c
OF
J. W. POWELL.
Figure 1. — Grand Cauon 01 the Colorado. (6,200 feet deep.)
EXPLORATION
OF THE
COLORADO RIVER 01 THE WEST
AND
ITS TRIBUTARIES.
EXPLORED IN
1869, 187O, 1871, and 1873,
UNDElt THE
DIRECTION OF THE SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT F 11 I N T I N G OFFICE
1875.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Washington, D. C., June 18, .1874.
SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the exploration
of the Colorado River of the West and its tributaries, by Prof. J. W.
Powell.
This exploration was placed under the direction of the Smithsonian
Institution by Congress.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSEPH HENRY,
Secretary Smithsonian Institution.
Hon. J. G. ELAINE,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16, 1874.
SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith my report of the explora
tion of the Colorado River of the West and its tributaries, and respectfully
request that the same may be forwarded to Congress.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
• J. W. POWELL.
Prof. JOSEPH HENRY,
Secretary Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D. C.
COISTTENTS.
PART FIRST.
HISTORY OF THE EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
Page.
CHAPTER I. The Valley of the Colorado 3
II. From Green River City to Flaming Gorge 8
III. From Flaming Gorge to the Gate of Lodore 14
IV. The Ca!ion of Lodore 22
V. From Echo Park to the mouth of the Uinta River 33
VI. From the month of the Uinta River to the junction of the Grand and Green 45
"VII. From the junction of the Grand and Green to the month of the Little Colorado 57
VIII. The Grand Canon of the Colorado 81
IX. The Rio Virgen and the U-in-ka-ret Mountains 106
X. Report on a trip to the mouth of the Dirty Devil River. A. H. Thompson 134
PART SECOND.
ON THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE VALLEY OF THE COLORADO.
CHAPTER XI. Ou the physical features of the Valley of the Colorado 149
XII. On the physical features of the Valley of the Colorado, continued 183
PART THIRD.
ZOOLOGY.
CHAPTER XIII. Abstracts of results of a study of the genera Geomys and Thomomys. Elliott Coues 217
ADDENDUM A.. The cranial and dental characters of Geoinyidaj. Elliott Coues 267
ADDENDUM B. Notes on the Salamander of Florida, (Geomys Tueza.) G. Brown Goode 281
LIST OF IJL,LU8TRA.TIO]SrS.
Frontispiece, Grand Canon of the Colorado - To face title-page.
Figure 2. Lower Canon of the Kanab ., To face page 4
3. Pa-rn'-nu-weap Canon To face page 5
• 4. The start from Green River station To face page 8
5. Indian Camp on Henry's Fork To face page 11
6. Camp at Flaming Gorge To face page 13
7. Pa'-ri-ats To face page 17
8. Gate of Lodore To face page 22
9. Winnies Grotto , To face page 24
10. Wreck at Disaster Falls To face page 27
11. Echo Rock To face page 32
12. Swallow Cave To face page 39
13. Sai'-ar, the interpreter, and his family To face page 42
14. Indian Lodge in the Uinta Valley To face page 43
15. The Warrior and his Bride.... To face page 44
16. Sumner's Amphitheater To face page 46
17. Light-House Rock To face page 49
18. Gunnisou's Butte To face page 51
19. Buttes of the Cross To face page 54
20. The Heart of Cataract Cation To face page 61
21. Water Basin in Gypsum Canon To face page 64
22. Glen Cafiou To face page 70
23. Side Canon To face page 72
24. Island Monument in Glen Canon To face page 73
25. Noon-day Rest in Marble Gallon To face page 75
26. Marble Canon To face page 77
27. View from camp at the mouth of the Little Colorado To face page 80
28. Running a Rapid To face page 82
29. Granite Walls To face page 86
30. Mu-av Canon To face page 90
31. Standing Rocks on the brink of Mu-av Canon To face page 92
32.' The Grand Canon looking east from To-ro'-weap To face page 95
33. The Grand Canon looking west from To-ro'-weap To face page 95
34. Climbing the Grand Canon ^ ... To face. page 98
35. Our Indian Messenger To face page 104
36. Mary's Veil To face page 106
37. Filling's Cascade ' To face page 106
38. Entrance to Pa-rn'-nu-weap .' To face page 109
39. Mu-koon'-tn-weap Canon To face page 111
40. Temples of Rock Rover's Land To face page 112
41. U-nu'-pin Pi-ka'-vu To face page 114
42. Wu-nav'-ai gathering seeds To face page 115
43. Indian Village To face page 119
44. An'-ti-naints, Pu-tu'-siv, and Wi'-chnts To face page 122
45. The Human Pickle To face page 123
46. Indians Gambling To face page 128
Viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Figure 47. Cave Lake in Kanab Canon . To face page 133
48. Cation in Escalante Basin To face page 137
49. Tower at the niouth of the Dirty Devil River To face page 141
50. Bad-land Mountains, near Black's Fork To face page 151
51. Generalized section through the Uiuta Mountains To face page 155
52. Northern slope of the Uinta Mountains To face page 158
53. A Diaclinal Valley To face page 160
54. A Cataclinal Valley '. To face page 160
55. An Anticlinal Valley, with section To face page 160
56. A Synclinal Valley To face page 160
57. An Anaclinal Valley : To face page 160
58. A Monoclinal Valley , To face page 160
59. Horseshoe Canon To face page 162
60. Alcove Lands and Bad-lands, south of the Uinta Mountains To face page 167
61. Bird's-eye View of the Terrace Canons To face page 170
62. Bird's-eye View of the Tooni'-pin Wu-near' Tu- weap' To face page 175
63. View of Marble Canon To face page 180
64. Section across a simple fault ...., To face page 183
65. Section across a fault with walls widely separated To face page 183
66. Section across a fault with walls widely separated To face page 183
67. A Monoclinal Fold To face page 184
68. Fault and fold in same cross section , To face page 184
69. Section across a branching fault To face page 184
70. Fault with thrown beds flexed downward „ To face page 184
71. Fault with thrown beds flexed upward To face page 184
72. Bird's-eye view of the Grand CaSon . , To face page 187
73. Section across the plateaus north of the Grand Cafion To face page 190
74. Bird's-eye view of cliffs of erosion To face page 190
75. Bird's-eye view of cliffs of erosion thrown forward by a fault To face page 191
76. Section through the Echo Cliffs , To face page 191
77. Section across House Eock Valley To face page 192
78. The Grand Cafton of the Colorado To face page 195
79. Section of wall in the Grand Canon To face page 212
80. Tholomomys Chusius To face page 265
In the summer of 1867, with a small party of naturalists, students, and
amateurs like myself, I visited the mountain region of Colorado Territory.
While in Middle Park, I explored a little canon, through which the Grand
River runs, immediately below the well-known watering-place, "Middle
Park Hot Springs." Later in the fall I passed through Cedar Canon, the
V
gorge by which the Grand leaves the park. The result of the summer's
study was to kindle a desire to explore the canons of the Grand, Green, and
Colorado Rivers, and the next summer I organized an expedition with the
intention of penetrating still farther into that canon country.
As soon as the snows were melted, so that the main range could be
crossed, I went over into Middle Park, and proceeded thence down the
Grand to the head of Cedar Canon, then across the Park range by Gore's
Pass, and in October found myself and party encamped on the White River,
about a hundred and twenty miles above its mouth. At that point I built
cabins, and established winter quarters, intending to oc.cupy the cold season,
as far as possible, in exploring the adjacent country. The winter of
1868-'69 proved favorable to my purposes, and several excursions were
made, southward to the Grand, down the White to the Green River, north
ward to the Yampa, and around the Uinta Mountains.
During these several excursions, I seized every opportunity to study
the canons through which these upper streams run, and, while thus engaged,
formed plans for the exploration of the canons of the Colorado. Since that
time I have been engaged in executing these plans, sometimes employed in
the field,, sometimes in the office. Begun originally as an exploration, the
work has finally developed into a survey embracing the geography, geology,
ethnography, and natural history of the country, and a number of gentle
men have, from time to time, assisted me in the work.
II COL
X PREFACE,
It is expected that the results of these labors will, as soon as practica
ble, be published by the General Government, in a series of volumes, and
such publication commences with the present, which, in Part First, gives a
history of the original exploration through a region practically unknown
prior to the time it was made. It has not been thought best to give a history
of all our travels, but only those portions which were original explorations.
Accompanying the volume will be found a map of the " Green River
from the Union Pacific Railroad to the mouth of the White River," including
the eastern portion of the Uinta Mountains, and a " Profile of the Green
River and Colorado River of the West, from the crossing of the Union
Pacific Railroad to the mouth of the Colorado, compared with the profile
of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh to Vicksburgh." It has
been prepared from barometric data collected at different times during the
exploration and survey. That portion below the mouth of the Rio Virgen
has been taken from Lieutenant Ives's u Report upon the Colorado &iver of
the West."
The altitude of the mouth of the Rio Virgen is represented on the pro
file with this volume as somewhat less than it appears on that made by
Lieutenant Ives. Our own determinations fix it as we represent it. Lieu
tenant Ives's data for the upper portion of his line are indefinite, but can be
interpreted to agree with the results which we have obtained ; perhaps
better than with his own profile.
As far as possible we have adopted the names of geographic features
used by the settlers of the adjacent country, but many of the mountains,
plateaus, valleys, canons, and streams were unknown and unnamed. In
such cases we have accepted the Indian names, whenever they could be
determined with accuracy. I intend, finally, to publish a glossary of all
these new names, giving their significance.
I am greatly indebted to many gentlemen living in Utah, Wyoming,
and Colorado Territories for their assistance and co-operation in this enter
prise. To mention them severally would inordinately swell this preface.
Professor A. H. Thompson has been my companion and collaborator
during the greater part of the time, and has had entire charge of the geo-
PREFACE. xi
graphic work ; the final maps will exhibit the results of his learning and
executive ability.
Professor Joseph Henry, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
under whose direction the work was performed, prior to* the 1st of July,
1874, has contributed greatly to any success which we may have had, by
his instructions and advice, and by his most earnest sympathy ; and I have
taken the liberty to express my gratitude for his kindness, and reverence
for his profound attainments, by attaching his name to a group of lofty
mountains.
To the officers of the Union Pacific, the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy, the Utah Central, and other railroads, I am indebted for many val
uable favors; but for their co-operation the work could not have been
accomplished with the means at my command. Many thousands of dollars,
in the aggregate, have been contributed by them to the enterprise in the
form of free transportation. I earnestly hope that the final result of the
work, as a contribution to American science, will not disappoint their expec
tations.
J. W. P.
WASHINGTON, D. C., 1875.
OP THE
EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
1 COL
CHAPTER 1.
THE VALLEY OP THE COLORADO.
The Colorado River is formed by the junction of the Grand and Green.
The Grand River has its source in the Rocky Mountains, five or six
miles west of Long's Peak, in latitude 40° 11' and longitude 105° 43'
approximately. A group of little alpine lakes, that receive their waters
directly from perpetual snow-banks, discharge into a common reservoir,
known as Grand Lake, a beautiful sheet of water. Its quiet surface reflects
towering cliffs and crags of granite on its eastern shore; and stately pines
and firs stand on its western margin.
The Green River heads near Fremont's Peak, in the Wind River Mount
ains, in latitude 43° 15' and longitude 109° 45' approximately. This
river, like the last, has its sources in alpine lakes, fed by everlasting snows.
Thousands of these little lakes, with deep, cold, emerald waters, are em
bosomed among the crags of the Rocky Mountains. These streams, born
in the cold, gloomy solitudes of the upper mountain-region, have a strange,
eventful history as they pass down through gorges, tumbling in cascades
and cataracts, until they reach the hot, arid plains of the Lower Colorado,
where the waters that were so clear above empty as turbid floods into the
Gulf of California.
The mouth of the Colorado is in latitude 31° 53' and longitude 115°.
The Green River is larger than the Grand, and is the upper continua
tion of the Colorado. Including this river, the whole length of the stream is
about two thousand miles. The region of country drained by the Colorado
and its tributaries is about eight hundred miles in length, and varies from
three hundred to five hundred in width, containing about three hundred
thousand square miles, an area larger than all the New England and Middle
States, with Maryland and Virginia added, or as large as Minnesota, Wiscon
sin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.
There are two distinct portions of the basin of the Colorado. The
4 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
lower third is but little above the level of the sea, though here and there
ranges of mountains rise to an altitude of from two to six thousand feet.
This part of the valley is bounded on the north by a line of cliffs, which
present a bold, often vertical step, hundreds or thousands of feet to the
table-lands above.
The upper two-thirds of the basin rises from four to eight thousand feel
above the level of the sea. This high region, on the east, north, and west, is
set with ranges of snow-clad mountains, attaining an altitude above the sea
varying from eight to fourteen thousand feet. All winter long, on its mount
ain-crested rim, snow falls, filling the gorges, half burying the forests, and cov
ering the crags and peaks with a mantle woven by the winds from the waves of
the sea — a mantle of snow. When the summer-sun comes, this snow melts, and
tumbles down the mountain-sides in millions of cascades. Ten million cas
cade brooks unite to form ten thousand torrent creeks; ten thousand torrent
creeks unite to form a hundred rivers beset with cataracts; a hundred roar
ing rivers unite to form the Colorado, which rolls, a mad, turbid stream, into
the Gulf of California.
Consider the action of one of these streams: its source in the mount
ains, where the snows fall; its course through the arid plains. Now, if at
the river's flood storms were falling on the plains, its channel would be cut
but little faster than the adjacent country would be washed, and the general
level would thus be preserved; but, under the conditions here mentioned, the
river deepens its bed, as there is much through corrasion and but little
lateral degradation.
So all the streams cut deeper and still deeper until their banks are tow
ering cliffs of solid rock. These deep, narrow gorges are called canons.
For more than a thousand miles along its course, the Colorado has cut
for itself such a canon; but at some few points, where lateral streams join it,
the canon is broken, and narrow, transverse valleys divide it properly into
a series of canons.
The Virgen, Kanab, Paria, Escalante, Dirty Devil, Sari Rafael, Price,
and Uinta on the west, the Grand, Yauipa, San Juan, and Colorado
Chiquito on the east, have also cut for themselves such narrow, winding
gorges, or deep canons. Every river entering these has cut another canon;
Figure 2. — Lower Cafioii of the Kanab. (3,000 feet deep.)
Figure 3. — Pa-rn'-nu-weap Cafion,
CANONS. 5
every lateral creek has cut a canon ; every brook runs in a caiion ; every rill
born of a shower, and born again of a shower, and living- only during these
showers, has Gut for itself a canon; so that the whole upper portion of the
basin of the Colorado is traversed by a labyrinth of these deep gorges.
Owing to a great variety of^ geological conditions, these canons differ
much in general aspect. The Rio Virgen, between Long Valley and the
Mormon town of Schunesburgh, runs through Pa-ru'-nu-weap Caiion, often not
more than twenty or thirty feet in width, and from six hundred to one thou
sand five hundred feet deep.
Away to the north, the Yampa empties into the Green by a canon that
I essayed to cross in the fall of 1868, and was baffled from day to day until
the fourth had nearly passed before I could find my way down to the river.
But thirty miles above its mouth, this canon ends, and a narrow valley, with
a flood- plain, is found. Still farther up the stream, the river comes down
through another canon, and beyond that a narrow valley is found, and its
upper course is now through a canon and now a valley.
All these canons are alike changeable in their topographic character
istics.
The longest canon through which the Colorado runs is that between the
mouth of the Colorado Chiquito and the Grand Wash, a distance of two
hundred and seventeen and a half miles. But this is separated from another
above, sixty-five and a half miles in length, only by the narrow canon-valley
of the Colorado Chiquito.
All the scenic features of this canon- land are on a giant scale, strange
and weird. The streams run at depths almost inaccessible ; lashing the rocks
which beset their channels ; rolling in rapids, and plunging in falls, and mak
ing a wild music which but adds to the gloom of the solitude.
The little valleys nestling along the streams are diversified by border
ing willowy, clumps of box-elder, and small groves of cottonwood.
Low mesas, c*ry and treeless, stretch back from the brink of the canon,
often showing smooth surfaces of naked, solid rock. In some places, the
country rock being composed of marls, the surface is a bed of loose, disinte
grated material, and you walk through it as in a bed of ashes. Often these
marls are richly colored and variegated. In other places, the country rock
6 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
is a loose sandstone, the disintegration of which has left broad stretches of
drifting sand, white, golden, and vermilion.
Where this sandstone is a conglomerate, a paving of pebbles has been
left, a mosaic of many colors, polished by the drifting sands, and glistening
in the sunlight.
After the canons, the most remarkable features of the country are the
long lines of cliffs. These are bold escarpments, often hundreds or thou
sands of feet in altitude, great geographic steps, scores or hundreds of miles
in length, presenting steep faces of rock, often quite vertical.
Having climbed one of these steps, you may descend by a gentle, some
times imperceptible, slope to the foot of another. They will thus present a
series of terraces, the steps of which are well-defined escarpments of rock.
The lateral extension of such a line of cliffs is usually very irregular; sharp
salients are projected on the plains below, and deep recesses are cut into the
terraces above.
Intermittent streams coming down the cliffs have cut many canons or
canon valleys, by which the traveler may pass from the plain below to the
terrace above By these gigantic stairways, you may ascend to high plateaus,
covered with forests of pine and fir.
The region is further diversified by short ranges of eruptive mountains.
A vast system of fissures — huge cracks in the rocks to the depths below —
extends across the country. From these crevices, floods of lava have poured,
covering mesas and table lands with sheets of black basalt. The expiring
energies of these volcanic agencies have piled up huge cinder-cones, that
stand along the fissures, red, brown, and black, naked of vegetation, and
conspicuous landmarks, set, as they are, in contrast to the bright, varie
gated rocks of sedimentary origin.
These canon gorges, obstructing cliffs and desert wastes, have prevented
the traveler from penetrating the country, so that, until the Colorado River
Exploring Expedition was organized, it was almost unknown. Yet enough
had been seen to foment rumor, and many wonderful stories have been told
in the hunter's cabin and prospector's camp. Stories were related of parties
entering the gorge in boats, and being carried down with fearful velocity into
whirlpools, where all were overwhelmed in the abyss of waters ; others, of
CASfON MYTH. 7
underground passages for the great river, into which boats had passed never
to be seen again. It was currently believed that the river was lost under
the rocks for several hundred miles. There were other accounts of great
falls, whose roaring music could be heard on the distant mountain-summits.
There were many stories current .of parties wandering on the brink of the
canon, vainly endeavoring to reach the waters below, and perishing with thirst
at last in sight of the river which was roaring its mockery into dying ears.
The Indians, too, have woven the mysteries of the caiions into the
myths of their religion. Long ago, there was a great and wise chief, who
mourned the death of his wife, and would not be comforted until Ta-vwoats,
one of the Indian gods, came to him, and told him she was in a happier land,
and offered to take him there, that he might see for himself, if, upon his
return, he would cease to mourn. The great chief promised. Then
Ta-vwoats made a trail through 'the mountains that intervene between that
beautiful land, the balmy region in the great west, and this, the desert home
of the poor Nu'-ma.
This trail was the canon gorge of the Colorado. Through it he led
him; and, when they had returned, the deity exacted from the chief a promise
that he would tell no one of the joys of that land, lest, through discontent
with the circumstances of this world, they should desire to go to heaven.
Then he rolled a river into the gorge, a mad, raging stream, that should
engulf any that might attempt to enter thereby.
More than once have I been warned by the Indians not to enter this
canon. They considered it disobedience to the gods and contempt for their
authority, and believed that it would surely bring upon me their wrath.
For two years previous to the exploration, I had been making some
geological studies among the heads of the canons leading to the Colorado,
and a desire to explore the Grand Canon itself grew upon me. Early in
the spring of 1869, a small party was organized for this purpose. Boats
were built in Chicago, and transported by rail to the point where the Union
Pacific Railroad crosses the Green River. With these we were to descend
the Green into the Colora-do, and the Colorado down to the foot of the Grand
Canon.
CHAPTER II.
FROM GREEN RIVER CITY TO FLAMING GORGE.
May 24, 1869. — The good people of Green River City turn out to see
us start. We raise our little flag, push the boats from shore, and the swift
current carries us down.
Our boats are four in number. Three are built of oak; stanch and
firm ; doubled-ribbed, with double stem and stern posts, and further strength
ened by bulkheads, dividing each into three compartments.
Two of these, the fore and aft, are decked, forming water-tight cabins.
It is expected these will buoy the boats should the waves roll over them in
rough water. The little vessels are twenty-one feet long, and, taking out the
cargoes, can be carried by four men.
The fourth boat is made of pine, very light, but sixteen feet in length,
with a sharp cut- water, and every way built for fast rowing, and divided
into compartments as the others.
We take with us rations deemed sufficient to last ten months ; for we
expect, when winter comes on and the river is filled with ice, to lie over at
some point until spring arrives; so we take with us abundant supplies of
clothing. We have also a large quantity of ammunition and two or three
dozen traps. For the purpose of building cabins, repairing boats, and meet
ing other exigencies, we are supplied with axes, hammers, saws, augers, and
other tools, and a quantity of nails and screws. For scientific work, we
have 'two sextants, four chronometers, a number of barometers, thermome
ters, compasses, and other instruments.
The flour is divided into three equal parts; the meat and all other arti
cles of our rations in the same way. Each of the larger boats has an ax, ham
mer, saw, auger, and other tools, so that all are loaded alike. We distribute
the cargoes in this way, that we may not be entirely destitute of some
important article should any one of the boats be lost. In the small boat, we
Figure 4. — The start from Green River Station.
