Show Civil Air Patrol Rescues Pair N ar Marooned on Green River I The Red Rock Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol wrote another glowing chapter of service last Sunday morning with the rescue of two stranded river runners on the Green river 45 miles north of Green River The boatmen were John C Wells 41 of Provo and his brother C. C Harold Wells 40 of Sinclair Mich They had set out from Ouray on a prospecting trip down the Green river They had planned to be on the river between 10 and 12 days and when found they were tightening their belts for tor at least another five days before an any hunt would be started for them They had left word with friends that if It they were not back in 12 days a hunt should be launched They started out May 21 Monday and the two-man two rubber raft on which they were traveling spilled them Into the river on Friday Howard Williams local pilot with the CAP left Moab Sunday on a routine training flight lIght With him as an observer was Bud Johnson Johnson Johnson John John- son a former member of the squadron who now lives in Wickenburg Wickenburg Wickenburg Wick- Wick enburg Ariz Aria and was in Moab on ona ona ona a visit Williams was looking for wreckage wreckage wreck wreck- age of a helicopter which had been reported seen from the air a number of times in recent weeks and had just given up on this hunt and nosed his plane an on loan from the Air Force toward Moab and the home port 45 miles away when the men were spotted Williams said they spotted something white on the river and changed their course to fly flyover flyover flyover over it for a better look They then saw huge white letters forming form forming ing S. S O. O S. S on the river bank and andon andon andon on flying over the spot saw the two men Williams circled t the e earea area and found a landing spot about half halt mile from the spot the two men had been seen alive Williams picked up the older Wells brother first then returned I to pick up the second and landed banded both oth men at Green River Williams reported that the younger brother had been badly scratched up in being dragged by the raft before It got away from the two men but the injuries were not serious The two men had lost all their equipment ment and food lood when the raft eluded them but had managed to swim wlm ashore They had camped atthe atthe at atthe the deserted ranch house known In that area a as the McPherson ranch There they found two cans of bean beans and a sack of flour The beans had been rationed out with the expectation hat that they thy were In for a long wait walt There were 79 beans to the can can one of the brothers brother recalled They found a partly used sack of cement probably left by some miners The cement and flour were mixed to form the eight foot SOS the two brothers formed on the ground to attract rescuers The latest chapter in the story tory wa was written later Sunday with the recovery of the raft and equip equip- ment of the two brothers near the junction of the Green and Colorado Colorado Colo Cole rado rivers An unknown man reported seeIng seeing see seeing see see- ing the raft float past him Saturday Saturday Satur Satur- day afternoon near Green River while he was trying to get his hiscar hiscar hiscar car out of the wash weak He Ha trailed the raft for a mile down the river trying to snare it It but It was found later by a party o of boatmen making the run from Green River to Moab and brought Into Moab Mesh and turned over to the sheriff department The local party made up of Jim Hansen Keith Hansen and Frank Yama In one boat and Jim King Jud Manson and Bob Dob McKee McKee MeKee Mc- Mc Kee in another found the raft submerged submerged sub sub- merged in shallow water and pulled pull pun ed it up on the bank The gelger geiger counter gun food fOO and anda a wallet were found safe cafe In the raft The local group of boatmen had taken to the river near the geyser and arrived in Moab late evening |