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Show NED CHAFFIN: Leaving his soul "Under the Ledge , By Barry Scholl Ned Chaffin, 86, often presages his narratives with the phrase "to make a long story short," but his tales--many of which deal with his growing-up years in the remote sandstone jungle later preserved as the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park—are best just as he relates them, highly charged with rich, colorful details that evoke a rugged time in southern Utah history that has disappeared forever. Chaffin spent his earliest years in Torrey, but his family, including his parents and seven surviving siblings, moved to a 2,000-acre ranch near where the San Rafael River enters the Green River in 1929, when Ned was 16 years old. The family's patriarch, Lou, family's cabin there. When they returned, they found remaining members of the party had discovered a black and white pot deposited in an alcove. "Kidder and Roberts were fooling around," Chaffin says, "and Roberts got to saying he could tell by looking which alcoves he could find stuff in. So he was sure there was nothing in this one. As soon as they got up to it, they found this pot. It was about half buried in sand that had blown off the ceiling. Everybody was pretty excited, including me. It was the only complete pot I ever saw in that country.” had worked at various times as a Glen Canyon miner, riverman, rancher and, briefly, before the stalwart town fathers shut him down, asa saloonkeeper in the Mormon hamlet of Loa. Many of Chaffin's stories have been recounted previously in the books Tales of Canyonlands Cowboys by Richard Negri and Hiking, Biking and Exploring Canyonlands National Park by Michael Kelsey. But the incidents we're concerned with here have never been fully recounted, except perhaps around a stockman's campfire or at one of Chaffin's annual Green River gatherings of old-timers and young acolytes known as "cowboy caucuses." So, at the risk of sounding hokey, sit back and imagine this tale as told in Chaffin's friendly, open manner. The Claflin-Emerson Expedition, 1929 In June of 1929, while Ned and his older brothers Clell and Faun were out gathering cattle and getting ready to brand calves, they pulled into one of their frequently used camps at Waterhole Flat in the Under the Ledge country. It had been raining and night was falling from the sky when their tired horses clopped into Chaffin Camp. They were surprised to discover another party already there; in that very remote country, it wasn't common to stumble upon strangers. They dismounted and joined the four men gathered around a welcoming campfire. Ned and his brothers were introduced to Henry Roberts, a graduate of the University of Denver then working on his Ph.D. at Harvard University; Alfred Kidder, Jr., also a Harvard student and the son of the famous Southwestern archaeologist; and outfitterwrangler Dave Rust, one of southern Utah's first commercial guides who had earlier shown celebrities like Zane Grey around the Colorado Plateau. As a local guide, They had Les McDougal of Hanksville. Clustered around the fire, the strangers explained their purpose in the country: they were reconnoitering archaeological sites for a comprehensive excavation the following summer. And, as luck would have it, they were in need of a guide who knew the area. Rust's knowledge of the area was sketchy at best and the other two men, who had spent the previous summer digging in the Torrey area, likewise knew little about the "Under the Ledge" country. As Chaffin explained it recently, "That wasn't country to be wandering around in during the summer without knowing where the water was." Although he was only 16 years old, Ned knew the country intimately. His brothers were amenable to hiring him out provided the party could wait another day while the Chaffins finished branding calves. When the three brothers returned a day later, McDougal was nowhere to be found. As soon as they discovered Roberts, who saw no need for two guides, had laid him off, the Nedd Chaffin eldest brother Faun was furious. "He chewed Roberts up one side and down the other,” Ned recalls. ‘Goddamnit,' he said, ‘I never would have let you hire Ned if I'd of known you were going to fire Les. He's a family man and he needs the dollars.’ He was really mad about it...said he had half a mind to leave them down there without a guide." Eventually, though, cooler heads prevailed and Ned was allowed to join the Claflin-Emerson party (named for the expedition's primary funders). "I got $1.50 a day plus a dollar for my horse when money was damned scarce in that country. Two-fifty Chaffin says. "I didn't have any money, but I would have paid them. It was experience." That summer, the four men spent about a month visiting sites Chaffin was familiar with. From Waterhole Flat, they traveled through Ernie’s Country to Bottom on the Colorado River and then over to Big Water via the Nipple Trail. point, Chaffin and Rust made a detour to Flint Flat to collect supplies from the ARCHES REALTY 150 EAST CENTER ST. fae) MoI Jam [mee P.O. BOX 537 MOAB, UT 84532 a day,” a great already Spanish At one Chaffin Live by the sword... As the party ‘s deadline for departure approached, Roberts wanted to visit the famous pictograph panels of Horseshoe Canyon. The party went up to the North Trail and down to the Spur where the Phillips Petroleum Company was drilling exploratory oil wells. Bob Vance, the man in charge of the operation, agreed to allow a member of his crew to chauffeur Roberts into Green River for mail and supplies. Upon their return, Chaffin discovered he'd been laid off in favor of Green River rancher Leland Tidwell, who knew Horseshoe Canyon much better than did Chaffin. "Bob Vance was furious about that. He really told ol’ Roberts off. Said he'd done all that he did just to help me. But Tidwell knew the area. And like they say, live by the sword, die by the sword..." Chaffin says, trailing off, his good humor never waning. We DON'T make promises like this. But we'll do our best to get you the best deal possible. Moab City Property Residence Lots Unimproved Business Lots Improved : ces Will dict Present Pri Buy Now! 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