GREEN RIVER BAD-LANDS. 9
pack a part of the scientific instruments, three guns, and three small bundles
of clothing only. In this, I proceed in advance, to explore the channel.
J. C. Surnner and William H. Dunn are my boatmen in the "Emma
Dean;" then follows "Kitty Clyde's Sister," manned by W. H. Powell
and G. Y. Bradley ; next, the "No^Iame," with 0. G. Rowland, Seneca How-
land, and Frank Goodman ; and last comes the " Maid of the Canon," with
W. R. Hawkins and Andrew Hall.
Our boats are heavily loaded, and only with the utmost care is it possi
ble to float in the rough river without shipping water.
A mile or two below town, we run on a sand-bar. The men jump into
the stream, and thus lighten the vessels, so that they drift over; and on we go.
In trying to avoid a rock, an oar is broken on one of the boats, and, thus
crippled, she strikes. The current is swift, and she is sent reeling and rock
ing into the eddy. In the confusion, two others are lost overboard and the
men seem quite discomfited, much to the amusement of the other members
of the party.
Catching the oars and starting again, the boats are once more borne
down the stream ufltil we land at a small cottonwood grove on the bank,
and camp for noon.
During the afternoon, we run down to a point where the river sweeps
the foot of an overhanging cliff, and here we camp for the night. The sun
is yet two hours high, so I climb the cliffs, and walk back among the
strangely carved rocks of the Green River bad-lands. These are sandstones
and shales, gray and buff, red and brown, blue and black strata in many
alternations, lying nearly horizontal, and almost without soil and vegetation.
They are very friable, and the rain and streams have carved them into quaint
shapes. Barren desolation is stretched before me ; and yet there is a beauty
in the scene. The fantastic carving, imitating architectural forms, and sug
gesting rude but weird statuary, with the bright and varied colors of the
rocks, conspire to make a scene such as the dweller in verdure-clad hills can
scarcely appreciate.
Standing on a high point, I can look off in every direction over a vast
landscape, with salient rocks and cliffs glittering in the evening sun. Dark
shadows are settling in the valleys and gulches, and the heights are made
2 COL
10 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
higher and the depths deeper by the glamour and witchery of light and
shade.
Away to the south, the Uinta Mountains stretch in a long line ; high
peaks thrust into the sky, and snow-fields glittering like lakes of molten
silver; and pine-forests in somber green; and rosy clouds playing around
the borders of huge, black masses; and heights and clouds, and mountains
and snow-fields, and forests and rock-lands, are blended into one grand view.
Now the sun goes down, and I return to camp.
May 25. — We start early this morning, and run along at a good rate
until about nine o'clock, when we are brought up on a gravelly bar. All
jump out, and help the boats over by main strength. Then a rain comes on,
and river and clouds conspire to give us a thorough drenching. Wet, chilled,
and tired to exhaustion, we stop at a cottonwood grove on the bank, build a
huge fire, make a cup of coffee, and are soon refreshed and quite merry.
When the clouds "get out of our sunshine," we start again. A few miles
farther down, a flock of mountain-sheep are seen on a cliff to the right. The
boats are quietly tied up, and three or four men go after them. In the
course of two or three hours, they return. The cook has been successful in
bringing down a fat lamb. The unsuccessful hunters taunt him with finding
it dead; but it is soon dressed, cooked, and eaten, making a fine four o'clock
dinner.
"All aboard," and down the river for another dozen miles. On the way,
we pass the mouth of Black's Fork, a dirty little stream that seems some
what swollen. Just below its mouth, we land and camp.
May 26. — To-day, we pass several curiously-shaped buttes, standing
between the west bank of the river and the high bluffs beyond. These
buttes are outliers of the same beds of rocks exposed on the faces of the
bluffs ; thinly laminated shales and sandstones of many colors, standing
above in vertical cliffs, and buttressed below with a water-carved talus ; some
of them attain an altitude of nearly a thousand feet above the level of the
river.
We glide quietly down the placid stream past the carved cliffs of the
mauvaises terres, now and then obtaining glimpses of distant mountains.
Figure 5.— Indian camp on^Henry'a Fork.
FLAMING GORGE. 11
Occasionally, deer are started from the glades among the willows; and several
wild geese, after a chase through the water, are shot.
After din'ner, we pass through a short, narrow canon into a broad valley;
from this, long, lateral valleys stretch back on either side as far as the eye
can reach.
Two or three miles below, Henry's Fork enters from the right. We land
a short distance above the junction, where a cache of instruments and rations
was made several months ago, in a cave at the foot of the cliff, a distance
back from the river. Here it was safe from the elements and wild beasts,
but not from man. Some anxiety is felt, as we have learned that a party of
Indians have been camped near it for several weeks. Our fears are soon
allayed, for we find it all right. Our chronometer wheels are not taken for
hair ornaments; our barometer tubes, for beads; nor the sextant thrown into
the river as "bad medicine," as had been predicted.
Taking up our cache, we pass down to the foot of the Uinta Mount
ains, and, in a cold storm, go into camp.
The river is running to the south; the mountains have an easterly and
westerly trend directly athwart its course, yet it glides on in a quiet way as
if it thought* a mountain range no formidable obstruction to its course. It
enters the range by a flaring, brilliant, red gorge, that may be seen from
the north a score of miles away.
The great mass of the mountain-ridge through which the gorge is cut is
composed of bright vermilion rocks; but they are surmounted by broad
bands of mottled buff and gray, and these bands come down with a gentle
curve to the water's edge on the nearer slope of the mountain.
This is the head of the first canon we are about to explore — an intro
ductory one to a series made by the river through this range. We name it
Flaming Gorge. The cliffs or walls we find, on measurement, to be about
one thousand two hundred feet high.
May 27. — To-day it rains, and we employ the time in repairing one of
our barometers, which was broken on the way from New York. A new tube
has to be put in; that is, a long glass tube has to be filled with mercury four
or five inches at a time, and each installment boiled over a spirit-lamp. It
12 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
is a delicate task to do this without breaking the glass; but we have success,
and are ready to measure mountains once more.
May 28. — To-day we go to the summit of the cliff on the left and take
observations for altitude, and are variously employed in topographic and
geological work.
May 29. — This morning, Bradley and I cross the river, and climb more
than a thousand feet to a point where we can see the stream sweeping in a
long, beautiful curve through the gorge below. Turning and looking to the
west, we can see the valley of Henry's Fork, through which, for many miles,
the little river flows in a tortuous channel. Cottonwood groves are planted
here and there along its course, and between them are stretches of grass land.
The narrow mountain valley is inclosed on either side by sloping walls of
naked rock of many bright colors. To the south of the valley are the
Uintas, and the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains can be faintly seen in the
far west. To the north, desert plains, dotted here and there with curiously
carved hills and buttes, extend to the limit of vision.
For many years, this valley has been the home of a number of mount
aineers, who were originally hunters and trappers, living with the Indians.
Most of them have one or more Indian wives. They no longer roam with
the nomadic tribes in pursuit of buckskin or beaver, but have accumulated
herds of cattle and horses, and consider themselves quite well-to-do. Some
of them have built cabins; others still live in lodges.
John Baker is one of the most famous of these men ; and, from our point
of view, we can see his lodge three or four miles up the river.
The distance from Green River City to Flaming Gorge is sixty -two
miles. The river runs between bluffs, in some places standing so close to
each other that no flood-plain is seen. At such a point, the river might pro
perly be said to run through a canon. The bad-lands on either side are inter
rupted here and there by patches of Artemesia, or sage-brush. Where there
is a flood -plain along either side of the river, a few cottonwoods may be seen.
Figure 6.— Camp at Flaming Gorge.
CHAPTER III.
FROM FLAMING GORGE TO THE GATE OF LODORE.
You must not think of a mountain-range as a line of peaks standing on
a plain, but as a broad platform many miles wide, from which mountains
have been carved by the waters. You must conceive, too, that this plateau
is cut by gulches and canons in many directions, and that beautiful valleys
are scattered about at different altitudes. The first series of canons we are
about to explore constitutes a river channel through such a range of mount
ains. The canon is cut nearly half-way through the range, then turns to
the east, and is cut along the central line, or axis, gradually crossing it to the
south. Keeping this direction for more than fifty miles, it then turns abruptly
to a southwest course, and goes diagonally through the southern slope of the
range.
This much we knew before entering, as we made a partial exploration
of the region last fall, climbing many of its peaks, and in a few places reach
ing the brink of the canon walls, and looking over precipices, many hundreds
of feet high, to the water below.
Here and there the walls are broken by lateral canons, the channels of
little streams entering the river ; through two or three of these, we found our
way down to the Green in early winter, and walked along the low water-
beach at the -foot of the cliffs for several miles. Where the river has this
general easterly direction, the western part only has cut for itself a canon,
while the eastern has formed a broad valley, called, in honor of an old-time
trapper, Brown's Park, and long known as a favorite winter resort for
mountain men and Indians.
May 30. — This morning we are ready to enter the mysterious canon,
and start with some anxiety. The old mountaineers tell us that it cannot
be run ; the Indians say, "Water heap catch 'em," but all are eager for the
trial, and off we go.
14 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
Entering Flaming Gorge, we quickly run through it on a swift cur
rent, and emerge into a little park. Half a mile below, the river wheels
sharply to the left, and we turned into another canon cut into the mountain.
We enter the narrow passage. On either side, the walls rapidly increase in
altitude. On the left are overhanging ledges and cliffs five hundred — a
thousand — fifteen hundred feet high.
On the right, the rocks are broken and ragged, and the water fills the
channel from cliff to cliff. Now the river turns abruptly around a point to
the right, and the waters plunge swiftly down among great rocks ; and here
we have our first experience with canon rapids. I stand up on the deck of
my boat to seek a way among the wave beaten rocks. All untried as we
are with such waters, the moments are filled with intense anxiety. Soon
our boats reach the swift current ; a stroke or two, now on this side, now on
that, and we thread the narrow passage with exhilarating velocity, mount
ing the high waves, whose foaming crests dash over us, and plunging into the
troughs, until we reach the quiet water below; and then comes a feeling of
great relief. Our first rapid is run. Another mile, and we come into the
valley again.
Let me explain this canon. Where the river turns to the left above, it
takes a course directly into the mountain, penetrating to its very heart, then
wheels back upon itself, and runs out into the valley from which it started
only half a mile below the point at which it entered ; so the canon is in the
form of an elongated letter U, with the apex in the center of the mountain.
We name it Horseshoe Canon.
Soon we leave the valley, and enter another short canon, very narrow
at first, but widening below as the caiion walls increase in height. Here
we discover the mouth of a beautiful little creek, coming down through its
narrow water worn cleft. Just at its entrance there is a park of two or three
hundred acres, walled on every side by almost vertical cliffs, hundreds of
feet in altitude, with three gateways through the walls — one up, another
down the river, and a third passage through which the creek comes in. The
river is broad, deep, and quiet, and its waters mirror towering rocks.
Kingfishers are playing about the streams, and so we adopt as names
BEEHIVE POINT. 15
Kingfisher Creek, Kingfisher Park, and Kingfisher Canon. At night, we camp
at the foot of this canon.
Our general course this day has been south, but here the river turns to
the east around a point which is rounded to the shape of a dome, and on its
sides little cells have been carve^l by the action of the water; and in these
pits, which cover the face of the dome, hundreds of swallows have built their
nests. As they flit about the cliffs, they look like swarms of bees, giving to
the whole the appearance of a colossal beehive of the old time form, and
so we name it Beehive Point.
The opposite wall is a vast amphitheater, rising in a succession of ter
races to a height of 1,200 or 1,500 feet. Each step is built of red sandstone,
with a face of naked, red rock, and a glacis clothed with verdure. So the am
phitheater seems banded red and green, and the evening sun is playing with
roseate flashes on the rocks, with shimmering green on the cedars' spray, and
iridescent gleams on the dancing waves. The landscape revels in the sunshine.
May 31. — We start down another canon, and reach rapids made danger
ous by high rocks lying in the channel; so we run ashore, and let our boats
down with lines. In the afternoon we come to more dangerous rapids, and
stop to examine them. I find we must do the same work again, but, being
on the wrong side of the river to obtain a foothold, must first cross over — no
very easy matter in such a current, with rapids and rocks below. We take
the pioneer boat "Emma Dean" over, and unload her on the bank; then she
returns and takes another load. Running back and forth, she soon has half
our cargo over; then one of the larger boats is manned and taken across, but
earned down almost to the rocks in spite of hard rowing. The other boats
follow and make the landing, and we go into camp for the night.
At the foot of the cliff on this side, there is a long slope covered with
pines ; under these we make our beds, and soon after sunset are seeking rest
and sleep. The cliffs on either side are of red sandstone, and stretch up
toward the heavens 2,500 feet. On this side, the long, pine clad slope is
surmounted by perpendicular cliffs, with pines on their summits. The wall
on the other side is bare rock from the water's edge up 2,000 feet, then
slopes back, giving footing to pines and cedars.
As the twilight deepens, the rocks grow dark and somber ; the threat-
16 EXPLORATION OP THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
ening roar of the water is loud and constant, and I lie awake with thoughts
of the morrow and the canons to come, interrupted now and then by char
acteristics of the scenery that attract my attention. And here I make a
discovery. On looking at the mountain directly in front, the steepness of
the slope is greatly exaggerated, while the distance to its summit and its true
altitude are correspondingly diminished. I have heretofore found that to
properly judge of the slope of a mountain side, you must see it in profile.
In coming down the river this afternoon, I observed the slope of a particular
part of the wall, and made an estimate of its altitude. While at supper, I
noticed the same cliff from a position facing it, and it seemed steeper, but
not half as high. Now lying on my side and looking at it, the true propor
tions appear. This seems a wonder, and I rise up to take a view of it stand
ing. It is the same cliff as at supper time. Lying down again, it is the
cliff as seen in profile, with a long slope and distant summit. Musing on
this, I forget "the morrow and the canons to come." I find a way to esti
mate the altitude and slope of an inclination as I can judge of distance along
the horizon. The reason is simple. A reference to the stereoscope will
suggest it. The distance between the eyes forms a base-line for optical
triangulation.
June 1. — To-day we have an exciting ride. The river rolls down the
canon at a wonderful rate, and, with no rocks in the way, we make almost
railroad speed. Here and there the water rushes into a narrow gorge; the
rocks on the side roll it into the center in great waves, and the boats go
leaping and bounding over these like things of life. They remind me of
scenes witnessed in Middle Park ; herds of startled deer bounding through
forests beset with fallen timber. I mention the resemblance to some of the
hunters, and so striking is it that it comes to be a common expression, "See
the black-tails jumping the logs." At times the waves break and roll over
the boats, which necessitates much bailing, and obliges us to stop occasion
ally for that purpose. At one time, we run twelve miles in an hour, stop
pages included.
Last spring, I had a conversation with an old Indian named Pa'-ri-ats,
who told me about one of his tribe attempting to run this canon. "The
rocks," he said, holding his hands above his head, his arms vertical, and
Figure 7. — Pa'-ri-ats.
ASHLEY FALLS. 17
looking between them to the heavens, "the rocks h-e-a-p, h-e-a-p high; the
water go h-oo-woogh, h-oo-woogh; water-pony (boat) h-e-a-p buck; water
catch 'em ; no see 'em Injun any more ! no see 'em squaw any more ! no see
'em pappoose any more!"
Those who have seen these >wild Indian ponies rearing alternately
before and behind, or "bucking," as it is called in the vernacular, will appre
ciate his description.
At last we come to calm water, and a threatening roar is heard in the
distance. Slowly approaching the point whence the sound issues, we come
near to falls, and tie up just above them on the left. Here we will be com
pelled to make a portage; so we unload the boats, and fasten a long line to
the bow, and another to the stem, of the smaller one, and moor her close to
the brink of the fall. Then the bow-line is taken below, and made fast ;
the stern line is held by five or six men, and the boat let down as long
as they can hold her against the rushing waters ; then, letting go one end of
the line, it runs through the ring ; the boat leaps over the fall, and is caught
by the lower rope.
Now we rest for the night.
June 2. — This morning we make a trail among the rocks, transport the
cargoes to a point below the falls, let the remaining boats over, and are
ready to start before noon.
On a high rock by which the trail passes we find the inscription :
"Ashley 18—5." The third figure is obscure — some of the party reading it
1835, some 1855.
James Baker, an old time mountaineer, once told me about a party of
men starting down the river, and Ashley was named as one. The story runs
that the boat was swamped, and some of the party drowned in one of the
canons below. The word "Ashley" is a warning to us, and we resolve on
great caution.
Ashley Falls is the name we give to the cataract.
The river is very narrow; the right wall vertical for two or three hun
dred feet, the left towering to a great height, with a vast pile of broken rocks
lying between the foot of the cliff and the water. Some of the rocks broken
down from the ledge above have tumbled into the channel and caused
3 COL
18 EXPLORATION OP THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
fall. One great cubical block, thirty or forty feet high, stands in the middle
of the stream, and the waters, parting to either side, plunge down about
twelve feet, and are broken again by the smaller rocks into a rapid below.
Immediately below the falls, the water occupies the entire channel, there
being no talus at the foot of the cliffs.
We embark, and run down a short distance, where we find a landing-
place for dinner.
On the waves again all the afternoon. Near the lower end of this
canon, to which we have given the name Red Caiion, is a little park, where
streams come down from distant mountain summits, and enter the river on
either side; and here we camp for the night under two stately pines.
June 3. — This morning we spread our rations, clothes, &c., on the
ground to dry, and several of the party go out for a hunt. I take a walk
of five or six miles up to a pine grove park, its grassy carpet bedecked with
crimson, velvet flowers, set in groups on the stems of pear shaped cactus
plants ; patches of painted cups are seen here and there, with yellow blos
soms protruding through scarlet bracts; little blue-eyed flowers are peeping
through the grass; and the air is filled with fragrance from the white blossoms
of a Spiraea. A mountain brook runs through the midst, ponded below by
beaver dams. It is a quiet place for retirement from the raging waters of
the canon.
It will be remembered that the course of the river, from Flaming Gorge
to Beehive Point, is in a southerly direction, and at right angles to the Uinta
Mountains, and cuts into the range until it reaches a point within five miles
of the crest, where it turns to the east, and pursues a course not quite parallel
to the trend of the range, but crosses the axis slowly in a direction a little
south of east. ' Thus there is a triangular tract between the river and the
axis of the mountain, with its acute angle extending eastward. I climb
a mountain overlooking this country. To the east, the peaks are not very
high, and already most of the snow has melted ; but little patches lie here
and there under the lee of ledges of rock. To the west, the peaks grow
higher and the snow fields larger. Between the brink of the canon and the
foot of these peaks, there is a high bench. A number of creeks have their
sources in the snow banks to the south, and run north into the canon, turn-
SWALLOW CAStON. 19
bling down from 3,000 to 5,000 feet in a distance of five or six miles. Along
their upper courses, they run through grassy valleys ; but, as they approach
Red Caiion, they rapidly disappear imder the general surface of the country,
and emerge into the canon below in deep, dark gorges of their own. Each
of these short lateral canons is marked by a succession of cascades and
a wild confusion of rocks and trees and fallen timber and thick under
growth.
The little valleys above are beautiful parks ; between the parks are
stately pine forests, half hiding ledges of red sandstone. Mule-deer and elk
abound; grizzly bears, too, are abundant; wild cats, wolverines, and mountain
lions are here at home. The forest aisles are filled with the music of birds,
and the parks are decked with flowers. Noisy brooks meander through
them ; ledges of moss covered rocks are seen ; and gleaming in the distance
are the snow fields, and the mountain tops are away in the clouds.
June 4. — We start early and run through to Brown's Park. Half way
down the valley, a spur of a red mountain stretches across the river, which
cuts a canon through it. Here the walls are comparatively low, but ver
tical. A vast number of swallows have built their adobe houses on the face
of the cliffs, on either side of the river. The waters are deep and quiet,
but the swallows are swift and noisy enough, sweeping by in their curved
paths through the air, or chattering from the rocks. The young birds stretch
their little heads on naked necks through the doorways of their mud houses,
clamoring for food. They are a noisy people.
We call this Swallow Canon.
Still down the river we glide, until an early hour in the afternoon, when
we go into camp under a giant cottonwood, standing on the right bank, a
little way back from the stream. The party had succeeded in killing a fine
lot of wild ducks, and during the afternoon a mess of fish is taken.
June 5. — With one of the men, I climb a mountain, off on the right.
A long spur, with broken ledges of rock, puts down to the river; and along
its course, or up the "hog-back," as it is called, I make the ascent. Dunn,
who is climbing to the same point, is coming up the gulch. Two hours'
hard work has brought us to the summit. These mountains are all verdure
clad; pine and cedar forests are set on green terraces; snow clad mountains
20 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
are seen in the distance, to the west; the plains of the tipper Green stretch
out before us, to the north, until they are lost in the blue heavens; but half
of the river cleft range intervenes, and the river itself is at our feet.
This half range, beyond the river, is composed of long ridges, nearly
parallel with the valley. On the farther ridge, to the north, four creeks
have their sources. These cut through the intervening ridges, one of which
is much higher than that on which they head, by canon gorges; then they
run, with gentle curves, across the valley, their banks set with willows, box-
elders, and cottonwood groves.
To the east, we look up the valley of the Vermilion, through which Fre*-
mont found his path on his way to the great parks of Colorado.
The reading of the barometer taken, we start down in company, and
reach camp tired and hungry, which does not abate one bit our enthusiasm,
as we tell of the day's work, with its glory of landscape.
June 6. — At daybreak, I am awakened by a chorus of birds. It seems
as if all the feathered songsters of the region have come to the old tree.
