its stupendous aErd unearthly grandeur they forgot for the time their own sorrows. Enter Grand Canyon. "The night of the day upon which they entered the Grand canyon and indeed on nearly all the subsequent nights of the voyage, the raft was fastened to a loose rock, or hauled up on some strip of bottom bot-tom land, where they rested till daylight day-light next morning. "As they floated down the canyon the gray sandstone walls increased in height; j. the lower portion was STnooth from the action of floods, but the perpendicular wall rock above became more and more I rugged, until the far-off sky appeared to rest upon a fringe of pinnacles on either side. Here and there a stunted cedar clung to the cliff 2000 feet overhead, over-head, or a prickly cactus tried to suck sustenance from the bare rock. No living liv-ing thing :n sight beyond the raft, for even the wing of bird which could pass the chasms in the upper wtorld never fanned the dark air in those subterranean subterra-nean depths. Naught to gaze upon hut their own pale faces and the cold walls that hemmed tlicm in and mocked at their escape. Here and there the raft shot past side canyons, black and forbidding like cells set in the walls of a mighty prison. Reach Mouth of San Juan. "Baker had informed his companions of the geography of the country and informed in-formed them that Coalville was at the mouth of the canyon, which they thought could not be far off. as such wonderful walls they thought could not last, and they began to console tjiemselves with the thought. Forty miles below their entrance into the canyon of the Colorado Colo-rado they reached the mouth of the San Juan river. They attempted to enter it, but its swift current cast them back. The perpendicular walls, high as those of the Colorado, with the water flowing flow-ing from bank to hank, forbade their abandoning their raft to attempt escape in that direction. So they floated away. Obtaining Water Difficult. "Men and animals were suffering for water, so they pushed up the stream along the rocky, uneven canyon wall, hoping to find a place where they could descend to the river. After a day spent in clambering clamber-ing over and around the huge rocks that blocked their way. they came upon a side canyon, which they succeeded in descending descend-ing with their animals, and where they obtained the water of which all stood so much in need. "On the night of August 23 they camped at the bottom of the canyon, where they found plenty of fuel and grass in abundance abun-dance for their animals. As they sat around the campflre they lamented their failure in the San Juan country. Strole began to regret that they had undertaken the expedition, but Baker, who was a brave, sanguine fellow, spoke of the places which he had heard of and promised his companions their hopes all should be realized. So glowing did he picture the future that his companions even speculated specu-lated as to how they should spend their princely fortunes. Baker sang songs of home and hope and the others lent their voices to the chorus, until far into the night they sank to sleep unguarded, to dream of coming opulence and to rise refreshed for the morrow's journey. Attacked by Indians. "Early next morning they breakfasted and began the ascent of the side canyon up the opposite bank to that by which they had entered it. Baker was in the advance with his rii'Ic slung at his hack, gaily springing up the rocks toward the table lands above. Behind him came White, and Strole with the mules brought up the rear. Nothing disturbed the stillness still-ness of the beautiful summer morning but the tramping of the muies and the short, heavy breathing of the climbers. They had ascended but half the distance to the top, when, stopping for a moment I to rest, suddenly the warwhoop of a band of savages rang out. sounding as if every rock had a demon's voice. Simultaneous-I Simultaneous-I ly with the first whoop a shower of arrows ar-rows and bullets was poured into the little party. With the first fire Baker fell against a rock. Rallying for a mo-j mo-j ment. he unslung his carbine and fired at the Indians, who now began to show themselves in large numbers, and then with the blood flowing from his mouth every stream from tho Mississippi to the shores of I he I 'aciflc, stimulated by the iiope of reward that led the early Spaniards Span-iards to explore places still unsettled In their search for the JtCl Dorado.' Could the varied and adventurous experience of these searchers for gold be writ ten, we should have a record of daring and peril that no fiction could approach, and the Very sight of gold would suggest to our minds some scene of startling tragedy, some story of hairbreadth escapes. Could we but gather and set down in proper form the, geographical knowledge possessed pos-sessed by these men, wo should know as much of the western wilds as we now do of the long-settled portions of tee American Ameri-can continent. Hero Introduced. "It has fallen to the lot of one of these prospectors to be the hero of an adventure adven-ture more thrilling than any heretofore recorded, while. Ht tho same time, he has solved a geographical problem which has long attracted t he attention of the learned at home and abroad, who could but theorize before his vojrage as to the stupendous chasms or canyons through which the Colorado cleaves its course. "James White, our hero, now lives at Oallville. Ariz., the present head of navigation navi-gation of the Colorado river. His home wns formerly In Kenosha, Wis. He is over SO years of ago now, but at the time he made his momentous trip he was about ;I0 years of age. He readily consented to he one of a party from his neighborhood who, In the spring of 1S(57, started for the plains and golj fields beyond. When they left Fort Dodger on the Arkansas river, April 13. 