Several species of warblers, woodpeckers, and flickers above, meadow-larks
in the grass, and wild geese in the river. I recline on my elbow, and watch
a lark near by, and then awaken my bed fellow, to listen to my Jenny Lind.
A morning concert for me; none of your "matinees"
Our cook has been an ox-driver, or " bull- whacker," on the plains, in
one of those long trains now no longer seen, and he hasn't forgotten his old
ways. In the midst of the concert, his voice breaks in: "Roll out! roll out!
bulls in the corral! chain up the gaps! Eoll out! roll out! roll out!" And
this is our breakfast bell.
To-day we pass through the park, and camp at the head of another
canon.
June 1. — To day, two or three of us climb to the summit of the cliff,
on the left, and find its altitude, above camp, to be 2,086 feet. The rocks
are split with fissures, deep and narrow, sometimes a hundred feet, or more,
to the bottom. Lofty pines find root in the fissures that are filled with
loose earth and decayed vegetation. On a rock we find a pool of clear,
cold water, caught from yesterday evening's shower. After a good drink,
we walk out to the brink of the canon, and look down to the water
DISTANCES AND HEIGHTS. 21
below. I can do this now, but it has taken several years of mountain climb
ing to cool iny nerves, so that I can sit, with my feet over the edge, and
calmly look down a precipice 2,000 feet. And yet I cannot look on and
see another do the same. I must either bid him come away, or turn my
head.
The canon walls are buttressed on a grand scale, with deep alcoves
intervening; columned crags crown the cliffs, and the river is rolling below.
When we return to camp, at noon, the sun shines in splendor on ver
milion walls, shaded into green and gray, where the rocks are lichened over ;
the river fills the channel from wall to wall, and the canon opens, like a
beautiful portal, to a region of glory.
This evening, as I write, the sun is going down, and the shadows are
settling in the canon. The vermilion gleams and roseate hues, blending
with the green and gray tints, are slowly changing to somber brown above,
and black shadows are creeping over them below; and now it is a dark
portal to a region of gloom — the gateway through which we are to enter
on our voyage of exploration to-morrow. What shall we find?
The distance from Flaming Gorge to Beehive Point is nine and two-
thirds miles. Besides, passing through the gorge, the river runs through
Horseshoe and Kingfisher Canons, separated by short valleys. The high
est point on the walls, at Flaming Gorge, is 1,300 feet above the river. The
east wall, at the apex of Horseshoe Canon, is about 1,600 feet above the
water's edge, and, from this point, the walls slope both to the head and foot
of the canon.
Kingfisher Canon, starting at the water's edge above, steadily increases
in altitude to 1,200 feet at the foot.
Red Canon is twenty-five and two-thirds miles long, and the highest
walls are about 2,500 feet.
Brown's Park is a valley, bounded on either side by a mountain range,
really an expansion of the canon. The river, through the park, is thirty five
and a half miles long, but passes through two short canons, on its way,
where spurs, from the mountains on the south, are thrust across its course.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CANON OF LODORE.
June 8. — We enter the canon, and, until noon, find a succession of rap
ids, over which our boats have to be taken.
Here I must explain our method of proceeding at such places. The
"Emma Dean" goes in advance; the other boats follow, in obedience to sig
nals. When we approach a rapid, or what, on other rivers, would often be
called a fall, I stand on deck to examine it, while the oarsmen back water,
and we drift on as slowly as possible. If I can see a clear chute between
the rocks, away we go ; but if the channel is beset entirely across, we signal
the other boats, pull to land, and I walk along the shore for closer exami
nation. If this reveals no clear channel, hard work begins. We drop the
boats to the very head of the dangerous place, and let them over by lines,
or make a portage, frequently carrying both boats and cargoes over the
rocks, or, perhaps, only the cargoes, if it is safe to let the boats down.
The waves caused by such falls in a river differ much from the waves
of the sea. The water of an ocean wave merely rises and falls ; the form
only passes on, and form chases form unceasingly. A body floating on
such waves merely rises and sinks — does not progress unless impelled by
wind or some other power. But here, the water of the wave passes on,
while the form remains. The waters plunge down ten or twenty feet, to the
foot of a fall ; spring up again in a great wave ; then down and up, in a
series of billows, that gradually disappear in the more quiet waters below ;
but these waves are always there, and you can stand above and count them.
A boat riding such, leaps and plunges along with great velocity. Now,
the difficulty in riding over these falls, when the rocks are out of the way,
is in the first wave at the foot. This will sometimes gather for a moment,
heaping up higher and higher, until it breaks back. If the boat strikes it
the instant after it breaks, she cuts through, and the mad breaker dashes its
spray over the boat, and would wash us overboard did we not cling tight.
Figure 8. — Gate of Lodore.
CLIFF OF THE HARP. 23
If the boat, in going over the falls, chances to get caught in some side cur
rent, and is turned from its course, so as to strike the wave "broadside on,"
and the wave breaks at the same instant, the boat is capsized. Still, we must
cling to her, for, the water tight compartments acting as buoys, she cannot
sink ; and so we go, dragged througli the waves, until still waters are reached.
We then right the boat, and climb aboard. We have several such experi
ences to day.
At night, we camp on the right bank, on a little shelving rock, between
the river and the foot of the cliff; and with night comes gloom into these
great depths.
After supper, we sit by our camp fire, made of drift wood caught by
the rocks, and tell stories of wild life; for the men have seen such in the
mountains, or on the plains, and on the battle fields of the South. It is late
before we spread our blankets on the beach.
Lying down, we look up through the canon, and see that only a little
of the blue heaven appears overhead — a crescent of blue sky, with two or
three constellations peering down upon us.
I do not sleep for some time, as the excitement of the day has not worn
off. Soon I see a bright star, that appears to rest on the very verge of the
cliff overhead to the east. Slowly it seems to float from its resting place on
the rock over the canon. At first, it appeared like a jewel set on the brink
of the cliff ; but, as it moves out from the rock, I almost wonder that it does
not fall. In fact, it does seem to descend in a gentle curve, as though the
bright sky in which the stars are set was spread across the canon, resting on
either wall, and swayed down by its own weight. The stars appear to be
in the canon. I soon discover that it is the bright star Vega, so it occurs to
me to designate this part of the wall as the "Cliff of the Harp."
June 9. — One of the party suggests that we call this the Canon of
Lodore, and the name is adopted. Very slowly we make our way, often
climbing on the rocks at the edge of the water for a few hundred yards, to
examine the channel before running it.
During the afternoon, we come to a place where it is necessary to make
a portage. The little boat it landed, and the others are signaled to come up.
When these rapids or broken falls occur, usually the channel is sud-
24 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
denly narro tved by rocks which have been tumbled from the cliffs or have
been washed in by lateral streams. Immediately above the narrow, rocky
channel, on one or both sides, there is often a bay of quiet water, in which
we can land with ease. Sometimes the water descends with a smooth,
unruffled surface, from the broad, quiet spread above, into the narrow,
angry channel below, by a semicircular sag. Great care must be taken not
to pass over the brink into this deceptive pit, but above it we can row with
safety. I walk along the bank to examine the ground, leaving one of my
men with a flag to guide the other boats to the landing-place. I soon see
one of the boats make shore all right and feel no more concern ; but a
minute after, I hear a shout, and looking around, see one of the boats
shooting down the center of the sag. It is the "No Name," with Captain
Rowland, his brother, and Goodman. I feel that its going over is inevitable,
and run to save the third boat. A minute more, and she turns the point and
heads for the shore. Then I turn down stream again, and scramble along
to look for the boat that has gone over. The first fall is not great, only ten
or twelve feet, and we often run such; but below, the river tumbles down
again for forty or fifty feet, in a channel filled with dangerous rocks that
break the waves into whirlpools and beat them into foam. I pass around a
great crag just in time to see the boat strike a rock, and, rebounding from
the shock, careen and fill the open compartment with water. Two of the
men lose their oars ; she swings around, and is earned down at a rapid rate,
broadside on, for a few yards, and strikes amidships on another rock with
great force, is broken quite in two, and the men are thrown into the river ;
the larger part of the boat floating buoyantly, they soon seize it, and
down the river they drift, past the rocks for a few hundred yards to a second
rapid, filled with huge boulders, where the boat strikes again, and is dashed
to pieces, and the men and fragments are soon carried beyond my sight.
Running along, I turn a bend, and see a man's head above the water, washed
about in a whirlpool below a great rock.
It is Frank Goodman, clinging to it with a grip upon which life depends.
Coming opposite, I see Howland trying to go to his aid from an island on
which he has been washed. Soon, he comes near enough to reach Frank
with a pole, which he extends toward him. The latter lets go the rock,
Figure 9.— Winnie's Grotto, a side canon. (Walls 2,OCO feet high.)
FINDING OF THE WRECK. 25
grasps the pole, and is pulled ashore. Seneca Rowland is washed farther
down the island, and is caught by some rocks, and, though somewhat bruised,
manages to get ashore in safety. This seems a long time, as I tell it, but
it is quickly done.
And now the three men are cm an island, with a swift, dangerous river
on either side, and a fall below. The "Emma Dean" is soon brought down,
and Sumner, starting above as far as possible, pushes out. Right skillfully
he plies the oars, and a few strokes set him on the island at the proper point.
Then they all pull the boat up stream, as far as they are able, until they
stand in water up to their necks. One . sits on a rock, and holds the boat
until the others are ready to pull, then gives the boat a push, clings to it
with his hands, and climbs in as they pull for mainland, which they reach
in safety. We are as glad to shake hands with them as though they had
been on a voyage around the world, and wrecked on a distant coast.
Down the river half a mile we find that the after cabin of the wrecked
boat, with a part of the bottom, ragged and splintered, has floated against
a rock, and stranded. There are valuable articles in the cabin; but, on
examination, we determine that life should not be risked to save them. Of
course, the cargo of rations, instruments, and clothing is gone.
We return to the boats, and make camp for the night. No sleep comes
to me in all those dark hours. The rations, instruments, and clothing have
been divided among the boats, anticipating such an accident as this ; and
we started with duplicates of everything that was deemed necessary to
success. But, in the distribution, there was one exception to this precaution,
and the barometers were all placed in one boat, and they are lost. There is
a possibility that they are in the cabin lodged against the rock, for that is
where they were kept. But, then, how to reach them! The river is rising.
Will they be there to-morrow? Can I go out to Salt Lake City, and obtain
barometers from New York?
June 10. — I have determined to get the barometers from the wreck, if
they are there. After breakfast, while the men make the portage, I go down
again for another examination. There tho cabin lies," only carried fifty or
sixty feet farther on.
Carefully looking over the ground, I am satisfied that it can be reached
4 COL
26 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
with safety, and return to tell the men my conclusion. Sunnier and Dunn
volunteer to take the little boat and make the attempt. They start, reach it,
and out come the barometers; and now the boys set up a shout, and I join
them, pleased that they should be as glad to save the instruments as myself.
When the boat lands on our side, I find that the only things saved from the
wreck were the barometers, a package of thermometers, and a three gallon
keg of whisky, which is what the men were shouting about. They had
taken it aboard, unknown to me, and now I am glad they did, for they think
it will do them good, as they are drenched every day by the melting snow,
which runs down from the summits of the Rocky Mountains.
Now we come back to our work at the portage. We find that it is
necessary to carry our rations over the rocks for nearly a mile, and let our
boats down with lines, except at a few points, where they also must be
carried.
Between the river and the eastern wall of the canon there is an immense
talus of broken rocks. These have tumbled down from the cliff's above, and
constitute a vast pile of huge angular fragments. On these we build a
path for a quarter of a mile, to a small sand beach covered with drift-wood,
through which we clear a way for several hundred yards, then continue the
trail on over another pile of rocks, nearly half a mile farther down, to a little
bay. The greater part of the day is spent in this work. Then we carry
our cargoes down to the beach and camp for the night.
While the men are building the camp fire, we discover an iron bake oven,
several tin plates, a part of a boat, and many other fragments, which denote
that this is the place where Ashley's party was wrecked.
June 11. — This day is spen,t in carrying our rations down to the bay —
no small task to climb over the rocks with sacks of flour or bacon. We
carry them by stages of about 500 yards each, and when night comes, and
the last sack is on the beach, we are tired, bruised, and glad to sleep.
June 12. — To-day we take the boats down to the bay. While at this
work, we discover three sacks of flour from the wrecked boat, that have
lodged in the rocks. We carry them above high-water mark, and leave
them, as our cargoes are already too heavy for the three remaining boats.
We also find two or three oars, which we place with them.
Figure 10.— Wreck at Disaster Falls.
DISASTER FALLS— ASHLEY'S CREEK. 27
As Ashley and his party were wrecked here, and as we have lost one
of our boats at the same place, we adopt the name Disaster Falls for the
scene of so much peril and loss.
Though some of his companions were drowned, Ashley and one other
survived the wreck, climbed the canon wall, and found their way across the
Wasatch Mountains to Salt Lake City, living chiefly on berries, as they
wandered through an unknown and difficult country. When they arrived
at Salt Lake, they were almost destitute of clothing, and nearly starved.
The Mormon people gave them food and clothing, and employed them to
work on the foundation of the Temple, .until they had earned sufficient to
enable them to leave the country. Of their subsequent history, I have no
knowledge. It is possible they returned to the scene of the disaster, as a
little creek entering the river below is known as Ashley's Creek, and it is
reported that he built a cabin and trapped on this river for one or two
winters ; but this may have been before the disaster.
June 13. — Still rocks, rapids, and portages.
We camp to-night at the foot of the left wall on a little patch of flood-
plain covered with a dense growth of box-elders, stopping early in order to
spread the clothing and rations to dry. Everything is wet and spoiling.
June 1 4. — Rowland and I climb the wall, on the west side of the canon,
to an altitude of 2,000 feet. Standing above, and looking to the west, we
discover a large park, five or six miles wide and twenty or thirty long. The
cliff we have climbed forms a wall between the canon and the park, for it
is 800 feet, down the western side, to the valley. A creek comes winding
down, 1,200 feet above the river, and, entering the intervening wall by a
canon, it plunges down, more than a thousand feet, by a broken cascade,
into the river below.
June 15. — To-day, while we make another portage, a peak, standing
on the east wall, is climbed by two of the men, and found to be 2,700 feet
above the river. On the east side of the canon, a vast amphitheater has been
cut, with massive buttresses, and deep, dark alcoves, in which grow beautiful
mosses and delicate ferns, while springs burst out from the further recesses,
and wind, in silver threads, over floors of sand rock. Here we have three
falls in close succession. At the first, the water is compressed into a very
28 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
narrow channel, against the right-hand cliff, and falls fifteen feet in ten
yards; at the second, we have a broad sheet of water, tumbling down
twenty feet over a group of rocks that thrust their dark heads through the
foaming waters. The third is a broken fall, or short, abrupt rapid, where
the water makes a descent of more than twenty feet among huge, fallen frag
ments of the cliff. We name the group Triplet Falls.
We make a portage around the first; past the second and third we let
down with lines.
During the afternoon, Dunn and Rowland, having returned from their
climb, we run down, three-quarters of a mile, on quiet water, and land at
the head of another fall. On examination, we find that there is an abrupt
plunge of a few feet, and then the river tumbles, for half a mile, with a
descent of a hundred feet, in a channel beset with great numbers of huge
bowlders. This stretch of the river is named Hell's Half-Mile.
The remaining portion of the day is occupied in making a trail among
the rocks to the foot of the rapid.
June 16. — Our first work this morning is to carry our cargoes to the
foot of the falls. Then we commence letting down the boats. We take two
of them down in safety^ but not without great difficulty; for, where such 3,
vast body of water, rolling down an inclined plane, is broken into eddies
and cross currents by rocks projecting from the cliffs and piles of boulders
in the channel, it requires excessive labor and much care to prevent their
being dashed against the rocks or breaking away. Sometimes we are com
pelled to hold the boat against a rock, above a chute, until a second line,
attached to the stem, is carried to some point below, and, when all is ready
the first line is detached, and the boat given to the current, when she shoots
down, and the men below swing her into some eddy.
At such a place, we are letting down the last boat, and, as she is set free,
a wave turns her broadside down the stream, with the stem, to which the
line is attached, from shore, and a little up. They haul on the line to bring
the boat in, but the power of the current, striking obliquely against her,
shoots her out into the middle of the river. The men have their hands
burned with the friction of the passing line; the boat breaks away, aiid
speeds, with great velocity, down the stream.
RIPPLING BROOK. 29
The "Maid of the Canon" is lost, so it seems; but she drifts some distance,
and swings into an eddy, in which she spins about, until we arrive with the
small boat, and rescue her.
Soon we are on our way again, and stop at the mouth of a little brook,
on the right, for a late dinner. This brook comes down from the distant
mountains, in a deep side canon. We set out to explore it, but are soon cut
off from farther progress up the gorge by a high rock, over which the brook
glides in a smooth sheet. The rock is not quite vertical, and the water does
not plunge over in a fall.
Then we climb up to the left for an hour, and are a thousand feet
above the river, and six hundred above the brook. Just before us, the canon
divides, a little stream coming down on the right, and another on the left,
and we can look away up either of these canons, through an ascending vista,
to cliffs and crags and towers, a mile back, and two thousand feet overhead.
To the right, a dozen gleaming cascades are seen. Pines and firs stand on
the rocks, and aspens overhang the brooks. The rocks below are red and
brown, set in deep shadows, but above, they are buff and vermilion, and
stand in the sunshine. The light above, made more brilliant by the bright-
tinted rocks, and the shadows below more gloomy by the somber hues of
the brown walls, increase the apparent depths of the canons, and it seems a
long way up to the world of sunshine and open sky, and a long way down
to the bottom of the canon glooms. Never before have I received such an
impression of the vast heights of these canon walls; not even at the Cliff of
the Harp, where the very heavens seemed to rest on their summits.
We sit on some overhanging rocks, and enjoy the scene for a time,
listening to the music of falling waters away up the canons. We name this
Rippling Brook.
Late in the afternoon we make a short run to the mouth of another
little creek, coming down from the left into an alcove filled with luxuriant
vegetation. Here camp is made with a group of cedars on one side and a
dense mass of box-elders and dead willows on the other. *
I go up to explore the alcove. While away a whirlwind comes, scat
tering the fire among the dead willows and cedar-spray, and soon there is a
conflagration. The men rush for the boats, leaving all they cannot readily
30 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
seize at the moment, and even then they have their clothing burned and
hair singed, and Bradley has his ears scorched. The cook fills his arms
with the mess-kit, and, jumping into a boat, stumbles and falls, and away go
our cooking utensils into the river. Our plates are gone ; our spoons are
gone; our knives and forks are gone. "Water catch 'em; h-e-a-p catch 'em."
When on the boats, the men are compelled to cut loose, as the flames,
running out on the overhanging willows, are scorching them. Loose on
the stream, they must go down, for the water is too swift to make headway
against it. Just below is a rapid, filled with rocks. On they shoot, no
channel explored, no signal to guide them. Just at this juncture I chance
to see them, but have not yet discovered the fire, and the strange movements
of the men fill me with astonishment. Down the rocks I clamber, and run
to the bank. When I arrive, they have landed. Then we all go back to
the late camp to see if anything left behind can be saved. Some of the
clothing and bedding taken out of the boats is found, also a few tin cups,
basins, and a camp kettle, and this is all the mess kit we now have. Yet
we do just as well as ever.
June 1 7. — We run down to the mouth of Yampa River. This has been
a chapter of disasters and toils, notwithstanding which the canon of Lodore
was not devoid of scenic interest, even beyond the power of pen to tell. The
roar of its waters was heard unceasingly from the hour we entered it until
we landed here. No quiet in all that time. But its walls and cliffs, its
peaks and crags, its amphitheaters and alcoves, tell a story of beauty and
grandeur that I hear yet — and shall hear.
The canon of Lodore is twenty and three-quarter miles in length. It
starts abruptly at what we have called the Gate of Lodore, with walls nearly
two thousand feet high, and they are never lower than this until we reach
Alcove Brook, about three miles above the foot. They are very irregular,
standing in vertical or overhanging cliffs in places, terraced in others, or re
ceding in steep slopes, and are broken by many side gulches and canons.
DISTANCES AND HEIGHTS. 31
The highest point on the wall is at Dunn's Cliff, near Triplet Falls, where
the rocks reach an altitude of 2,700 feet, but the peaks a little way back
rise nearly a thousand feet higher. Yellow pines, nut pines, firs, and
cedars stand in extensive forests on the Uinta Mountains, and, clinging
to the rocks and growing in th£ crevices, come down the walls to the
water's edge from Flaming Gorge to Echo Park. The red standstones
are lichened over; delicate mosses grow in the moist places, and ferns
festoon the walls.
CHAPTER V.
FROM ECHO PARK TO THE MOUTH OF THE UINTA RIVER.
The Yampa enters the Green from the east. At a point opposite its
mouth, the Green runs to the south, at the foot of a rock, about seven hun
dred feet high and a mile long, and then turns sharply around it to the right,
and runs back in a northerly course, parallel to its former direction, for
nearly another mile, thus having the opposite sides of a long, narrow rock
for its bank. The tongue of rock so formed is a peninsular precipice, with
a mural escarpment along its whole course on the east, but broken down at
places on the west.
On the east side of the river, opposite the rock, and below the Yampa,
there is a little park, just large enough for a farm, already fenced with high
walls of gray homogeneous sandstone. There are three river entrances to
this park : one down the Yampa; one below, by coming up the Green; and
another down the Green. There is also a land entrance down a lateral
canon. Elsewhere the park is inaccessible. Through this land-entrance by
the side canon there is a trail made by Indian hunters, who come down here
in certain seasons to kill mountain sheep.
Great hollow domes are seen in the eastern side of the rock, against
which the Green sweeps ; willows border the river ; clumps of box-elder
are seen; and a few cottonwoods stand at the lower end. Standing opposite
the rock, our words are repeated with startling clearness, but in a soft, mel
low tone, that transforms them into magical music. Scarcely can you
believe it is the echo of your own voice. In some places two or three
echoes come back ; in other places they repeat themselves, passing back and
forth across the river between this rock and the eastern wall.
To hear these repeated echoes well you must shout. Some of the
party aver that ten or twelve repetitions can be heard. To me, they seem
to rapidly diminish and merge by multiplicity, like telegraph poles on an
Figure It. — Echo Rock.
ECHO KOCK. 33
outstretched plain. I have observed the same phenomenon once before in
the cliffs near Long's Peak, and am pleased to meet with it again.
During the afternoon, Bradley and I climb some cliffs to the north.
Mountain sheep are seen above us, and they stand out on the rocks, and eye
us intently, not seeming to move^ Their color is much like that of the gray
sandstone beneath them, and, immovable as they are, they appear like carved
forms. Now a fine ram beats the rock with his fore foot, and, wheeling
around, they all bound away together, leaping over rocks and chasms, and
climbing walls where no man can follow, and this with an ease and grace
fulness most wonderful. At night we return to our camp, under the box-
elders, by the river side. Here we are to spend two or three days, making
a series of astronomic observations for latitude and longitude.
June 18. — We have named the long peninsular rock on the other side
Echo Rock. Desiring to climb it, Bradley and I take the little boat and
pull up stream as far as possible, for it cannot be climbed directly opposite.
We land on a talus of rocks at the upper end, to reach a place where it seems
practicable to make the ascent ; but we must go still farther up the river.
So we scramble along, until we reach a place where the river sweeps against
the wall. Here we find a shelf, along which we can pass, and now are ready
for the climb.
We start up a gulch; then pass to the left, on a bench, along the wall;
then up again, over broken rocks ; then we reach more benches, along which
we walk, until we find more broken rocks and crevices, by which we climb,
still up, until we have ascended six or eight hundred feet ; then we are met
by a sheer precipice.
Looking about, we find a place where it seems possible to climb. I go
ahead ; Bradley hands the barometer to me, and follows. So we proceed,
stage by stage, until we are nearly to the summit. Here, by making a
spring, I gain a foothold in a little crevice, and grasp an angle of the rock
overhead. I find I can get up no farther, and cannot step back, for I dare
not let go with my hand, and cannot reach foot-hold below without. I call
to Bradley for help. He finds a way by which he can get to the top of the
rock over my head, but cannot reach me. Then he looks around for some
stick or limb of a tree, but finds none. Then he suggests that he had better
5 COL
34 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
help me with the barometer case ; but I fear I cannot hold on to it. The
moment is critical. Standing on my toes, my muscles begin to tremble. It
is sixty or eighty feet to the foot of the precipice. If I lose my hold I
shall fall to the bottom, and then perhaps roll over the bench, and tumble
still farther down the cliff. At this instant it occurs to Bradley to take off
his drawers, which he does, and swings them down to me. I hug close to
the rock, let go with my hand, seize the dangling legs, and, with his assist
ance, I am enabled to gain the top.
Then we walk out on a peninsular rock, make the necessary obser
vations for determining its altitude above camp, and return, finding an easy
way down.
June 19. — To-day, Rowland, Bradley, and I take the "Emma Dean,"
and start up the Yampa River, The stream is much swollen, the current swift,
and we are able to make but slow progress against it. The canon in this
part of the course of the Yampa is cut through light gray sandstone. The
river is very winding, and the swifter water is usually found on the outside
of the curve, sweeping against vertical cliffs, often a thousand feet high. In
the center of these curves, in many places, the rock above overhangs the
river. On the opposite side, the walls are broken, craggy, and sloping, and
occasionally side canons enter. When we have rowed until we are quite
tired we stop, and take advantage of one of these broken places to climb
out of the canon. When above, we can look up the Yampa for a distance
of several miles.
From the summit of the immediate walls of the canon the rocks rise
gently back for a distance of a mile or two, having the appearance of a
valley, with an irregular, rounded sandstone floor, and in the center of the
valley a deep gorge, which is the canon. The rim of this valley on the
north is from two thousand five hundred to three thousand feet above the
river ; on the south, it is not so high. A number of peaks stand on this
northern rim, the highest of which has received the name Mount Dawes.
Late in the afternoon we descend to our boat, and return to camp in
Echo Park, gliding down in twenty minutes on the rapid river a distance
of four or five miles, which was only made up stream by several hours' hard
rowing in the morning.
CLIMBING THE CLIFFS. 35
June 20. — This morning two of the men take me up the Yampa for a
short distance, and I go out to climb. Having reached the top of the canon,
I walk over long stretches of naked sandstone, crossing gulches now and
then, and by noon reach the summit of Mount Dawes. From this point I
can look away to the north, and see in the dim distance the Sweetwater and
Wind River Mountains, more than a hundred miles away. To the north
west, the Wasatch Mountains are in view and peaks of the Uinta. To the
east, I can see the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, more than a
hundred and fifty miles distant.
The air is singularly clear to day; mountains and buttes stand in sharp
outline, valleys stretch out in the perspective, and I can look down into the
deep canon gorges and see gleaming waters.
Descending, I cross to a ridge near the brink of the canon of Lodore,
the highest point of which is nearly as high as the last mentioned mountain.
Late in the afternoon I stand on this elevated point, and discover a
monument that has evidently been built by human hands. A few plants are
growing in the joints between the rocks, and all are lichened over to a
greater or less extent, showing evidences that the pile was built a long time
ago. This line of peaks, the eastern extension of the Uinta Mountains, has
received the name of Sierra Escalanti, in honor of a Spanish priest, who
traveled in this region of country nearly a century ago; and, perchance,
the reverend father built this monument.
Now I return to the river and discharge my gun, as a signal for the
boat to come and take me down to camp. While we have been in the park,
the men have succeeded in catching quite a number of fish, and we have an
abundant supply. This is quite an addition to our cuisine.
June 21. — We float around the long rock, and enter another canon.
The walls are high and vertical; the canon is narrow; and the river fills the
whole space below, so that there is no landing-place at the foot of the cliff.
The Green is greatly increased by the Yampa, and we now have a much
larger river. All this volume of water, confined, as it is, in a narrow chan
nel, and rushing with great velocity, is set eddying and spinning in whirl
pools by projecting rocks and short curves, and the waters waltz their way
through the cation, making their own rippling, rushing, roaring music. The
36 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
caiion is much narrower than any we have seen. With difficulty we manage
our boats. They spin about from side to side, and we know not where we
are going, and find it impossible to keep them headed down the stream. At
first, this causes us great alarm, but we soon find there is but little danger,
and that there is a general movement of progression down the river, to which
this whirling is but an adjunct; and it is the merry mood of the river to
dance through this deep, dark gorge; and right gaily do we join in the sport.
Soon our revel is interrupted by a cataract; its roaring command is
heeded by all our power at the oars, and we pull against the whirling current.
The "Emma Dean" is brought up against a cliff, about fifty feet above the
brink of the fall. By vigorously plying the oars on the side opposite the
wall, as if to pull up stream, we can hold her against the rock. The boats
behind are signaled to land where they can. The "Maid of the Canon" is
pulled to the left wall, and, by constant rowing, they can hold her also. The
"Sister" is run into an alcove on the right, where an eddy is in a dance, and
in this she joins. Now my little boat is held against the wall only by the
utmost exertion, and it is impossible to make headway against the current.
On examination, I find a horizontal crevice in the rock, about ten feet above
the water, and a boat's length below us, so we let her down to that point.
One of the men clambers into the crevice, in which he can just crawl;
we toss him the line, which he makes fast in the rocks, and now our boat is
tied up. Then I follow into the crevice, and we crawl along a distance of
fifty feet, or more, up stream, and find a broken place, where we can climb
about fifty feet higher. Here we stand on a shelf, that passes along down
stream to a point above the falls, where it is broken down, and a pile of
rocks, over which we can descend to the river, is lying against the foot
of the cliff.
It has been mentioned that one of the boats is on the other side. I
signal for the men to pull her up alongside of the wall, but it cannot be
done; then to cross. This they do, gaining the wall on our side just above
where the "Emma Dean" is tied.
The third boat is out of sight, whirling in the eddy of a recess. Look
ing about, I find another horizontal crevice, along which I crawl to a point
just over the water, where this boat is lying, and, calling loud and long, I
AN EXHILARATING EIDE. 37
finally succeed in making the crew understand that I want them to bring
the boat down, hugging the wall. This they accomplish, by taking advan
tage of every crevice and knob on the face of the cliff, so that we have the
three boats together at a point a few yards above the falls. Now, by pass
ing a line up on the shelf, the boats can be let down to the broken rocks
below. This we do, and, making a short portage, our troubles here are over.
Below the falls, the caiion is wider, and there is more or less space
between the river and the walls; but the stream, though wide, is rapid, and
rolls at a fearful rate among the rocks. We proceed with great caution, and
run the large boats altogether by signal.
At night we camp at the mouth of a small creek, which affords us a
good supper of trout. In camp, to-night, we discuss the propriety of several
different names for this canon. At the falls, encountered at noon, its char
acteristics change suddenly. Above, it is very narrow, and the walls are
almost vertical; below, the canon is much wider, and more flaring; and, high
up on the sides, crags, pinnacles, and towers are seen. A number of wild,
narrow side canons enter, and the walls are much broken. After many sug
gestions, our choice rests between two names, Whirlpool Canon and Craggy
Canon, neither of which is strictly appropriate for both parts of it; but we
leave the discussion at this point, with the understanding that it is best,
before finally deciding on a name, to wait until we see what the canon is
below.
June 22. — Still making short portages and letting down with lines.
While we are waiting for dinner to-day, I climb a point that gives me a
good view of the river for two or three miles below, and I think we can
make a long run. After dinner, we start ; the large boats are to follow in
fifteen minutes, and look out for the signal to land. Into the middle of the
stream we row, and down the rapid river we glide, only making strokes
enough with the oars to guide the boat. What a headlong ride it is !
shooting past rocks and islands ! I am soon filled with exhilaration only
experienced before in riding a fleet horse over the outstretched prairie.
One, two, three, four miles we go, rearing and plunging with the waves,
until we wheel to the right into a beautiful park, and land on an island,
where we go into camp.
38 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
An hour or two before sunset, I cross to the mainland, and climb a
point of rocks where I can overlook the park and its surroundings. On the
east it is bounded by a high mountain ridge. A semicircle of naked hills
bounds it on the north, west, and south. The broad, deep river meanders
through the park, interrupted by many wooded islands ; so I name it Island
Park, and decide to call the canon above Whirlpool Canon.
June 23. — We remain in camp to-day to repair our boats, which have
had hard knocks, and are leaking. Two of the men go out with the barom
eter to climb the cliff at the foot of Whirlpool Canon and measure the walls;
another goes on the mountain to hunt; and Bradley and I spend the day
among the rocks, studying an interesting geological fold and collectingfossils.
Late in the afternoon, the hunter returns, and brings with him a fine, fat
deer, so we give his name to the mountain — Mount Hawkins. Just before
night we move camp to the lower end of the park, floating down the river
about four miles
June 24. — Bradley and I start early to climb the mountain ridge to
the east; find its summit to be nearly three thousand feet above camp, and
it has required some labor to scale it ; but on its top, what a view ! There
is a long spur running out from the Uinta Mountains toward the south, and
the river runs lengthwise through it. Coming down Lodore and Whirlpool
Canons, we cut through the southern slope of the Uinta Mountains ; and the
lower end of this latter canon runs into the spur, but, instead of splitting it
the whole length, the river wheels to the right at the foot of Whirlpool
Gallon, in a great curve to the northwest, through Island Park. At the lower
end of the park, the river turns again to the southeast, and cuts into the
mountain to its center, and then makes a detour to the southwest, splitting
the mountain ridge for a distance of six miles nearly to its foot, and then
turns out of it to the left. All this we can see where we stand on the
summit of Mount Hawkins, and so we name the gorge below Split Mount
ain Canon.
We are standing three thousand feet above its waters, which are
troubled with billows, and white with foam. Its walls are set with crags
and peaks, and buttressed towers, and overhanging domes. Turning to the
right, the park is below us, with its island groves reflected by the deep, quiet
Figure 12. — Swallow Cave.
SPLIT MOUNTAIN CA$X)N. 39
waters. Rich meadows stretch out on either hand, to the verge of a sloping-
plain, that comes down from the distant mountains. These plains are of
almost naked rock, in strange contrast to the meadows ; blue and lilac
colored rocks, buff and pink, vermilion and brown, and all these colors
clear and bright. A dozen little^ creeks, dry the greater part of the year,
run down through the half circle of exposed formations, radiating from the
island-center to the rim of the basin. Each creek has its system of side
streams, and each side stream has its system of laterals, and, again, these
are divided, so that this outstretched slope of rock is elaborately embossed.
Beds of different colored formations run in parallel bands on either side.
The perspective, modified by the undulations, gives the bands a waved
appearance, and the high colors gleam in the midday sun with the luster of
satin. We are tempted to call this Rainbow Park. Away beyond these
beds are the Uinta and Wasatch Mountains, with their pine forests and snow
fields and naked peaks. Now we turn to the right, and look up Whirlpool
Canon, a deep gorge, with a river in the bottom — a gloomy chasm, where
mad waves roar ; but, at this distance and altitude, the river is but a rippling
brook, and the chasm a narrow cleft. The top of the mountain on which
we stand is a broad, grassy table, and a herd of deer is feeding in the
distance. Walking over to the southeast, we look down into the valley of
White River, and beyond that see the far distant Rocky Mountains, in mel
low, perspective haze, through which snow fields shine.
June 25. — This morning, we enter Split Mountain Canon, sailing in
through a broad, flaring, brilliant gateway. We run two or three rapids
after they have been carefully examined. Then we have a series of six or
eight, over which we are compelled to pass by letting the boats down with
lines. This occupies the entire day, and we camp at night at the mouth of
a great cave.
The cave is at the foot of one of these rapids, and the waves dash in
nearly to its very end. We can pass along a little shelf at the side until
we reach the back part. Swallows have built their nests in the ceiling, and
they wheel in, chattering and scolding at our intrusion ; but their clamor is
almost drowned by the noise of the waters. Looking out of the cave, we
40 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
can see, far up the river, a line of crags standing sentinel on either side, and
Mount Hawkins in the distance.
June 26. — The forenoon is spent in getting our large boats over the
rapids. This afternoon, we find three falls in close succession. We carry
our rations over the rocks, and let our boats shoot over the falls, checking
and bringing them to land with lines in the eddies below. At three o'clock
we are all aboard again. Down the river we are carried by the swift
waters at great speed, sheering around a rock now and then with a timely
stroke or two of the oars. At one point, the river turns from left to right,
in a direction at right angles to the canon, in a long chute, and strikes the
right, where its waters are heaped up in great billows, that tumble back in
breakers. We glide into the chute before we see the danger, and it is too
late to stop. Two or three hard strokes are given on the right, and we
pause for an instant, expecting to be dashed against the rock. The bow of
the boat leaps high on a great wave ; the rebounding waters hurl us back,
and the peril is past. The next moment, the other boats are hurriedly sig
naled to land on the left. Accomplishing this, the men walk along the shore,
holding the boats near the bank, and let them drift around. Starting again,
we soon debouch into a beautiful valley, and glide down its length for ten
miles, and camp under a grand old cottonwood. This is evidently a fre
quent resort for Indians. Tent poles are lying about, and the dead embers
of late camp fires are seen. On the plains, to the left, antelope are feeding.
Now and then a wolf is seen, and after dark they make the air resound with
their howling.
June 27. — Now our way is along a gently flowing river, beset with
many islands; groves are seen on either side, and natural meadows, where
herds of antelope are feeding. Here and there we have views of the distant
mountains on the right.
During the afternoon, we make a long detour to the west, and return
again, to a point not more than half a mile from where we started at noon,
and here we camp, for the night, under a high bluff.
June 28. — To day, the scenery on either side of the river is much the
same as that of yesterday, except that two or three lakes are discovered,
lying in the valley to the west. After dinner, we run but a few minutes,
MOUTH OF THE UINTA— MOUTH OF THE WHITE. 41
when we discover the mouth of the Uinta, a river coming in from the west.
Up the valley of this stream, about forty miles, the reservation of the Uinta
Indians is situated. We propose to go there, and see if we can replenish
our mess kit, and, perhaps, send letters to friends. We also desire to estab
lish an astronomic station here; and hence this will be our stopping place
for several days.
Some years ago, Captain Berthoud surveyed a stage route from Salt
Lake City to Denver, and this is the place where he crossed the Green River.
His party was encamped here for some time, constructing a ferry boat and
opening a road.
A little above the mouth of the Uinta, on the west side of the Green,
there is a lake of several thousand acres. We carry our boat across the
divide between this and the river, have a row on its quiet waters, and suc
ceed in shooting several ducks.
Jv-ne 29. — A mile and three quarters from here is the junction of the
White River with the Green. The White has its source far to the east, in
the Rocky Mountains. This morning, I cross the Green, and go over into
the valley of the White, and extend my walk several miles along its winding
way, until, at last, I come in sight of some strangely carved rocks, named
by General Hughes, in his journal, " Goblin City." Our last winter's camp
was situated a hundred miles above the point reached to day. The course
of the river, for much of the distance, is through canons; but, at some
places, valleys are found. Excepting these little valleys, the region is one
of great desolation: arid, almost treeless, bluffs, hills, ledges of rock, and
drifting sands. Along the course of the Green, however, from the foot oi
Split Mountain Canon to a point some distance below the mouth of the Uinta,
there are many groves of cottonwood, natural meadows, and rich lands. This
arable belt extends some distance up the White River, on the east, and the
Uinta, on the west, and the time must soon come when settlers will pene
trate this country, and make homes.
June 30. — We have a row up the Uinta to day, but are not able to make
much headway against the swift current, and hence conclude we must walk
all the way to the agency.
July 1. — Two days have been employed in obtaining the local time,
6 COL
42 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
taking- observations for latitude and longitude, and making- excursions into
the adjacent country. This morning-, with two of the men, I start for the
Agency. It is a toilsome walk, twenty miles of the distance being across a
sand desert. Occasionally, we have to wade the river, crossing it back and
forth. Toward evening, we cross several beautiful streams, which are tribu
taries of the Uinta, and we pass through pine groves and meadows, arriving
just at dusk at the Reservation. Captain Dodds, the agent, is away, having
gone to Salt Lake City, but his assistants receive us very kindly. It is
rather pleasant to see a house once more, and some evidences of civilization,
even if it is on an Indian reservation, several days' ride from the nearest
home of the white man.
July 2. — I go, this morning, to visit Tsau'-wi-at, This old chief is but the
wreck of a man, and no longer has influence. Looking at him, you can scarcely
realize that he is a man. His skin is shrunken, wrinkled, and dry, and seems
to cover no more than a form of bones. He is said to be more than a hun
dred years old. I talk a little with him, but his conversation is incoherent,
though he seems to take pride in showing me some medals, that must have
been given him many years ago. He has a pipe which, he says, he has
used a long time. I offer to exchange with him, and he seems to be glad
to accept; so I add another to my collection of pipes. His wife, "The
Bishop," as she is called, is a very garrulous old woman; she exerts a great
influence, and is much revered. She is the only Indian woman I have
known to occupy a place in the council ring. She seems very much younger
than her husband, and, though wrinkled and ugly, is still vigorous. She has
much to say to me concerning the condition of the people, and seems very
anxious that they should learn to cultivate the soil, own farms, and live like
white men. After talking a couple of hours with these old people, I go to
see the farms. They are situated in a very beautiful district, where many
fine streams of water meander across alluvial plains and meadows. These
creeks have quite a fall, and it is very easy to take their waters out above,
and, with them, overflow the lands.
It will be remembered that irrigation is necessary, in this dry climate, to
successful farming. Quite a number of Indians have each a patch of ground,
of two or three acres, on which they are raising wheat, potatoes, turnips,
Figure 13. — Sai'-ar, the interpreter, and his family.
DISTANCES ASTD HEIGHTS. 43
pumpkins, melons, and other vegetables. Most of the crops are looking
well, and it is rather surprising with what pride they show us that they are
able to cultivate crops like white men. They are still occupying lodges,
and refuse to build houses, assigning as a reason that when any one dies in
a lodge it is always abandoned, and very often burned with all the effects
of the deceased, and when houses have been built for them they have been
treated in the same way. With their unclean habits, a fixed residence
would doubtless be no pleasant place. This beautiful valley has been the
home of a people of a higher grade of civilization than the present Utes.
Evidences of this are quite abundant ; on our way here yesterday we dis
covered, in many places along the trail, fragments of pottery; and wander
ing about the little farms to day, I find the foundations of ancient houses,
and mealing stones that were not used by nomadic people, as they are too
heavy to be transported by such tribes, and are deeply worn. The Indians,
seeing that I am interested in these matters, take pains to show me several
other places where these evidences remain, and tell me that they know
nothing about the people who formerly dwelt here. They further tell me
that up in the canon the rocks are covered with pictures.
July 5. — The last two days have been spent in studying the language
of the Indians, and making collections of articles illustrating the state of arts
among them.
Frank Goodman informs me, this morning, that he has concluded not
to go on with the party, saying that he has seen danger enough. It will be
remembered that he was one of the crew on the "No Name," when she was
wrecked. As our boats are rather heavily loaded, I am content that he
should leave, although he has been a faithful man.