1867, the party consisted of four men, of whom Captain Baker, an old miner and ex -officer In the Confederate army, whs the acknowledged leader. The destination of this little party was the San Juan valley, west of the Rocky mountains, moun-tains, about the gold fields of which prospectors pros-pectors spoke in the most extravagant terms, stating that they were only deterred de-terred from working the rich placers of the San Juan by fear of the Indians. Reach Colorado City. ' Baker and his companions reached Colorado City, at the foot of Pike's Peak, ; in safety. This place was at that time the depot for supplying the miners who worked the diggings -scattered throughout prayed for the death he was fleeing from. "He was made cognizant of the more immediate danger by the shaking of his raft, the logs were separating; then he worked and succeeded i n effecting a landing near some flat rocks, where he made his raft fast for the night. After this he sat down to spend the long gloomy hours in contemplating the hor ror of the situation, and the small chance for completing the adventurous voyage he had undertaken. "He blamed himself for not having fought the Indians till he had fallen with Baker. He might have escaped through the San Juan valley and the mountains beyond the settlements. Had he done so he wbuld have returned to his home and rested satisfied with his experience ucements for life, and he resofved to a nin3'01 'to die d and like "Gradually the dawn, long perceptible In (Continued on Following Page.) At every bend of the river it seemed as if they were descending deeper into the earth, and that the walls were coming closer together above them, shutting out the narrow belt of sky, thickening the black shadows, and redoubling the echoes that went up from the foaming waters. Four Days Pass. "Four days had elapsed since they embarked on the frail raft; it was now August 28. So far they had been constantly con-stantly wet. but the water was comparatively compar-atively warm, and the current more reg-! reg-! ular than they could have expected. Strole had taken it upon himself to steer the raft, and, against the advice of AVhite, he often set una end of tho i pole agairst the bank nf Some opposing rock and then leaned with,--the other end against his shoulder to push the raft I away. As yet they had seen no natural I bridge spanning the chasm above them, rnor had fali or cataract prevented their safe advance About 3 o'clock on the afternoon of tho 28th they heard the deep roar as of a waterfall in front of them. They felt the raft agitated, then ! whirled along with frightful vapidity ! towards a wall that seemed to bar all ' farther progress. As they approached the J cliff the l iver made a sharp bend, around ; which the raft swept, disclosing to them, j iu a long vista, the water lashed into j foam as it poured through a narrow ; precipitous gorge caused by huge masses J of roc.k detached from the main wall. ! There was 'io time to think; the logs l strained as if they would break their ' fastenings. The waves dashed around I the men and the raft was buried iti the ' seething waters. White clung to the legs with the grip of death. Strole Swept From Raft. His comrade stood up for an insrant with the pole in his hands as If to guide the raft from the rocks against which U was plunging, but he had scarcely straigiitened before the raft seemed to leap down a chasm, and, amid the deafening deaf-ening roar of the water. White heard a shriek that thrilled him to the heart, and, looking around, he saw through the mist and spray the form of his comrade I tossed for an Instant on the water, then I sinking out of sight in the whirlpool. i "White still Clung to the logs, and it was only when t li e ra f t seemed to b c floating smoothly and tho pound f the rapids was left behind that he dared to look up; then it was to find his companion com-panion along wllh the provisions lost and the lengthening shadows warding him of I the approaching night. A feeling of de- J spair seized him. Clasping his handj, he PERILOUS TRIP DOWN CM OF COLORADO (Continued from Preceding Page.) the upper world, began to creep clown the black canyon and gave lilin light to-strengthen to-strengthen his craft and launch it Into the treacherous river. As he floated flown he remembered the sad fate of St role, and took tho precaution to lash himself firmly to the raft, so as to preclude pre-clude the