We start early on our return to the boats, taking horses with us from
the reservation, and two Indians^ who are to bring the animals back.
Whirlpool Canon is fourteen and a quarter miles in length, the walls
varying from one thousand eight hundred to two thousand four hundred
feet in height. The course of the river through Island Park is nine miles.
44 EXPLORATION OF THE CASfONS OF THE COLORADO.
Split Mountain Canon is eight miles long. The highest crags on its walls
reach an altitude above the river of from two thousand five hundred to two
thousand seven hundred feet. In these canons, cedars only are found on
the walls.
The distance by river from the foot of Split Mountain Canon to the
mouth of the Uinta is sixty-seven miles. The valley through which it runs
is the home of many antelope, and we have adopted the Indian name, Wori-
sits Yu-av — Antelope Valley.
CHAPTER VI.
FROM THE MOUTH OF THE UINTAx RIVER TO THE JUNCTION OF THE GRAND
AND GREEN.
July 6. — Start early this morning. A short distance below the month of
the Uinta, we come to the head of a long island. Last winter, a man named
Johnson, -a hunter and Indian trader, visited us at our camp in White River
Valley. This man has an Indian wife, and, having no fixed, home, usually
travels with one of the Ute bands. He informed me it was his intention to
plant some corn, potatoes, and other vegetables on this island in the spring,
and, knowing that we would pass it, invited us to stop and help ourselves,
even if he should not be there ; so we land and go out on the island.
Looking about, we soon discover his garden, but it is in a sad condition,
having received no care since it was planted. It is yet too early in the
season for corn, but Hall suggests that potato tops are good greens, and,
anxious for some change from our salt meat fare, we gather a quantity and
take them aboard. At noon we stop and cook our greens for dinner; but
soon, one after another of the party is taken sick ; nausea first, and then
severe vomiting, and we tumble around under the trees, groaning with pain,
and I feel a little alarmed, lest our poisoning be severe. Emetics are ad
ministered to those who are willing to take them, and about the middle of
the afternoon we are all rid of the pain. Jack Sumner records in his diary
that " Potato tops are not good greens on the sixth day of July."
This evening we enter another canon, almost imperceptibly, as the
walls rise very gently.
July 1. — We find quiet water to day, the river sweeping in great and
beautiful curves, the canon walls steadily increasing in altitude. The
escarpment formed by the cut edges of the rock are often vertical, some
times terraced, and hi some places the treads of the terraces are sloping. In
these quiet curves vast amphitheaters are formed, now in vertical rocks, now
in steps.
46 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
The salient point of rock within the curve is usually broken down in a
steep slope, and we stop occasionally to climb up, at such a place, where, on
looking down, we can see the river sweeping the foot of the opposite cliff,
in a great, easy curve, with a perpendicular or terraced wall rising from the
water's edge many hundreds of feet. One of these we find very symmetrical,
and name it Sumner's Amphitheater. The cliffs are rarely broken by the
entrance of side canons, and we sweep around curve after curve, with almost
continuous walls, for several miles.
Late in the afternoon, we find the river much rougher, and come upon
rapids, not dangerous, but still demanding close attention.
We camp at night on the right bank, having made to day twenty six
miles.
July 8. — This morning, Bradley and I go out to climb, and gain an
altitude of more than two thousand feet above the river, but still do not
reach the summit of the wall.
After dinner, we pass through a region of the wildest desolation. The
canon is very tortuous, the river very rapid, and many lateral canons enter
on either side. These usually have their branches, so that the region is cut
into a wilderness of gray and brown cliffs. In several places, these lateral
canons are only separated from each other by narrow walls, often hundreds
of feet high, but so narrow in places that where softer rocks are found below,
they have crumbled away, and left holes in the wall, forming passages from
one canon into another. These we often call natural bridges ; but they
were never intended to span streams. They had better, perhaps, be called
side doors between canon chambers.
Piles of broken rock lie against these walls ; crags and tower shaped
peaks are seen everywhere ; and away above them, long lines of broken
cliffs, and above and beyond the cliffs are pine forests, of which we obtain
occasional glimpses, as we look up through a vista of rocks.
The walls are almost without vegetation ; a few dwarf bushes are seen
here and there, clinging to the rocks, and cedars grow from the crevices —
not like the cedars of a land refreshed with rains, great cones bedecked with
spray, but ugly clumps, like war clubs, beset with spines. We are minded
to call this the Canon of Desolation.
Figure 16.— Simmer's Amphitheatre.
MEASURING THE WALLS. 47
The wind annoys us much to day. The water, rough by reason of the
rapids, is made more so by head gales. Wherever a great face of rock has
a southern exposure, the rarified air rises, and the wind rushes in below,
either up or down the canon, or both, causing local currents.
Just at sunset, we run a bad rapid, and camp at its foot.
July 9. — Our run to day is through a canon, with ragged, broken walls,
many lateral gulches or canons entering on either side. The river is rough,
and occasionally it becomes necessary to use lines in passing rocky places.
During the afternoon, we come to a rather open canon valley, stretching up
toward the west, its farther end lost in the mountains. From a point to
which we climb, we obtain a good view of its course, until its angular walls
are lost in the vista.
July 10. — Sumner, who is a fine mechanist, is learning to take observa
tions for time with the sextant. To day, he remains in camp to practice.
Howland and myself determine to climb out, and start up a lateral
canon, taking a barometer with us, for the purpose of measuring the thick
ness of the strata over which we pass. The readings of a barometer below
are recorded every half hour, and our observations must be simultaneous.
Where the beds, which we desire to measure, are very thick, we must climb
with the utmost speed, to reach their summits in time. Again, where there
are thinner beds, we wait for the moment to arrive ; and so, by hard and
easy stages, we make our way to the top of the canon wall, and reach the
plateau above about two o'clock.
Howland, who has his gun with him, sees deer feeding a mile or two
back, and goes off for a hunt. I go to a peak, which seems to be the highest
one in this region, about half a mile distant, and climb, for the purpose of
tracing the topography of the adjacent country. From this point, a fine
view is obtained. A long plateau stretches across the river, in an easterly
and westerly direction, the summit covered by pine forests, with intervening
elevated valleys and gulches. The plateau itself is cut in two by the caiion.
Other side canons head away back from the river, and run down into the
Green. Besides these, deep and abrupt canons are seen to head back on
the plateau, and run north toward the Uinta and White Rivers. Still other
canons head in the valleys, and run toward the south. The elevation of the
48 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
plateau being about eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, brings it
into a region of moisture, as is well attested by the forests and grassy val
leys. The plateau seems to rise gradually to the west, until it merges into
the Wasatch Mountains. On these high table lands, elk and deer abound ;
and they are favorite hunting grounds for the Ute Indians.
A little before sunset, Rowland and I meet again at the head of the
side canon, and down we start. It is late, and we must make great haste,
or be caught by the darkness; so we go, running where we can; leaping
over the ledges; letting each other down on the loose rocks, as long as we
can see. When darkness comes, we are still some distance from camp, and
a long, slow, anxious descent we make, toward the gleaming camp fire.
After supper, observations for latitude are taken, and only two or three
hours for sleep remain, before daylight.
July 11. — A short distance below camp we run a rapid, and, in doing
so, break an oar, and then lose another, both belonging to the "Emma
Dean." So the pioneer boat has but two oars.
We see nothing of which oars can be made, so we conclude to run on
to some point, where it seems possible to climb out to the forests on the
plateau, and there we will procure suitable timber from which to make new
ones.
We soon approach another rapid. Standing on deck, I think it can be
run, and on we go. Coming nearer, I see that at the foot it has a short
turn to the left, where the waters pile up against the cliff. Here we try to
land, but quickly discover that, being in swift water, above the fall, we can
not reach shore, crippled, as we are, by the loss of two oars; so the bow of
the boat is turned down stre'am. We shoot by a big rock; a reflex wave
rolls over our little boat and fills her. I see the place is dangerous, and
quickly signal to the other boats to land where they can. This is scarcely
completed when another wave rolls our boat over, and I am thrown some
distance into the water. I soon find that swimming is very easy, and I can
not sink. It is only necessary to ply strokes sufficient to keep my head out
of the water, though now and then, when a breaker rolls over me, I close
my mouth, and am carried through it. The boat is drifting ahead of me
twenty or thirty feet, and, when the great waves are passed, I overtake it,
Figure 17.— Light-House Rock in the Canon of Desolation.
BKADLEY'S MISHAP. 49
and find Summer and Dunn clinging to her. As soon as we reach quiet
water, we all swim to one side and turn her over. In doing this, Dunn
loses his hold -and goes under; when he comes up, he is caught by Smnner
and pulled to the boat. In the mean time we have drifted down stream
some distance, and see another rapid below. How bad it may be we can
not tell, so we swim toward shore, pulling our boat with us, with all the
vigor possible, but are carried down much faster than distance toward shore
is gained. At last we reach a huge pile of drift wood. Our rolls of blank
ets, two guns, and a barometer were in the open compartment of the boat,
and, when it went over, these were thrown out. The guns and barometer
are lost, but I succeeded in catching one of the rolls of blankets, as it drifted
by, when we were swimming to shore; the other two are lost, and some
times hereafter we may sleep cold.
A huge fire is built on the bank, our clothing is spread to dry, and then
from the drift logs we select one from which we think oars can be made, and
the remainder of the day is spent in sawing them out.
July 12. — This morning, the new oars are finished, and we start once
more. We pass several bad rapids, making a short portage at one, and
before noon we come to a long, bad fall, where the channel is filled with
rocks on the left, turning the waters to the right, where they pass under an
overhanging rock. On examination, we determine to run it, keeping as
close to the left hand rocks as safety will permit, in order to avoid the over
hanging cliff. The little boat runs over all right; another follows, but the
men are not able to keep her near enough to the left bank, and she is car
ried, by a swift chute, into great waves to the right, where she is tossed
about, and Bradley is knocked over the side, but his foot catching under the
seat, he is dragged along in the water, with his head down; making great
exertion, he seizes the gunwale with his left hand, and can lift his head above
water now and then. To us who are below, it seems impossible to keep the
boat from going under the overhanging cliff; but Powell, for the moment,
heedless of Bradley's mishap, pulls with all his power for half a dozen
strokes, when the danger is past; then he seizes Bradley, and pulls him in.
The men in the boat above, seeing this, land, and she is let down by lines.
Just here we emerge from the Canon of Desolation, as we have named
7 COL
50 EXPLORATION OP THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
it, into a more open country, which extends for a distance of nearly a mile,
when we enter another canon, cut through gray sandstone.
About three o'clock in the afternoon we meet with a new difficulty.
The river fills the entire channel; the walls are vertical on either side, from
the water's edge, and a bad rapid is beset with rocks. We come to the head
of it, and land on a rock in the stream; the little boat is let down to another
rock below, the men of the larger boat holding to the line; the second boat
is let down in the same way, and the line of the third boat is brought with
them. Now, the third boat pushes out from the upper rock, and, as we have
her line below, we pull in and catch her, as she is sweeping by at the foot of
the rock on which we stand. Again the first boat is let down stream the full
length of her line, and the second boat is passed down by the first to the
extent of her line, which is held by the men in the first boat ; so she is two
lines' length from where she started. Then the third boat is let down past
the second, and still down, nearly to the length of her line, so that she is
fast to the second boat, and swinging down three lines' lengths, with the
other two boats intervening. Held in this way, the men are able to pull
her into a cove, in the left wall, where she is made fast. But this leaves a
man on the rock above, holding to the line of the little boat. When all is
ready, he springs from the rock, clinging to the line with one hand, and
swimming with the other, and we pull him in as he goes by. As the two
boats, thus loosened, drift down, the men in the cove pull us all in, as we
come opposite; then we pass around to a point of rock below the cove, close
to the wall, land, and make a short portage over the worst places in the rapid,
and start again.
At night we camp on a sand beach; the wind blows a hurricane; the
drifting sand almost blinds us; and nowhere can we find shelter. The wind
continues to blow all night; the sand sifts through our blankets, and piles
over us, until we are covered as in a snow-drift. We are glad when morn
ing comes.
July 13. — This morning, we have an exhilarating ride. The river is
swift, and there are many smooth rapids. I stand on deck, keeping careful
watch ahead, and we glide along, mile after mile, plying strokes now on the
right, and then on the left, just sufficient to guide our boats past the rocks into
Figure 18.— Gtumison's Butte at the foot of Gray Canon. (2,700 feet higb.)
GUNNISON'S CROSSING. 51
smooth water. At noon we emerge from Gray Canon, as we have named
it, and camp, for dinner, under a cotton wood tree, standing on the left bank.
Extensive sand plains extend back from the immediate river valley, as
far as we can see, on either side. These naked, drifting sands gleam bril
liantly in the midday sun of July. The reflected heat from the glaring
surface, produces a curious motion of the atmosphere; little currents are
generated, and the whole seems to be trembling and moving about in many
directions, or, failing to see that the movement is in the atmosphere, it gives
the impression of an unstable land. Plains, and liills, and cliffs, and distant
mountains seem vaguely to be floating about in a trembling, wave rocked
sea, and patches of landscape will seem to float away, and be lost, and then
re-appear.
Just opposite, there are buttes, that are outliers of cliffs to the left.
Below, they are composed of shales and ma,rls of light blue and slate colors ;
and above, the rocks are buff and gray, and then brown. The buttes are
buttressed below, where the azure rocks are seen, and terraced above through
the gray and brown beds. A long line of cliffs or rock escarpments separate
the table lands, through which Gray Canon is cut, from the lower plain.
The eye can trace these azure beds and cliffs, on either side of the river, in
a long line, extending across its course, until they fade away in the per
spective. These cliffs are many miles in length, and hundreds of feet high ;
and all these buttes — great mountain-masses of rock — are dancing and fading
away, and re-appearing, softly moving about, or so they seem to the eye, as
seen through the shifting atmosphere.
This afternoon, our way is through a valley, with cottonwood groves
on either side. The river is deep, broad, and quiet.
About two hours from noon camp, we discover an Indian crossing,
where a number of rafts, rudely constructed of logs and bound together by
withes, are floating against the bank. On landing, we see evidences that a
party of Indians have crossed within a very few days. This is the place
where the lamented Gunnison crossed, in the year 1853, when making an
exploration for a railroad route to the Pacific coast
An hour later, we run a long rapid, and stop at its foot to examine some
52 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
curious rocks, deposited by mineral springs that at one time must have
existed here, but which are no longer flowing.
July 14. — This morning, we pass some curious black bluffs on the right,
then two or three short canons, and then we discover the mouth of the San
Rafael, a stream which comes down from the distant mountains in the west.
Here we stop for an hour or two, and take a short walk up the valley, and
find it is a frequent resort for Indians. Arrow heads are scattered about,
many of them very beautiful. Flint chips are seen strewn over the ground
in great profusion, and the trails are well worn.
Starting after dinner, we pass some beautiful buttes on the left, many
of which are very symmetrical. They are chiefly composed of gypsum of
many hues, from light gray to slate color ; then pink, purple, and brown
beds.
Now, we enter another caiion. Gradually the walls rise higher and
higher as we proceed, and the summit of the canon is formed of the same
beds of orange colored sandstone. Back from the brink, the hollows of the
plateau are filled with sands disintegrated from these orange beds. They
are of rich cream color, shaded into maroon, everywhere destitute of vege
tation, and drifted into long, wave like ridges.
The course of the river is tortuous, and it nearly doubles upon itself
many times. The water is quiet, and constant rowing is necessary to make
much headway. Sometimes, there is a narrow flood plain between the river
and the wall, on one side or the other. Where these long, gentle curves
are found, the river washes the very foot of the outer wall. A long penin
sula of willow bordered meadow projects within the curve, and the talus, at
the foot of the cliff, is usually covered with dwarf oaks. The orange colored
sandstone is very homogeneous in structure, and the walls are usually ver
tical, though not very high. Where the river sweeps around a curve under
a cliff, a vast hollow dome may be seen, with many caves and deep alcoves,
that are greatly admired by the members of the party, as we go by.
We camp at night on the left bank.
July 15. — Our camp is in a great bend of the canon. The perimeter
of the curve is to the west, and we are on the east side of the river. Just
opposite, a little stream comes down through a narrow side canon. We cross,
TRIN-ALCOVE BEND. 53
and go up to explore it. Just at its mouth, another lateral canon enters, in
the angle between the former and the main canon above. Still another
enters in the angle between the canon below and the side canon first men
tioned, so that three side canons enter at the same point These canons
are very tortuous, almost closed ii\ from view, and, seen from the opposite
side of the river, they appear like three alcoves ; and we name this Trin-
Alcove Bend.
Going up the little stream, in the central cove, we pass between high
walls of sandstone, and wind about in glens. Springs gush from the rocks
at the foot of the walls; narrow passages in the rocks are threaded, caves
are entered, and many side canons are observed.
The right cove is a narrow, winding gorge, with overhanging walls,
almost shutting out the light.
The left is an amphitheater, turning spirally up, with overhanging
shelves. A series of basins, filled with water, are seen at different altitudes,
as we pass up ; huge rocks are piled below on the right, and overhead there
is an arched ceiling. After exploring these alcoves, we recross the river,
and climb the rounded rocks on the point of the bend. In every direction,
as far as we are able to see, naked rocks appear. Buttes are scattered on
the landscape, here rounded into cones, there buttressed, columned, and
carved in quaint shapes, with deep alcoves and sunken recesses. All about
us are basins, excavated in the soft sandstones; and these have been filled by
the late rains.
Over the rounded rocks and water pockets we look off on a fine stretch
of river, and beyond are naked rocks and beautiful buttes to the Azure
Cliffs, and beyond these, and above them, the Brown Cliffs, and still beyond,
mountain peaks ; and clouds piled over all.
On we go, after dinner, with quiet water, still compelled to row, in
order to make fair progress. The canon is yet very tortuous.
About six miles below noon camp, we go around a great bend to the
right, five miles in length, and come back to a point within a quarter of a
mile of where we started. Then we sweep around another great bend to
the left, making a circuit of nine miles, and come back to a point within
six hundred yards of the beginning of the bend. In the two circuits, we
54 EXPLORATION OF THE CAStONS OF THE COLORADO.
describe almost the figure 8. The men call it a bow-knot of river; so .we
name it Bow-knot Bend. The line of the figure is fourteen miles in length.
There is an exquisite charm in our ride to-day down this beautiful
canon. It gradually grows deeper with every mile of travel; the walls are
symmetrically curved, and grandly arched; of a beautiful color, and reflected
in the quiet waters in many places, so as to almost deceive the eye, and sug
gest the thought, to the beholder, that he is looking into profound depths.
We are all in fine spirits, feel very gay, and the badinage of the men is
echoed from wall to wall. Now and then we whistle, or shout, or discharge
a pistol, to listen to the reverberations among the cliffs.
At night we camp on the south side of the great Bow-knot, and, as we
eat our supper, which is spread on the beach, we name this Labyrinth Canon.
July 16. — Still we go down, on our winding way. We pass tower cliffs,
then we find the river widens out for several miles, and meadows are seen
on either side, between the river and the walls. We name this expansion of
the river Tower Park.
At two o'clock we emerge from Labyrinth Canon, and go into camp.
July 1 7. — The line which separates Labyrinth Canon from the one below
is but a line, and at once, this morning, we enter another canon. The water
fills the entire channel, so that nowhere is there room to land. The walls
are low, but vertical, and, as we proceed, they gradually increase in altitude.
Running a couple of miles, the river changes its course many degrees,
toward the east. Just here, a little stream comes in on the right, and the
wall is broken down ; so we land, and go out to take a view of the surround
ing country. We are now down among the buttes, and in a region, the
surface of which is naked, solid rock — a beautiful red sandstone, forming a
smooth, undulating pavement. The Indians call this the uToom'-pin Tu-
weap' " or "Rock Land," and sometimes the " Toom'-pin wu-near' Tu-weap' ?'
pr "Land of Standing Rock."
Off to the south we see a butte, in the form of a fallen cross. It is
Several miles away, still it presents no inconspicuous figure on the landscape,
jand must be many hundreds of feet high, probably more than two thou
sand. We note its position on our map, and name it "The Butte of the Cross."
We continue our journey. In many places the walls, which rise from
Figure 19. — Buttes of the Cross in the Tooni -pin Wu-near' Tu-weap'
BONITA BEND. 55
the water's edge, are overhanging on either side. The stream is still quiet,
and we glide along, through a strange, weird, grand region. The landscape
everywhere, away from the river, is of rock — cliffs of rock; tables of rock;
plateaus of rock; terraces of rock; crags of rock — ten thousand strangely
carved forms. Rocks everywhere, and no vegetation; no soil; no sand. In
long, gentle curves, the river windl^about these rocks.
When speaking of these rocks, we must not conceive of piles of bould
ers, or heaps of fragments, but a whole land of naked rock, with giant
forms carved on it: cathedral shaped buttes, towering hundreds or thousands
of feet; cliffs that cannot be scaled, and canon walls that shrink the river
into insignificance, with vast, hollow domes, and tall pinnacles, and shafts
set on the verge overhead, and all highly colored — buff, gray, red, brown, and
chocolate; never lichened; never moss-covered; but bare, and often polished.
We pass a place, where two bends of the river come together, an inter
vening rock having been worn away, and a new channel formed across.
The old channel ran in a great circle around to the light, by what was once
a circular peninsula; then an island; then the water left the old channel
entirely, and passed through the cut, and the old bed of the river is dry. So
the great circular rock stands by itself, with precipitous walls all about it,
and we find but one place where it can be scaled. Looking from its sum
mit, a long stretch of river is seen, sweeping close to the overhanging cliffs
on the right, but having a little meadow between it and the wall on the left.