possibility of bis being separated sepa-rated from it. This forethought snbse-civtently snbse-civtently saved his life. His course througti the canyon was now over a succession of 'rapids, blocked up by masses of rock Over which his frail raft thumped and whirled, at tfmea wholly submerged in the foaming foam-ing water. At one Ot" these rapids in the distance of a'bouL 100 .cards, he thinks (lie river must have fallen between thirty y nd forty feet. In going over this place the logs comprising the raft became separated sepa-rated at the upper end. and spread out like a fan. Thrown Into Water. "Wbl'te'wks thrown into the water. ' He struggled lo the side by means of his rpope, nod- with desperate strenprt-h held the logs together till they floated into calmer water, when he succeeded in re-fastening re-fastening them. ''White's trials were not yet at an end, and in relating the following incident he showed the only sign of emotion exhibited during his long series of answers. "About four miles below where the raft separated he reached the mouth of a large stream, which ho afterwards learned was the Colorado Chiqiiito. The canyon through whloh It enters the main rivet' Is very much like that of the San Juan, and, though it docs not discharge so largo a body of water, the current is much more rapid and sweeps across the Great Colorado, Colo-rado, causing In the black chasm on the Opposite bank a large and dangerous whirlpool. While saw this and tried to avoid It. but he was too weak for the task. His raft, borne by the Colorado proper, rushed down wifb such force thai, aided by his paddle, he hoped to pass the waters thut appeared to sweep at right angles across his course from the Cili-qulto. Cili-qulto. Swept Into Whirlpool. "When he reuched the mouth of the latter lat-ter stream the rati suddenly stopped and,' swinging around for an Instant as If balanced bal-anced on a pivot, yielded to the current of Die Ch.iq.ultO and was swept into the whirlpool. "While felt now that all further exertion was useless, and. dropping his paddle, he clasped his arms and fell upon the raft. He heard the gurgling waters around him. and every moment lie felt that he , must be plunged into the boiling vortex. He waited with his eyes closed for some minutes, when, feeling a strange swinging sensation, he opened them and" found that ho was circling around the whirlpool, sometimes close to the vortex and at others thrown hack- by some invisible cause to the outer edge, only to whirl again towards the center. Thus borne by the circling wuter, ho looked up. up and up through the mighty chasm that seemed bending over him as if about to fall and crush him. He saw in the blue belt of Sky Which hung above hi hi like an ethereal river the red-tinged clouds floating, and knew that the sun was setting in the upper World; "Still around' the whirlpool the raft swung like a circular pendulum measuring measur-ing the long moments before expected dentil. He felt a dizzy sensation and thinks he must have fainted; he knows he was unconscious for a time, for when again he looked up between the walls, whose rugged summits towered SOOO feet above hi in, tho red clouds had changed to black and the heavy shadows of night had crept into' the canyon. Asks God for Aid. "Then for the first time he remembered that there .was a strength greater than that of man, a power that holds the ocean in the hollow of His hand. ".'.I fell on my knees.' -ho said, 'and as the raft swept round in the current. 1 asked God to aid me. I spoke as if from my very soul, and said. "Oh. God! if three Is a way out of this fearful place, show it to me; take me to it!" ' "Here White's voice became Husky, and his somewhat heavy features quivered as he continued: 'I was still looking up with my hands clasped, when I felt a different movement in the raft, and turning to look at the whirlpool, it was some distance dis-tance behind, and 1 was floating ' down the smoothest current I had yet seen in the canyon.' "This statement is the onlv information informa-tion White volunteers: all the rest was obtained by close questions. One of his friends who was present during the examination ex-amination smiled when While repeated his prayer. He noticed it, and said with some feeling: 'It is true, Bob, and I'm sure God took me out.' Enters Smooth Waters. "Below tho mouth of the Colorado ( hlqulto. the current was very slow, and White felt wjhat he subsequently found to be the case that the rapids were pasl though he was not equally fortunate in guessing his proximity to Callville. "The course of the river below this he describes as exceedingly 'crooked, with short, sharp turns.' the view on every side being shut in by flat, precipitous precipi-tous walls of 'white sand rock.' These walls presented white perpendicular surfaces sur-faces to the high water level, which had a distinct mark of about forty feet, above the August stage. The highest part of the canyon. White thinks, is between be-tween the San Juan and the Colorado Chiquito, where the wall appeared to him to be more than a mile in perpend icular height and at a few points even