The curve is very gentle and regular. We name this Bonita Bend.
And just here we climb out once more, to take another bearing on The
Butte of the Cross. Reaching an eminence, from which we can overlook
the landscape, we are surprised to find that our butte, with its wonderful
form, is indeed two buttes, one so standing in front of the other that, from
our last point of view, it gave the appearance of a cross.
Again, a few miles below Bonita Bend, we go out a mile or two along
the rocks, toward the Orange Cliffs, passing over terraces paved with jasper.
The cliffs are not far away, and we soon reach them, and wander in
some deep, painted alcoves, which attracted our attention from the river ;
then we return to our boats.
Late in the afternoon, the water becomes swift, and our boats make
56 EXPLORATION OF THE CAKONS OF THE COLORADO.
great speed. An hour of this rapid running brings us to the junction of the
Grand and Green, the foot of Still water Canon, as we have named it.
These streams unite in solemn depths, more than one thousand two hun
dred feet below the general surface of the country. The walls of the lower
end of Stillwater Canon are very beautifully curved, as the river sweeps
in its meandering course. The lower end of the canon through which the
Grand comes down, is also regular, but much more direct, arid we look up
this stream, and out into the country beyond, and obtain glimpses of snow
clad peaks, the summits of a group of mountains known as the Sierra La Sal.
Down the Colorado, the canon walls are much broken.
We row around into the Grand, and camp on its northwest bank; and
here we propose to stay several days, for the purpose of determining the
latitude and longitude, and the altitude of the walls. Much of the night is
spent in making observations with the sextant.
The distance from the mouth of the Uinta to the head of the Canon of
Desolation is twenty and three quarters miles. The Canon of Desolation is
ninety seven miles long; Gray Canon thirty six. The course of the river
through Gunnison's Valley is twenty seven and a quarter miles; Labyrinth
Canon, sixty two and a half miles.
In the Canon of Desolation, the highest rocks immediately over the river
are about two thousand four hundred feet. This is at Log Cabin Cliff. The
highest part of the terrace is near the brink of the Brown Cliffs. Climbing
the immediate walls of the canon, and passing back to the canon terrace, and
climbing that, we find the altitude, above the river, to be 3,300 feet. The
lower end of Gray Canon is about two thousand feet; the lower end of
Labyrinth Canon, 1,300 feet.
Stillwater Canon is forty two and three quarters miles long ; the highest
walls, 1,300 feet.
CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE JUNCTION OF THE GEAND AND GREEN TO THE MOUTH OF THE LITTLE
COLORADO.
' July 18. — The day is spent in obtaining the time, and spreading our
rations, which, we find, are badly injured. The flour has been wet and
dried so many times that it is all musty, and full of hard lumps. We make
a sieve of mosquito netting, and run our flour through it, losing more than
two hundred pounds by the process. Our losses, by the wrecking of the
"No Name," and by various mishaps since, together with the amount thrown
away to day, leave us little more than two months' supplies, and, to make
them last thus long, we must be fortunate enough to lose no more.
We drag our boats on shore, and turn them over to recalk and pitch
them, and Sumner is engaged in repairing barometers. While we are here,
for a day or two, resting, we propose to put everything in the best shape for
a vigorous campaign.
July 19. — Bradley and I start this morning to climb the left wall below
the junction. The way we have selected is up a gulch. Climbing for an
hour over and among the rocks, we find ourselves in a vast amphitheater,
and our way cut off. We clamber around to the left for half an hour, until
we find that we cannot go up in that direction. Then we try the rocks
around to the right, and discover a narrow shelf, nearly half a mile long.
In some places, this is so wide that we pass along with ease ; in others, it is
so narrow and sloping that we are compelled to lie down and crawl. We
can look over the edge of the shelf, down eight hundred feet, and see the
river rolling and plunging among the rocks. Looking up five hundred feet,
to the brink of the cliff, it seems to blend with the sky. We continue along,
until we come to a point where the wall is again broken down. Up we
climb. On the right, there is a narrow, mural point of rocks, extending
toward the river, two or three hundred feet high, and six < or eight hundred
8 COL
58 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
feet long. We come back to where this sets in, and find it cut off from the
main wall by a great crevice. Into this we pass. And now, a long, narrow
rock is between us and the river. The rock itself is split longitudinally and
transversely; and the rains on the surface above have run down through the
crevices, and gathered into channels below, and then run off into the river.
The crevices are usually narrow above, and, by erosion of the streams,
wider below, forming a net work of caves ; but each cave having a narrow,
winding sky -light up through the rocks. We wander among these corridors
for an hour or two, but find no place where the rocks are broken down, so
that we can climb up. At last, we determine to attempt a passage by a
crevice, and select one which we think is wide enough to admit of the pas
sage of our bodies, and yet narrow enough to climb out by pressing our
hands and feet against the walls. So we climb as men would out of a well.
Bradley climbs first; I hand him the barometer, then climb over his head,
and he hands me the barometer. So we pass each other alternately, until we
emerge from the fissure, out on the summit of the rock. And what a world
of grandeur is spread before us ! Below is the canon, through which the
Colorado runs. We can trace its course for miles, and at points catch
glimpses of the river. From the northwest comes the Green, in a narrow,
winding gorge. From the northeast comes the Grand, through a canon that
seems bottomless from where we stand. Away to the west are lines of cliffs
and ledges of rock — not such ledges as you may have seen where the quarry-
man splits his blocks, but ledges from which the gods might quarry mount
ains, that, rolled out on the plain below, would stand a lofty range ; and not
such cliffs as you may have seen where the swallow builds its nest, but cliffs
where the soaring eagle is lost to view ere he reaches the summit. Between
us and the distant cliffs are the strangely carved and pinnacled rocks of the
Toom'-pin wu-near' Tu-weap', On the summit of the opposite wall of the
canon are rock forms that we do not understand. Away to the east a group
of eruptive mountains are seen— the Sierra La Sal. Their slopes are
covered with pines, and deep gulches are flanked with great crags, and
snow fields are seen near the summits. So the mountains are in uniform,
green, gray, arid silver. Wherever we look there is but a wilderness of
rocks; deep gorges, where the rivers are lost below cliffs and towers and
CLIMBING THE WALL. 59
pinnacles ; and ten thousand strangely carved forms in every direction ; and
beyond them, mountains blending with the clouds.
Now we return to camp. While we are eating supper, we very natu
rally speak of better fare, as musty bread and spoiled bacon are not pleas
ant. Soon I see Hawkins downJby the boat, taking up the sextant, rather
a strange proceeding for him, and I question him concerning it. He replies
that he is trying to find the latitude and longitude of the nearest pie.
July 20. — This morning, Captain Powell and I go out to climb the west
wall of the canon, for the purpose of examining the strange rocks seen
yesterday from the other side. Two hours bring us to the top, at a point
between the Green and Colorado, overlooking the junction of the rivers.
A long neck of rock extends toward the mouth of the Grand. Out on this
we walk, crossing a great number of deep crevices. Usually, the smooth
rock slopes down to the fissure on either side. Sometimes it is an interest
ing question to us whether the slope is not so steep that we cannot stand on
it. Sometimes, starting down, we are compelled to go on, and we are not
always sure that the crevice is not too wide for a jump, when we measure
it with our eye from above. Probably the slopes would not be difficult if
there was not a fissure at the lower end; nor would the fissures cause fear
if they were but a few feet deep. It is curious how a little obstacle becomes
a great obstruction, when a misstep would land a man in the bottom of a
deep chasm. Climbing the face of a cliff, a man will walk along a step or
shelf, but a few inches wide, without hesitancy, if the landing is but ten feet
below, should he fall ; but if the foot of the cliff is a thousand feet down, he
will crawl. At last our way is cut off by a fissure so deep and wide that
we cannot pass it. Then we turn and walk back into the country, over the
smooth, naked sandstone, without vegetation, except that here and there
dwarf cedars and pinon pines have found a footing in the huge cracks.
There are great basins in the rock, holding water ; some but a few gallons,
others hundreds of barrels.
The day is spent in walking about through these strange scenes. A
narrow gulch is cut into the wall of the main canon. Follow this up, and you
climb rapidly, as if going up a mountain side, for the gulch heads but a few
GO EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
hundred or a few thousand yards from the wall. But this gulch has its side
gulches, and, as you come near to the summit, a group of radiating canons
is found. The spaces drained by these little canons are terraced, and are, to
a greater or less extent, of the form of amphitheaters, though some are
oblong and some rather irregular. Usually, the spaces drained by any two
of these little side canons are separated by a narrow wall, one, two, or three
hundred feet high, and often but a few feet in thickness. Sometimes the wall
is broken into a line of pyramids above, and still remains a wall below.
Now, there are a number of these gulches which break the wall of the main
canon of the Green, each one having its system of side canons and amphi
theaters, inclosed by walls, or lines of pinnacles. The course of the Green,
at this point, is approximately at right angles to that of the Colorado, and on
the brink of the latter canon we find the same system of terraced and walled
glens. The walls, and pinnacles, and towers are of sandstone, homogeneous
in structure, but not in color, as they show broad bands of red, buff, and
gray. This painting of the rocks, dividing them into sections, increases their
apparent height. In some places, these terraced and walled glens, along the
Colorado, have coalesced with those along the Green ; that is, the intervening
walls are broken down. It is very rarely that a loose rock is seen. The
sand is washed off so that the walls, terraces, and slopes of the glens are all
of smooth sandstone.
In the walls themselves, curious caves and channels have been carved.
In some places, there are little stairways up the walls; in others, the walls
present what are known as royal arches; and so we wander through glens,
and among pinnacles, and climb the walls from early morn until late in the
afternoon.
July 21. — We start this morning on the Colorado. The river is rough,
and bad rapids, in close succession, are found. Two very hard portages are
made during the forenoon. After dinner, in running a rapid, the "Emma
Dean" is swamped, and we are thrown into the river, we cling to her, and
in the first quiet water below she is righted and bailed out; but three oars are
lost in this mishap. The larger boats land above the dangerous place, and we
make a portage, that occupies all the afternoon. We camp at night, on the
rocks on the left bank, and can scarcely find room to lie down.
Figure 20. — The Heart 01 Cataract Canon.
CATARACT CANON. 61
July 22. — This morning, we continue our journey, though short of oars.
There is no timber growing on the walls within our reach, and no drift wood
along the banks, so we are compelled to go on until something suitable can
be found. A mile and three quarters below, we find a huge pile of drift
wood, among which are some co^tonwood logs. From these we select one
which we think the best, and the men are set at work sawing oars. Our
boats are leaking again, from the strains received in the bad rapids yester
day, so, after dinner, they are turned over, and some of the men are engaged
in calking them.
Captain Powell and I go out to climb the wall to the east, for we can
see dwarf pines above, and it is our purpose to collect the resin which oozes
from them, to use in pitching our boats. We take a barometer with us, and
find that the walls are becoming higher, for now they register an altitude,
above the river, of nearly fifteen hundred feet.
July 23. — On starting, we come at once to difficult rapids and falls, that,
in many places, are more abrupt than in any of the canons through which
we have passed, and we decide to name this Cataract Canon.
From morning until noon, the course of the river is to the west; the
scenery is grand, with rapids and falls below, and walls above, beset with
crags and pinnacles. Just at noon we wheel again to the south, and go into
camp for dinner.
While the cook is preparing it, Bradley, Captain Powell, and myself
go up into a side canon, that comes in at this point. We enter through a very
narrow passage, having to wade along the course of a little stream until a
cascade interrupts our progress. Then we climb to the right, for a hundred
feet, until we reach a little shelf, along which we pass, walking with great
care, for it is narrow, until we pass around the fall. Here the gorge widens
into a spacious, sky roofed chamber. In the farther end is a beautiful grove
of cottonwoods, and between us and the cottonwoods the little stream widens
out into three clear lakelets, with bottoms of smooth rock. Beyond the cot
tonwoods, the brook tumbles, in a series of white, shining cascades, from
heights that seem immeasurable. Turning around, we can look through
the cleft through which we came, and see the river, with towering walls
beyond. What a chamber for a resting place is this! hewn from the solid
62 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
rock; the heavens for a ceiling; cascade fountains within; a grove in the
conservatory, clear lakelets for a refreshing bath, and an outlook through the
doorway on a raging river, with cliffs and mountains beyond.
Our way, after dinner, is through a gorge, grand beyond description.
The walls are nearly vertical; the river broad and swift, but free from rocks
and falls. From the edge of the water to the brink of the cliffs it is one
thousand six hundred to one thousand eight hundred feet. At this great
depth, the river rolls in solemn majesty. The cliffs are reflected from the
more quiet river, and we seem to be in the depths of the earth, and yet can
look down into waters that reflect a bottomless abyss. We arrive, early in
the afternoon, at the head of more rapids and falls, but, wearied with past
work, we determine to rest, so go into camp, and the afternoon and evening
are spent by the men in discussing the probabilities of successfully navigat
ing the river below. The barometric records are examined, to see what
descent we have made since we left the mouth of the Grand, and what
descent since we left the Pacific Eailroad, and what fall there yet must be to
the river, ere we reach the end of the great calions. The conclusion to
which the men arrive seems to be about this : that there are great descents
yet to be made, but, if they are distributed in rapids and short falls, as they
have been heretofore, we will be able to "overcome them. But, may be, we
shall come to a fall in these canons which we cannot pass, where the walls
rise from the water's edge, so that we cannot land, and where the water is
so swift that we cannot return. Such places have been found, except that
the falls were not so great but that we could run them with safety. How
will it be in the future ! So they speculate over the serious probabili
ties in jesting mood, and I hear Sumner remark, "My idea is, we had better
go slow, and learn to peddle."
July 24. — We examine the rapids below. Large rocks have fallen from
the walls — great, angular blocks, which have rolled down the talus, and are
strewn along the channel. We are compelled to make three portages in
succession, the distance being less than three fourths of a mile, with a fall
of seventy five feet. Among these rocks, in chutes, whirlpools, and great
waves, with rushing breakers and foam, the water finds its way, still tum
bling down. We stop for the night, only three fourths of a mile below the
REPAIRING BOATS AND BAROMETERS. 63
last camp. A very hard day's work has been done, and at evening I sit on
a rock by the edge of the river, to look at the water, and listen to its roar.
Hours ago, deep shadows had settled into the canon as the sun passed behind
the cliffs. Now, doubtless, the sun has gone down, for we can see no glint
of light on the crags above. Darkness is coming on. The waves are roll
ing, with crests of foam so white they seem almost to give a light of their
own. Near by, a chute of water strikes the foot of a great block of lime
stone, fifty feet high, and the waters pile up against it, and roll back. Where
there are sunken rocks, the water heaps up in mounds, or even in cones.
At a point where rocks come very near the surface, the water forms a chute
above, strikes, and is shot up ten or fifteen feet, and piles back in gentle
curves, as in a fountain; and on the river tumbles and rolls.
July 25. — Still more rapids and falls to day. In one, the "Emma Dean"
is caught in a whirlpool, and set spinning about ; and it is with great diffi
culty we are able to get out of it, with the loss of an oar. At noon, another
is made ; and on we go, running some of the rapids, letting down with lines
past others, and making two short portages. We camp on the right bank,
hungry and tired.
July 26. — We run a short distance this morning, and go into camp, to
make oars and repair boats and barometers. The walls of the canon have
been steadily increasing in altitude to this point, and now they are more
than two thousand feet high. In many places, they are vertical from the
water's edge ; in others, there is a talus between the river and the foot of the
cliffs, and they are often broken down by side canons. It is probable that
the river is nearly as low now as it is ever found. High water mark can be
observed forty, fifty, sixty, or a hundred feet above its present stage. Some
times logs and drift wood are seen wedged into the crevice overhead, where
floods have carried them.
About ten o'clock, Powell, Bradley, Howland, Hall, and myself start
up a side canon to the east. We soon come to pools of water ; then to a
brook, which is lost in the sands below; and, passing up the brook, we find
the canon narrows, the walls close in, are often overhanging, and at last we
find ourselves in a vast amphitheater, with a pool of deep, clear, cold water
on the bottom. At first, our way seems cut off; but we soon discover a
64 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOKADO.
little shelf, along which we climb, and, passing beyond the pool, walk a
hundred yards or more, turn to the right, and find ourselves in another
dome shaped amphitheater. There is a winding cleft at the top, reaching
out to the country above, nearly two thousand feet overhead. The rounded,
basin shaped bottom is filled with water to the foot of the walls. There is
no shelf by which we can pass around the foot. If we swim across, we
meet with a face of rock hundreds of feet high, over which a little rill glides,
and it will be impossible to climb. So we can go no farther up this canon.
Then we turn back, and examine the walls on either side carefully, to dis
cover, if possible, some way of climbing out. In this search, every man
takes his own course, and we are scattered. I almost abandon the idea of
getting out, and am engaged in searching for fossils, when I discover, on
the north, a broken place, up which it may be possible for me to climb.
The way, for a distance, is up a slide of rocks ; then up an irregular amphi
theater, on points that form steps and give handhold, and then I reach a
little shelf, along which I walk, and discover a vertical fissure, parallel to
the face of the wall, and reaching to a higher shelf. This fissure is narrow,
and I try to climb up to the bench, which is about forty feet overhead. I
have a barometer on my back, which rather impedes my climbing. The
walls of the fissure are of smooth limestone, offering neither foot nor hand
hold. So I support myself by pressing my back against one wall and my
knees against the other, and, in this way, lift my body, in a shuffling man
ner, a few inches at a time, until I have, perhaps, made twenty five feet of
the distance, when the crevice widens a little, and I cannot press my knees
against the rocks in front with sufficient power to give me support in lifting
my body, and I try to go back. This I cannot do without falling. So I
struggle along sidewise, farther into the crevice, where it narrows. But by
this time my muscles are exhausted, and I cannot climb longer; so I move
still a little farther into the crevice, where it is so narrow and wedging that
I can lie in it, and there I rest. Five or ten minutes of this relief, and up
once more I go, and reach the bench above. On this I can walk for a
quarter of a mile, till I come to a place where the wall is again broken
down, so that I can climb up still farther, and in an hour I reach the sum
mit. I hang up my barometer, to give it a few minutes time to settle, and
Figure 21. — Water basin in Gypsum Canon.
GYPSUM CASfON— A SIDE GOKGE. 65
occupy myself in collecting resin from the pinon pines, which are found in
great abundance. One of the principal objects in making this climb was to
get this resin, -for the purpose of smearing our boats; but I have with me
no means of carrying it down. The day is very hot, and my coat was left
in camp, so I have no linings to tear out. Then it occurs to me to cut off
the sleeve of my shirt, tie it up at "one end, and in this little sack I collect
about a gallon of pitch. After taking observations for altitude, I wander
back on the rock, for an hour or two, when suddenly I notice that a storm
is coming from the south. I seek a shelter in the rocks ; but when the
storm bursts, it comes down as a flood from the heavens, not with gentle
drops at first, slowly increasing in quantity, but as if suddenly poured out.
I am thoroughly drenched, and almost washed away. It lasts not more than
half an hour, when the clouds sweep by to the north, and I have sunshine
again.
In the mean tune, I have discovered a better way of getting down, and
I start for camp, making the greatest haste possible. On reaching the bot
tom of the side canon, I find a thousand streams rolling down the cliffs on
every side, carrying with them red sand ; and these all unite in the canon
below, in one great stream of red mud.
Traveling as fast as I can run, I soon reach the foot of the stream, for
the rain did not reach the lower end of the canon, and the water is running
down a dry bed of sand; and, although it comes in waves, several feet high
and fifteen or twenty feet in width, the sands soak it up, and it is lost. But
wave follows wave, and rolls along, and is swallowed up ; and still the floods
come on from above. I find that I can travel faster than the stream ; so I
hasten to camp, and tell the men there is a river coming down the canon.
We carry our camp equipage hastily from the bank, to where we think it
will be above the water. Then we stand by, and see the river roll on to
join the Colorado. Great quantities of gypsum are found at the bottom of
the gorge ; so we name it Gypsum Canon.
July 27. — We have more rapids and falls until noon ; then we come to
a narrow place in the canon, with vertical walls for several hundred feet,
above which are steep steps and sloping rocks back to the summits. The
river is very narrow, and we make our way with great care and much
9 COL
66 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
anxiety, hugging the wall on the left, and carefully examining the way
before us.
Late in the afternoon, we pass to the left, around a sharp point, which
is somewhat broken down near the foot, and discover a flock of mountain
sheep on the rocks, more than a hundred feet above us. We quickly land
in a cove, out of sight, and away go all the hunters with their guns, for the
sheep have not discovered us. Soon, we hear firing, and those of us who
have remained in the boats climb up to see what success the hunters have
had. One sheep has been killed, and two of the men are still pursuing
them. In a few minutes, we hear firing again, and the next moment down
come the flock, clattering over the rocks, within twenty yards of us. One
of the hunters seizes his gun, and brings a second sheep down, and the next
minute the remainder of the flock is lost behind the rocks. We all give
chase ; but it is impossible to follow their tracks over the naked rock, and
we see them no more. Where they went out of this rock walled canon is a
mystery, for we can see no way of escape. Doubtless, if we could spare
the time for the search, we could find some gulch up which they ran.
We lash our prizes to the deck of one of the boats, and go on for a
short distance ; but fresh meat is too tempting for us, and we stop early to
have a feast. And a feast it is ! Two fine, young sheep. We care not for
bread, or beans, or dried apples to night ; coffee and mutton is all we ask.
July 28. — We make two portages this morning, one of them very long.
During the afternoon we run a chute, more than half a mile in length, nar
row and rapid. This chute has a floor of marble ; the rocks dip in the direc
tion in which we are going, and the fall of the stream conforms to the incli
nation of the beds ; so we float on water that is gliding down an inclined
plane. At the foot of the chute, the river turns sharply to the right, and the
water rolls up against a rock which, from above, seems to stand directly
athwart its course. As we approach it, we pull with all our power to the
right, but it seems impossible to avoid being carried headlong against the
cliff, and we are earned up high on the waves — not against the rocks, for
the rebounding water strikes us, and we are beaten back, and pass on with
safety, except that we get a good drenching.
After this, the walls suddenly close in, so that the canon is narrower
FARROW CAffON. 67
than we have ever known it. The water fills it from wall to wall, giving us
no landing place at the foot of the cliff; the river is very swift, the canon
is very tortuous, so that we can see but a few hundred yards ahead; the walls
tower over us, often overhanging so as to almost shut out the light. I stand
on deck, watching with intense anxiety, lest this may lead us into some dan
ger; but we glide along, with no obstruction, no falls, no rocks, and, in a
mile and a half, emerge from the narrow gorge into a more open and broken
portion of the canon. Now that it is past, it seems a very simple thing
indeed to run through such a place, but the fear of what might be ahead
made a deep impression on us.
At three o'clock we arrive at the foot of Cataract Canon. Here a long
canon valley comes down from the east, and the river turns sharply to the
west in a continuation of the line of the lateral valley. In the bend on the
right, vast numbers of crags, and pinnacles, and tower shaped rocks are
seen. We call it Mille Crag Bend.
And now we wheel into another canon, on swift water, unobstructed by
rocks. This new canon is very narrow and very straight, with walls verti
cal below and terraced above. The brink of the cliff is 1,300 feet above
the water, where we enter it, but the rocks dip to the west, and, as the course
of the canon is in that direction, the walls are seen to slowly decrease in
altitude. Floating down this narrow channel, and looking out through the
canon crevice away in the distance, the river is seen to turn again to the
left, and beyond this point, away many miles, a great mountain is seen.
Still floating down, we see other mountains, now to the right, now on the
left, until a great mountain range is unfolded to view. We name this Nar
row Canon, and it terminates at the bend of the river below.
As we go down to this point, we discover the mouth of a stream, which
enters from the right. Into this our little boat is turned. One of the men
in the boat following, seeing what we have done, shouts to Dunn, asking if
it is a trout-stream. Dunn replies, much disgusted, that it is "a dirty devil,"
and by this name the river is to be known hereafter. The water is exceed
ingly muddy, and has an unpleasant odor.
Some of us go out for half a mile, and climb a butte to the north. The
course of the Dirty Devil River can be traced for many miles. It comes
68 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
down through a very narrow canon, and beyond it, to the southwest, there
is a long line of cliffs, with a broad ten-ace, or bench, between it and the
brink of the cafion, and beyond these cliffs is situated the range of mount
ains seen as we came down Narrow Canon.
Looking up the Colorado, the chasm through which it rwns can be seen,
but we cannot look down on its waters. The whole country is a region of
naked rock, of many colors, with cliffs and buttes about us, and towering
mountains in the distance.
July 29. — We enter a canon to-day, with low, red walls. A short dis
tance below its head we discover the ruins of an old building, on the left wall.
There is a narrow plain between the river and the wall just here, and on
the brink of a rock two hundred feet high stands this old house. Its walls
are of stone, laid in mortar, with much regularity. It was probably built
three stories high; the lower story is yet almost intact; the second is much
broken down, and scarcely anything is left of the third. Great quantities
of flint chips are found on the rocks near by, and many arrow heads, some
perfect, others broken ; and fragments of pottery are strewn about in great
profusion. On the face of the cliff, under the building, and along down the
river, for two or three hundred yards, there are many etchings. Two hours
are given to the examination of these interesting ruins, then we run down
fifteen miles farther, and discover another group. The principal building was
situated on the summit of the hill. A part of the walls are standing, to the
height of eight or ten feet, and the mortar yet remains, in some places. The
house was in the shape of an L, with five rooms on the ground floor, one in
the angle, and two in each extension. In the space in the angle, there is a
deep excavation. From what we know of the people in the province of
Tusayan, who are, doubtless, of the same race as the former inhabitants of
these ruins, we conclude that this was a "kiva," or underground chamber,
in which their religious ceremonies were performed.
We leave these ruins, and run down two or three miles, and go into
camp about mid-afternoon. And now I climb the wall and go out into the
back country for a walk.
The sandstone, through which the canon is cut, is red and homogeneous,
being the same as that through which Labyrinth Canon runs. The smooth,
EUINS. 09
naked, rock stretches out on either side of the river for many miles, but
curiously carved mounds and cones are scattered everywhere, and deep holes
are worn out. 'Many of these pockets are filled with water. In one of these
holes, or wells, twenty feet deep, I find a tree growing. The excavation is
so narrow that I can step from its brink to a limb on the tree, and descend
to the bottom of the well down a growing ladder. Many of these pockets
are pot-holes, being found in the courses of little rills, or brooks, that run
during the rains which occasionally fall in this region; and often a few harder
rocks, which evidently assisted in their excavation, can be found in their
bottoms. Others, which are shallower, are not so easily explained. Perhaps
they are found where softer spots existed in the sandstone, places that yielded
more readily to atmospheric degradation, and where the loose sands were
carried away by the winds.
Just before sundown, I attempt to climb a rounded eminence, from
which I hope to obtain a good outlook on the surrounding country. It is
formed of smooth mounds, piled one above another. Up these I climb,
winding here and there, to find a practicable way, until near the summit
they become too steep for me to proceed. I search about, a few minutes, for
a more easy way, when I am surprised at finding a stairway, evidently cut
in the rock by hands. At one place, where there is a vertical wall of ten
or twelve feet, I find an old, ricketty ladder. It may be that this was a
watch-tower of that ancient people, whose homes we have found in ruins.
On many of the tributaries of the Colorado I have heretofore examined
their deserted dwellings. Those that show evidences of being built during
the latter part of their occupation of the country, are, usually, placed on the
most inaccessible cliffs. Sometimes, the mouths of caves have been walled
across, and there are many other evidences to show their anxiety to secure
defensible positions. Probably the nomadic tribes were sweeping down
upon them, and they resorted to these cliffs and canons for safety. It is not
unreasonable to suppose that this orange mound was used as a watch-tower.
Here I stand, where these now lost people stood centuries ago, and look over
this strange country. I gaze off to great mountains, in the northwest, which
are slowly covered by the night until they are lost, and then I return to
70 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
camp. It is no easy task to find my way down the wall in the darkness,
and I clamber about until it is nearly midnight, before I arrive.
July 30. — We make good progress to day, as the water, though smooth,
is swift. Sometimes, the canon walls are vertical to the top; sometimes, they
are vertical below, and have a mound covered slope above ; in other places,
the slope, with its mounds, comes down to the water's edge.
Still proceeding on our way, we find the orange sandstone is cut in two
by a group of firm, calcareous strata, and the lower bed is underlaid by soft
gypsiferous shales. Sometimes, the upper homogeneous bed is a smooth,
vertical wall, but usually it is carved with mounds, with gently meandering
valley lines. The lower bed, yielding to gravity, as the softer shales below
work out into the river, breaks into angular surfaces, often having a columnar
appearance. One could almost imagine that the walls had been carved with
a purpose, to represent giant architectural forms.
In the deep recesses of the walls, we find springs, with mosses and ferns
on the moistened sandstone.
July 31. — We have a cool, pleasant ride to day, through this part of the
canon. The walls are steadily increasing in altitude, the curves are gentle,
and often the river sweeps by an arc of vertical wall, smooth and unbroken,
and then by a curve that is variegated by royal arches, mossy alcoves, deep,
beautiful glens, and painted grottos.
Soon after dinner, we discover the mouth of the San Juan, where we
camp. The remainder of the afternoon is given to hunting some way by
which we can climb out of the canon ; but it ends in failure.
August 1. — We drop down two miles this morning, and go into camp
again. There is a low, willow covered strip of land along the walls on the
east. Across this we walk, to explore an alcove which we see from the river.
On entering, we find a little grove of box-elder and cottonwood trees ; and,
turning to the right, we find ourselves in a vast chamber, carved out of the
rock. At the upper end there is a clear, deep pool of water, bordered with
verdure. Standing by the side of this, we can see the grove at the en
trance. The chamber is more than two hundred feet high, five hundred feet
long, and two hundred feet wide. Through the ceiling, and on through the
rocks for a thousand feet above, there is a narrow, winding skylight ; and
Figure 22. — Glen Canon.
MUSIC TEMPLE. 71
this is all carved out by a little stream, which only runs during the few
showers that fall now and then in this arid country. The waters from the
bare rocks back of the canon, gathering- rapidly into a small channel, have
eroded a deep side canon, through which they run, until they fall into the
farther end of this chamber. The rock at the ceiling is hard, the rock
below, very soft and friable ; and, having cut through the upper harder por
tion down into the lower and softer, the stream has washed out these friable
sandstones ; and thus the chamber has been excavated.
Here we bring our camp. When "Old Shady" sings us a song at night,
we are pleased to find that this hollow in the rock is filled with sweet sounds.
It was doubtless made for an academy of music by its storm born architect;
so we name it Music Temple.
August 2. — We still keep our camp in Music Temple to-day.
1 wish to obtain a view of the adjacent country, if possible ; so, early
in the morning, the men take me across the river, and I pass along by the
foot of the cliff half a mile up stream, and then climb first up broken
ledges, then two or three hundred yards up a smooth, sloping rock, and
then pass out on a narrow ridge. Still, I find I have not attained an altitude
from which I can overlook the region outside of the canon; and so I descend
into a little gulch, and climb again to a higher ridge, all the way along naked
sandstone, and at last I reach a point of commanding view. I can look
several miles up the San Juan, and a long distance up the Colorado ; and
away to the northwest I can see the Henry Mountains ; to the northeast,
the Sierra La Sal ; to the southeast, unknown mountains ; and to the south
west, the meandering of the canon. Then I return to the bank of the river.
We sleep again in Music Temple. - _^.
August 3. — Start early this morning. The features of this canon are \
greatly diversified. Still vertical walls at times. These are usually found
to stand above great curves. The river, sweeping around these bends,
undermines the cliffs in places. Sometimes, the rocks are overhanging ; in
other curves, curious, narrow glens are found. Through these we climb,
by a rough stairway, perhaps several hundred feet, to where a spring bursts
out from under an overhanging cliff, and where cottonwoods and willows
stand, while, along the curves of the brooklet, oaks grow, and other rich
72 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
vegetation is seen, in marked contrast to the general appearance of naked
rock. We call these Oak Glens.
Other wonderful features are the many side canons or gorges that we
pass. Sometimes, we stop to explore these for a short distance. In some
places, their walls are much nearer each other above than below, so that
they look somewhat like caves or chambers in the rocks. Usually, in going
up such a gorge, we find beautiful vegetation ; but our way is often cut off
by deep basins, or pot-holes, as they are called.
On the walls, and back many miles into the country, numbers of
monument shaped buttes are observed. So we have a curious ensemble
of wonderful features — carved walls, royal arches, glens, alcove gulches,
mounds, and monuments. From which of these features shall we select a
name? We decide to call it Glen Canon.
Past these towering monuments, past these mounded billows of orange
sandstone, past these oak set glens, past these fern decked alcoves, past these
mural curves, we glide hour after hour, stopping now and then, as our atten
tion is arrested by some new wonder, until we reach a point which is historic.
In the year 1776, Father Escalante, a Spanish priest, made an expedi
tion from Santa Fd to the northwest, crossing the Grand and Green, and then
passing down along the Wasatch Mountains and the southern plateaus, until
he reached the Rio Virgen. His intention was to cross to the Mission of
Monterey; but, from information received from the Indians, he decided that
the route was impracticable. Not wishing to return to Santa Fe' over the
circuitous route by which he had just traveled, he attempted to go by one
more direct, and which led him across the Colorado, at a point known as
El vado de los Padres. From the description which we have read, we are
enabled to determine the place. A little stream comes down through a very
narrow side cafion from the west. It was down this that he came, and our
boats are lying at the point where the ford crosses. A well beaten Indian
trail is seen here yet. Between the cliff and the river there is a little meadow.
The ashes of many camp fires are seen, and the bones of numbers of cattle
are bleaching on the grass. For several years the Navajos have raided on
the Mormons that dwell in the valleys to the west, and they doubtless cross
frequently at this ford with their stolen cattle.
Figure 23. — Side Canon.
Figure 24. — Island Monument in Glen Canon.
MOUTH OF THE PAEIA. 73
August 4. — To day the walls grow higher, and the cafioii much nar
rower. Monuments are still seen on either side; beautiful glens, and alcoves,
and gorges, and side canons are yet found. After dinner, we find the river
making a sudden turn to the northwest, and the whole character of the
canon changed. The walls are many hundreds of feet higher, and the rocks
are chiefly variegated shales of beautiful colors — creamy orange above, then
bright vermilion, and below, purple and chocolate beds, with green and
yellow sands. We run four miles through this, in a direction a little to the
west of north ; wheel again to the west, and pass into a portion of the canon
where the characteristics are more like those above the bend. At night we
stop at the mouth of a creek coming in from the right, and suppose it to be
the Paria, which was described to me last year by a Mormon missionary.
Here the canon terminates abruptly in a line of cliffs, which stretches
from either side across the river.
August 5. — With some feeling of anxiety, we enter a new canon this
morning. We have learned to closely observe the texture of the rock. In
softer strata, we have a quiet river; in harder, we find rapids and falls.
Below us are the limestones and hard sandstones, which we found in Cata
ract Canon. This bodes toil and danger. Besides the texture of the rocks,
there is another condition which affects the character of the channel, as we
have found by experience. Where the strata are horizontal, the river is often
quiet; but," even though it may be very swift in places, no great obstacles
are found. - Where the rocks incline in the direction traveled, the river usually
sweeps with great velocity, but still we have few rapids and falls. But
where the rocks dip up stream, and the river cuts obliquely across the
upturned formations, harder strata above, and softer below, we have rapids
and falls. Into hard rocks, and into rocks dipping up stream, we pass this
morning, and start on a long, rocky, mad rapid. On the left there is a
vertical rock, and down by this cliff and around to the left we glide, just
tossed enough by the waves to appreciate the rate at which we are traveling.
The canon is narrow, with vertical walls, which gradually grow higher.
More rapids and falls are found. We come to one with a drop of sixteen
feet, around which we make a portage, and then stop for dinner.
10 COL
74 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
Then a run of two miles, and another portage, long and difficult;
we camp for the night, on a bank of sand.
August 6. — Canon walls, still higher and higher, as we go down through
strata. There is a steep talus at the foot of the cliff, and, in some places,
the upper parts of the walls are terraced.
About ten o'clock we come to a place where the river occupies the
entire channel, and the walls are vertical from the water's edge. We see a
fall below, and row up against the cliff. There is a little shelf, or rather a
horizontal crevice, a few feet over our heads. One man stands on the deck
of the boat, another climbs on his shoulders, and then into the crevice. Then
we pass him a line, and two or three others, with myself, follow; then we
pass along the crevice until it becomes a shelf, as the upper part, or roof, is
broken off. On this we walk for a short distance, slowly climbing all the
way, until we reach a point where the shelf is broken off, and we can pass
no farther. Then we go back to the boat, cross the stream, and get some
logs that have lodged in the rocks, bring them to our side, pass them along
the crevice and shelf, and bridge over the broken place. Then we go on to
a point over the falls, but do not obtain a satisfactory view. Then we climb
out to the top of the wall, and walk along to find a point below the fall,
from which it can be seen. From this point it seems possible to let down
our boats, with lines, to the head of the rapids, and then make a portage ; so
we return, row down by the side of the cliff, as far as we dare, and fasten
one of the boats to a rock. Then we let down another boat to the end of
its line beyond the first, and the third boat to the end of its line below the
second, which brings it to the head of the fall, and under an overhanging
rock. Then the upper boat, in obedience to a signal, lets go; we pull in
the line, and catch the nearest boat as it comes, and then the last. Then we
make a portage, and go on.
We go into camp early this afternoon, at a place where it seems possi
ble to climb out, and the evening is spent in "making observations for time."
August 7. — The almanac tells us that we are to have an eclipse of the
sun to day, so Captain Powell and myself start early, taking our instruments
with us, for the purpose of making observations on the eclipse, to determine
our longitude. Arriving at the summit, after four hours' hard climbing, to
Figure 25. — Noon-day rest in Marble Canon.
" WEATHERING OUT" THE NIGHT. 75
attain 2,300 feet in height, we hurriedly build a platform of rocks, on which
to place our instruments, and quietly wait for the eclipse; but clouds come
on, and rain falls, and sun and moon are obscured.
Much disappointed, we start on our return to camp, but it is late, and
the clouds make the night very dart. Still we feel our way down among
the rocks with great care, for two or three hours, though making slow prog
ress indeed. At last we lose our way, and dare proceed no farther. The rain
comes down in torrents, and we can find no shelter. We can neither climb
up nor go down, and in the darkness dare not move about, but sit and
"weather out" the night.
August 8. — Daylight comes, after- a long, oh! how long a night, and we
soon reach camp.
After breakfast we start again, and make two portages during the fore
noon.
The limestone of this canon is often polished, and makes a beautiful
marble. Sometimes the rocks are of many colors — white, gray, pink, and
purple, with saffron tints. It is with very great labor that we make progress,
meeting with many obstructions, running rapids, letting down our boats with
lines, from rock to rock, and sometimes carrying boats and cargoes around
bad places. We camp at night, just after a hard portage, under an over
hanging wall, glad to find shelter from the rain. We have to search for
some time to find a few sticks of driftwood, just sufficient to boil a cup of
coffee.
The water sweeps rapidly in this elbow of river, and has cut its way
under the rock, excavating a vast half circular chamber, which, if utilized
for a theater, would give sitting to fifty thousand people. Objections might
be raised against it, from the fact that, at high water, the floor is covered
with a raging flood.
August 9. — And now, the scenery is on a grand scale. The walls of
the canon, 2,500 feet high, are of marble, of many beautiful colors, and
often polished below by the waves, or far up the sides, where showers have
washed the sands over the cliffs.
At one place I have a walk, for more than a mile, on a marble pave
ment, all polished and fretted with strange devices, and embossed in a thou-
70 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
sand fantastic patterns. Through a cleft in the wall the sun shines on this
pavement, which gleams in iridescent beaiity.
I pass up into the cleft. It is very narrow, with a succession of pools
standing at higher levels as I go back. The water in these pools is clear
and cool, coming down from springs. Then I return to the pavement, which
is but a terrace or bench, over which the river runs at its flood, but left bare
at present. Along the pavement, in many places, are basins of clear water,
in strange contrast to the red mud of the liver. At length I come to the
end of this marble terrace, and take again to the boat.
Eiding down a short distance, a beautiful view is presented. The river
turns sharply to the east, and seems inclosed by a wall, set with a million
brilliant gems. What can it mean? Every eye is engaged, every one
wonders. On coming nearer, we find fountains bursting from the rock, high
overhead, and the spray in the sunshine forms the gems which bedeck the
wall. The rocks below the fountain are covered with mosses, and ferns, and
f
many beautiful flowering plants. We name it Vasey's Paradise, in honor
of the botanist who traveled with us last year.
We pass many side canons to day, that are dark, gloomy passages,
back into the heart of the rocks that form the plateau through which this
canon is cut.
It rains again this afternoon. Scarcely do the first drops fall, when
little rills run down the walls. As the storm comes on, the little rills increase
in size, until great streams are formed. Although the walls of the canon are
chiefly limestone, the adjacent country is of red sandstone ; and now the
waters, loaded with these sands, come down in rivers of bright red rnud,
leaping over the walls in innumerable cascades. It is plain now how these
walls are polished in many places.
At last, the storm ceases, and we go on. We have cut through the
sandstones and limestones met in the upper part of the canon, and through
one great bed of marble a thousand feet in thickness. In this, great num
bers of caves are hollowed out, and carvings are seen, which suggest arch
itectural forms, though on a scale so grand that architectural terms belittle
them. As this great bed forms a distinctive feature of the canon, we call it
Marble Canon.
Figure 26.— Marble Canon.
MOUTH OF THE COLOEADO CHIQUITO. 77
It is a peculiar feature of these walls, that many projections are set out
into the river, as if the wall was buttressed for support. The walls them
selves are half a mile high, and these buttresses are on a corresponding
scale, jutting into the river scores of feet. In the recesses between these
projections there are quiet bays,^except at the foot of a rapid, when they
are dancing eddies or whirlpools. Sometimes these alcoves have caves at
the back, giving them the appearance of great depth. Then other caves
are seen above, forming vast, dome shaped chambers. The walls, and but
tresses, and chambers are all of marble.
The river is now quiet ; the canon wider. Above, when the river is at
its flood, the waters gorge up, so that the difference between high and low
water mark is often fifty or even seventy feet ; but here, high- water mark
is not more than twenty feet above the present stage of' the river. Some
times there is a narrow flood plain between the water and the wall.
Here we first discover mesquite shrubs, or small trees, with finely
divided leaves and pods, somewhat like the locust.
August 10. — Walls still higher; water, swift again. We pass several
broad, ragged canons on our right, and up through these we catch glimpses
of a forest clad plateau, miles away to the west.
At two o'clock, we reach the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito. This
stream enters through a canon, on a scale quite as grand as that of the
Colorado itself. It is a very small river, and exceedingly muddy and salt.