higher. "Dr. Newberry states, from barometrical barometri-cal observations, that for a long distance the altitude is nearly 7000 feet. But we must not begin to draw conclusions too soon: much of Interest remains to bo told of this unparalleled adventure. Tortured by Hunger. "The current bore White from the Colorado Chiquito slowly down the main river. His clothing was torn to shreds, and the few rags which clung to his frame were constantly saturated with water. Each noon the sun looked into the canyon only to pour its almost vertical ver-tical rays on the famishing man and to burn and blister those parts of his body that the too scanty rags did not cover. One. two. three, tour days dragged slowly past sine he tasted food, and still the current bore him through the towering walls of the canyon "The hunger maddened him. He felt It burning Into his vitals. His thoughts were of food! food! food! and his sleeping sleep-ing moments were filled with Tantalus-like Tantalus-like dreams. Once he raised his arm to I open some vein and draw nutriment from his own blood, hut its shriveled, blistered length frightened him. "For hours while he floated down he would sit looking into the water, vet lacking courage to make the plunge that would rid him of all earthly pain. On the morning of the fifth day since he had tasted food he saw a fiat bank with some mesqulte bushes upon it. and by using his strength he succeeded in I reaching it with his raf;. "He devoured the few green pods and the leaves of the bushes, but they onlv increased his desire for more. The journey jour-ney was resumed, and he remembers tiiat during the last two days of unbroken canyon wall, the rocks became verv black, with shining surfaces probably where igneous took the place of lire cretaceous cre-taceous rocks. "Six days without food, save the few green lcavos. and eleven days since starting, and still the uneven current bore on the raft vnth its wretched occupant. oc-cupant. He saw occasionally breaks in t he wall, with here and there a bush. Too -weak to1 move his raft, he floated past and felt no pain, for the overwrought over-wrought nerves' refused to convey sensation. sensa-tion. "On the afternoon of the sixth d.aV lie was roused by hearing the sound of human voices and. raising himself on one: i rm, he looked toward the shore fl,nd saw men beckoning to him. - A momentary momen-tary strength name to his arms and, grasping the paddle, hp urged the raft to tjie bank. On reaching It he found himself surrounded by a ba nd of Yam-pais Yam-pais Indians, who for years have lived on a low strip of alluvial land along the bottom of the canyon, the trail to which from the upper world is known only lo themselves". One" of the Indians made fast the raft while another seized White roughly and dragged him up the haul-;. He could not remonstrate, his tongue refused re-fused to give a sound, so he pointed to Ills mouth and made signs for food. Obtains Food Supply. "The fiend that pulled him up the bank tore from his blistered shoulder the shreds that had once been his shirt, and was proceeding to take off the torn trousers when, to the credit of the savage, sav-age, be it said, one of the Indians interfered inter-fered and pushed back his companions. He gave white some meot and roa sted mezouite beans to eat, which the famished fam-ished man devoured, and, after a little rest, he made signs that lie wanted to go lo the nearest dwellings of the white men. The Indians told him he could reaf'h them in 'two suns' by his raft, so ho stayed with them all night and. with a revolver that remained fastened to tho logs, he purchased some mezquite beans and the half of a dog. "Karly the next morning he tottered to the hank and again pushed into the current. The first day out he gave way to the yearnings for food, and. despite hs resolution to the contrary, he ate up his entire stock of provisions, which did not. hy anv means, satisfy his craving. Three lone days of hope and dread pa.ssHi slowly slow-ly by and still no signs of friends. Reason Rea-son tottered and White stretched fSm-self fSm-self on the raft, all his energies exhausted. exhaust-ed. Life, and death were to him. alike indifferent. Reaches Journey's End. "Late in the evening or the third day after leaving the Indians and fourteen days from the time of starting on this perilous voyage. White again heard votees. accompanied hv the rapid dash of oa He understood the words, hut could make no rcplv. He felt a strong arm thrown around him and he was lifted Into a boat, to see many bearded faces) looking on him with pity. The great object ob-ject point, Callvilie. was reached at last; the battle for a life was won, but with 1 the price of unparalleled suffering. "The people of this Mormon settlement had warm, generous hearts and. like good Pama'itans. lavlshh bestowed every care on the unfortunate man so inimeuloue'v thrown into their midst from the bowels of the nnknown canyon. His oonstitu-j tion. naturaily strong, soon recovered from its terrible shock, and he told his I new-found friends his wondrous story. I the first recital of which led them lei! doubt his sanity.' |