I walk up the stream three or four miles, this afternoon, crossing and
recrossing where I can easily wade it. Then I climb several hundred feet
at one place, and can see up the chasm, through which the river runs, for
several miles. On my way back, I kill two rattlesnakes, and find, on my
arrival, that another has been killed just at camp.
August 11. — We remain at this point to day for the purpose of deter
mining the latitude and longitude, measuring the height of the walls, drying
our rations, and repairing our boats.
Captain Powell, early in the morning, takes a barometer, and goes out
to climb a point between the two rivers.
I walk down the gorge to the left at the foot of the cliff, climb to a
bench, and discover a trail, deeply worn in the rock. Where it crosses the
78 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
side gulches, in some places, steps have been cut. I can see no evidence
of its having been traveled for a long time. It was doubtless a path used
by the people who inhabited this country anterior to the present Indian
races — the people who built the communal houses, of which mention has
been made.
I return to camp about three o'clock, and find that some of the men
have discovered ruins, and many fragments of pottery; also, etchings and
hieroglyphics on the rocks.
We find, to night, on comparing the readings of the barometers, that
the walls are about three thousand feet high — more than half a mile — an
altitude difficult to appreciate from a mere statement of feet. The ascent
is made, not by a slope such as is usually found in climbing a mountain,
but is much more abrupt — often vertical for many hundreds of feet — so
that the impression is that we are at great depths ; and we look up to see
but a little patch of sky.
Between the two streams, above the Colorado Chiquito, in some places
the rocks are broken and shelving for six or seven hundred feet ; then there
is a sloping terrace, which can only be climbed by finding some way up a
gulch ; then, another terrace, and back, still another cliff. The summit of
the cliff is three thousand feet above the river, as our barometers attest
Our camp is below the Colorado Chiquito, and on the eastern side of
the canon.
August 12. — The rocks above camp are rust colored sandstones and
conglomerates. Some .are very hard ; others quite soft. These all lie
nearly horizontal, and the beds of softer material have been washed out,
and left the harder, thus forming a series of shelves. Long lines of these
are seen, of varying thickness, from one or two to twenty or thirty feet,
and the spaces between have the same variability. This morning, I spend
two or three hours in climbing among these shelves, and then I pass above
them, and go up a long slope, to the foot of the cliff, and try to discover
some way by which I can reach the top of the wall ; but I find my progress
cut off by an amphitheater. Then, I wander away around to the left, up a
little gulch, and along benches, and climb, from time to time, until I reach
an altitude of nearly two thousand feet, and can get no higher. From this
DISTANCES AND HEIGHTS. 79
point, I can look off to the west, up side canons of the Colorado, and see
the edge of a great plateau, from which streams run down into the Colorado,
and deep gulches, in the escarpment which faces us, continued by canons,
ragged and flaring, and set with cliffs and towering crags, down to the river.
I can see far up Marble Canon, to long lines of chocolate colored cliffs, and
above these, the Vermilion Cliffs. I can see, also, up the Colorado Chi-
quito, through a very ragged and broken canon, with sharp salients set out
from the walls on either side, their points overlapping, so that a huge tooth
of marble, on one side, seems to be set between two teeth on the opposite ;
and I can also get glimpses of walls, standing away back from the river,
while over my head are mural escarpments, not possible to be scaled.
Cataract Canon is forty one miles long. The walls are 1,300 feet high
at its head, and they gradually increase in altitude to a point about half
way down, where they are 2,700 feet, and then decrease to 1,300 feet at the
foot. Narrow Canon is nine and a half miles long, with walls 1,300 feet in
height at the head, and coming down to the water at the foot.
There is very little vegetation in this canon, or in the adjacent country.
Just at the junction of the Grand and Green, there are a number of hack-
berry trees ; and along the entire length of Cataract Canon, the high-water
line is marked by scattered trees of the same species. A few nut-pines and
cedars are found, and occasionally a red-bud or judas tree ; but the general
aspect of the canons, and of the adjacent country, is that of naked rock.
The distance through Glen Canon is 149 miles. Its walls vary from two
or three hundred to sixteen hundred feet. Marble Canon is 65^ miles long.
At its head, it is 200 feet deep, and steadily increases in depth to its foot,
where its walls are 3,500 feet high.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO.
August 13. — We are now ready to start on our way down the Great
Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, are chafing each other, as
they are tossed by the fretful river. They ride high and buoyant, for their
loads are lighter than we could desire. We have but a month's rations
remaining. The flour has been resifted through the mosquito net sieve ; the
spoiled bacon has been dried, and the worst of it boiled ; the few pounds of
dried apples have been spread in the sun, and reshrunken to their normal
bulk ; the sugar has all melted, and gone on its way down the river ; but
we have a large sack of coffee. The lighting of the boats has this advan
tage: they will ride the waves better, and we shall have but little to carry
when we make a portage.
We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth, and the
great river shrinks into insignificance, as it daskas its angry waves against
the walls and cliffs, that rise to the world above ; they are but puny ripples,
and we but pigmies, running up and down the sands, or lost among the
boulders.
We have an unknown distance yet to run; an unknown river yet to
explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel,
we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! we
may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are
bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the
jests are ghastly.
With some eagerness, and some anxiety, and some misgiving, we enter
the canon below, and are carried along by the swift water through walls
which rise from its very edge. They have the same structure as we noticed
yesterday — tiers of irregular shelves below, and, above these, steep slopes
to the foot of marble cliffs. We run six miles in a little more than half an
Figure 27. — View from camp at the month 01 the Little Colorado, looking west.
ENTEKING THE GBANITE. 81
hour, and emerge into a more open portion of the canon, where high hills
and ledges of rock intervene between the river and the distant walls. Just
at the head of this open place the river runs across a dike : that is, a fissure
in the rocks, open to depths below, has been filled with eruptive matter, and
this, on cooling, was harder than the rocks through which the crevice was
made, and, when these were washed away, the harder volcanic matter
remained as a wall, and the river has cut a gate-way through it several hun
dred feet high, and as many wide. As it crosses the wall, there is a fall
below, and a bad rapid, filled with boulders of trap; so we stop to make a
portage. Then on we go, gliding by hills and ledges, with distant walls in
view; sweeping past sharp angles of rock; stopping at a few points to exam
ine rapids, which we find can be run, until we have made another five
miles, when we land for dinner.
Then we let down with lines, over a long rapid, and start again. Once
more the walls close in, and we find ourselves in a narrow gorge, the water
again filling the channel, and very swift. With great care, and constant
watchfulness, we proceed, making about four miles this afternoon, and camp
in a cave.
August 14. — At daybreak we walk down the bank of the river, on a
little sandy beach, to take a view of a new feature in the canon. Hereto
fore, hard rocks have given us bad river; soft rocks, smooth water; and a
series of rocks harder than any we have experienced sets in. The river
enters the granite ! *
We can see but a little way into the granite gorge, but it looks threat
ening.
After breakfast we enter on the waves. At the very introduction, it
inspires awe. The canon is narrower than we have ever before seen it; the
water is swifter; there are but few broken rocks in the channel; but the
•
walls are set, on either side, with pinnacles and crags; and sharp, angular
buttresses, bristling with wind and wave polished spires, extend far out into
the river.
Ledges of rocks jut into the s'tream, their tops sometimes just below
* Geologists would call these rocks metamorphic crystalline schists, with dikes and beds of granite,
but we will use the popular name for the whole series — granite.
11 COL
82 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
the surface, sometimes rising few or many feet above; and island ledges, and
island pinnacles, and island towers break the swift course of the stream into
chutes, and eddies, and whirlpools. We soon reach a place where a creek
comes in from the left, and just below, the channel is choked with boulders,
which have washed down this lateral canon and formed a dam, over which
there is a fall of thirty or forty feet; but on the boulders we can get foot
hold, and we make a portage.
Three more such dams are found. Over one we make a portage; at
the other two we find chutes, through which we can run.
As we proceed, the granite rises higher, until nearly a thousand feet of
the lower part of the walls are composed of this rock.
About eleven o'clock we hear a great roar ahead, and approach it very
cautiously. The sound grows louder and louder as we run, and at last we
find ourselves above a long, broken fall, with ledges and pinnacles of rock
obstructing the river. There is a descent of, perhaps, seventy five or eighty
feet in a third of a mile, and the rushing waters break into great waves on
the rocks, and lash themselves into a mad, white foam. We can land just
above, but there is no foot-hold on either side by which we can make a port
age. It is nearly a thousand feet to the top of the granite, so it will be
impossible to cany our boats around, though we can climb to the summit up
a side gulch, and, passing along a mile or two, can descend to the river.
This we find on examination ; but such a portage would be impracticable for
us, and we must run the rapid, or abandon the river. There is no hesitation.
We step into our boats, push off and away we go, first on smooth but swift
water, then we strike a glassy wave, and ride to its top, down again into the
trough, up again on a higher wave, and down and up on waves higher and
still higher, until we strike one just as it curls back, and a breaker rolls
over our little boat. Still, on we speed, shooting .past projecting rocks, till
the little boat is caught in a whirlpool, and spun around several times. At
last we pull out again into the stream, and now the other boats have passed
us. The open compartment of the "Emma Dean" is filled with water, and
every breaker rolls over us. Hurled back from a rock, now on this side,
now on that, we are carried into an eddy, in which we struggle for a few
minutes, and are then out again, the breakers still rolling over us. Our boat
Figure 28. — Running a rapid.
A WILDERNESS OF BOOKS. 83
is unmanageable, but she cannot sink, and we drift down another hundred
yards, through breakers; how, we scarcely know. We find the other boats
have turned into an eddy at the foot of the fall, and are waiting to catch us
as we come, for the men have seen that our boat is swamped. They push
out as we come near, and pull us in against the wall. We bail our boat,
and on we go again.
The walls, now, are more than a mile in height — a vertical distance
difficult to appreciate. Stand on the south steps of the Treasury building,
in Washington, and look down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Park,
and measure this distance overhead, and imagine cliffs to extend to that alti
tude, and you will understand what I mean; or, stand at Canal street, in
New York, and look up Broadway to Grace Church, and you have about
the distance; or, stand at Lake street bridge, in Chicago, and look down
to the Central Depot, and you have it again.
A thousand feet of this is up through granite crags, then steep slopes
and perpendicular cliffs rise, one above another, to the summit. The gorge
is black and narrow below, red and gray and flaring above, with crags and
angular projections on the walls, which, cut in many places by side canons,
seem to be a vast wilderness of rocks. Down in these grand, gloomy depths
we glide, ever listening, for the mad waters keep up their roar; ever watch
ing, ever peering ahead, for the narrow canon is winding, and the river is
closed in so that we can see but a few hundred yards, and what there may
be below we know not; but we listen for falls, and watch for rocks, or stop
now and then, in the bay of a recess, to admire the gigantic scenery. And
ever, as we go, there is some new pinnacle or tower, some crag or peak,
some distant view of the upper plateau, some strange shaped rock, or some
deep, narrow side canon. Then we come to another broken fall, which
appears more difficult than the one we ran this morning.
A small creek comes in on the right, and the first fall of the water is
over boulders, which have been carried down by this lateral stream. We
land at its mouth, and stop for an hour or two to examine the fall. It
' seems possible to let down with lines, at least a part of the way, from point
to point, along the right hand wall. So we make a portage over the first
rocks, and find footing on some boulders below. Then we let down one of
84 EXPLOKATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
the boats to the end of her line, when she reaches a corner of the project
ing rock, to which one of the men clings, and steadies her, while I examine
an eddy below. I think we can pass the other boats down by us, and
catch them in the eddy. This is soon done and the men in the boats in the
eddy pull us to their side. On the shore of this little eddy there is about
two feet of gravel beach above the water. Standing on this beach, some
of the men take the line of the little boat and let it drift down against
another projecting angle. Here is a little shelf, on which a man from my
boat climbs, and a shorter line is passed to him, and he fastens the boat to
the side of the cliff. Then the second one is let down, bringing the line of
the third. When the second boat is tied up, the two men standing on the
beach above spring into the last boat, which is pulled up alongside of ours.
Then we let down the boats, for twenty five or thirty yards, by walking
along the shelf, landing them again in the mouth of a side canon. Just
below this there is another pile of boulders, over which we make another
portage. From the foot of these rocks we can climb to another shelf, forty
or fifty feet above the water.
On this bench we camp for the night. "We find a few sticks, which
have lodged in the rocks. It is raining hard, and we have no shelter, but
kindle a fire and have our supper. "We sit on the rocks all night, wrapped
in our ponchos, getting what sleep we can.
August 15. — This morning we find we can let down for three or four
hundred yards, and it is managed in this way: We pass along the wall, by
climbing from projecting point to point, sometimes near the water's edge,
at other places fifty or sixty feet above, and hold the boat with a line, while
two men remain aboard, and prevent her from being dashed against the
rocks, and keep the line from getting caught on the wall. In two hours we
have brought them all down, as far as it is possible, in this way. A few
yards below, the river strikes with great violence against a projecting rock,
and our boats are pulled up in a little bay above. We must now manage
to pull out of this, and clear the point below. The little boat is held by
the bow obliquely up the stream. We jump in, and pull out only a few
strokes, and sweep clear of the dangerous rock. The other boats follow in
the same manner, and the rapid is passed.
BREAKERS. 85
It is not easy to describe the labor of such navigation. We must pre
vent the waves from dashing the boats against the cliffs. Sometimes, where
the river is swift, we must put a bight of rope about a rock, to prevent her
being snatched from us by a wave ; but where the plunge is too great, or
the chute too swift, we must let her leap, and catch her below, or the under
tow will drag her under the falling water, and she sinks. Where we wish
to run her out a little way from shore, through a channel between rocks,
we first throw in little sticks of drift wood, and watch their course, to see
where we must steer, so that she will pass the channel in safety. And so we
hold, and let go, and pull, and lift, and ward, among rocks, around rocks,
and over rocks.
And now we go on through this solemn, mysterious way. The river
is very deep, the canon very narrow, and still obstructed, so that there is no
steady flow of the stream ; but the waters wheel, and roll, and boil, and we
are scarcely able to determine where we can go. Now, the boat is carried
to the right, perhaps close to the wall; again, she is shot into the stream,
and perhaps is dragged over to the other side, where, caught in a whirlpool,
she spins about. We can neither land nor run as we please. The boats are
entirely unmanageable ; no order in their running can be preserved ; now
one, now another, is ahead, each crew laboring for its own preservation. In
such a place we come to another rapid. Two of the boats run it perforce.
One succeeds in landing, but there is no foot-hold by which to make a port
age, and she is pushed out again into the stream. The next minute a great
reflex wave fills the open compartment ; she is water-logged, and drifts
unmanageable. Breaker after breaker rolls over her, and one capsizes her.
The men are thrown out ; but they cling to the boat, and she drifts down
some distance, alongside of us, and we are able to catch her. She is soon
bailed out, and the men are aboard once more ; but the oars are lost, so a
pair from the "Emma Dean" is spared. Then for two miles we find smooth
water.
Clouds are playing in the canon to day. Sometimes they roll down
in great masses, filling the gorge with gloom ; sometimes they hang above,
from wall to wall, and cover the canon with a roof of impending storm ;
and we can peer long distances up and down this canon corridor, with its
86 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
cloud roof overhead, its walls of black granite, and its river bright with
the sheen of broken waters. Then, a gust of wind sweeps down a side
gulch, and, making a rift in the clouds, reveals the blue heavens, and a
stream of sunlight pours in. Then, the clouds drift away into the distance,
and hang around crags, and peaks, and pinnacles, and towers, and walls,
and cover them with a mantle, that lifts from time to time, and sets them
all in sharp relief. Then, baby clouds creep out of side canons, glide
around points, and creep back again, into more distant gorges. Then,
clouds, set in strata, across the canon, with intervening vista views, to cliffs
and rocks beyond. The clouds are children of the heavens, and when they
play among the rocks, they lift them to the region above.
It rains! Rapidly little rills are formed above, and these soon grow
into brooks, and the brooks grow into creeks, and tumble over the walls in
innumerable cascades, adding their wild music to the roar of the river.
When the rain ceases, the rills, brooks, and creeks run dry. The waters
that fall, during a rain, on these steep rocks, are gathered at once into the
river ; they could scarcely be poured in more suddenly, if some vast spout
ran from the clouds to the stream itself. When a storm bursts over the
canon, a side gulch is dangerous, for a sudden flood may come, and the
inpouring waters will raise the river, so as to hide the rocks before your eyes.
Early in the afternoon, we discover a stream, entering from the north,
a clear, beautiful creek, coming down through a gorgeous red canon. We
land, and camp on a sand beach, above its mouth, under a great, overspread
ing tree, with willow shaped leaves.
August 16. — We must dry our rations again to day, and make oars.
The Colorado is never a clear stream, but for the past three or four days
it has been raining much of the time, and the floods, which are poured over
the walls, have brought down great quantities of mud, making it exceedingly
turbid now. The little affluent, which we have discovered here, is a clear,
beautiful creek, or river, as it would be termed in this western country,
where streams are not abundant. We have named one stream, away above,
in honor of the great chief of the "Bad Angels," and, as this is in beautiful
contrast to that, we conclude to name it lt Bright Angel.''
Early in the morning, the whole party starts up to explore the Bright
Figure 29.— Granite Walls.
BRIGHT ANGEL KIVEE, 87
Angel River, with the special purpose of seeking timber, from which to make
oars. A couple of miles above, we find a large pine log, which has been
floated down from the plateau, probably from an altitude of more than six
thousand feet, but not many miles back. On its way, it must have passed
over many cataracts and falls, for it bears scars in evidence of the rough
usage which it has received. The" men roll it on skids, and the work of
sawing oars is commenced.
This stream heads away back, under a line of abrupt cliffs, that termi
nates the plateau, and tumbles down more than four thousand feet in the first
mile or two of its course ; then runs through a deep, narrow canon, until it
reaches the river.
Late in the afternoon I return, and go up a little gulch, just above this
creek, about two hundred yards from camp, and discover the ruins of two
or three old houses, which were originally of stone, laid in mortar. Only
the foundations are left, but irregular blocks, of which the houses were con
structed, lie scattered about. In one room I find an old mealing stone,
deeply worn, as if it had been much used. A great deal of pottery is strewn
around, and old trails, which in some places are deeply worn into the rocks,
are seen.
It is ever a source of wonder to us why these ancient people sought
such inaccessible places for their homes. They were, doubtless, an agricul
tural race, but there are no lands here, of any considerable extent, that they
could have cultivated. To the west of Oraiby, one of the towns in the
"Province of Tusayan," in Northern Arizona, the inhabitants have actually
built little terraces along the face of the cliff, where a spring gushes out,
and thus made their sites for gardens. It is possible that the ancient inhab
itants of this place made their agricultural lands in the same way. But why
should they seek such spots ? Surely, the country was not so crowded with
population as to demand the utilization of so barren a region. The only
solution of the problem suggested is this: We know that, for a century or two
after the settlement of Mexico, many expeditions were sent into the country,
now comprised in Arizona and New Mexico, for the purpose of bringing the
town building people under the dominion of the Spanish government. Many
of their villages were destroyed, and the inhabitants fled to regions at that
88 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
time unknown; and there are traditions, among the people who inhabit
the pueblos that still remain, that the canons were these unknown lands.
Maybe these buildings were erected at that time; sure it is that they have
a much more modern appearance than the ruins scattered over Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Those old Spanish conquerors had a
monstrous greed for gold, and a wonderful lust for saving souls. Treasures
they must have; if not on earth, why, then, in heaven; and when they failed
to find heathen temples, bedecked with silver, they propitiated Heaven by
seizing the heathen themselves. There is yet extant a copy of a record,
made by a heathen artist, to express his conception of the demands of the
conquerors. In one part of the picture we have a lake, and near by stands a
priest pouring water on the head of a native. On the other side, a poor Indian
has a cord about his throat. Lines run from these two groups, to a central
figure, a man with beard, and full Spanish panoply. The interpretation of
the picture writing is this: "Be baptized, as this saved heathen; or be hanged,
as that damned heathen." Doubtless, some of these people preferred a third
alternative, and, rather than be baptized or hanged, they chose to be impris
oned within these canon walls.
August 17. — Our rations are still spoiling; the bacon is so badly injured
that we are compelled to throw it away. By an accident, this morning, the
saleratus is lost overboard. We have now only musty flour sufficient for
ten days, a few dried apples, but plenty of coffee. We must make all haste
possible. If we meet with difficulties, as we have done in the canon above,
we may be compelled to give up the expedition, and try to reach the Mormon
settlements to the north. Our hopes are that the worst places are passed,
but our barometers are all so much injured as to be useless, so we have lost
our reckoning in altitude, and know not how much descent the river has yet
to make.
The stream is still wild and rapid, and rolls through a narrow channel.
We make but slow progress, often landing against a wall, and climbing
around some point, where we can see the river below. Although very anx
ious to advance, we are determined to run with great caution, lest, by another
accident, we lose all our supplies. How precious that little flour has become !
NINE DAYS' KATIONS. 89
We divide it among the boats, and carefully store it away, so that it can be
lost only by the loss of the boat itself.
We make- ten miles and a half, and camp among the rocks, on the right.
We have had rain, from time to time, all day, and have been thoroughly
drenched and chilled; but between showers the sun shines with great
power, and the mercury in our thermometers stands at 115°, so that we have
rapid changes from great extremes, which are very disagreeable. It is
especially cold in the rain to-night. The little canvas we have is rotten and
useless ; the rubber ponchos, with which we started from Green River City,
have all been lost ; more than half the party is without hats, and not one of
us has an entire suit of clothes, and we have not a blanket apiece. So we
gather drift wood, and build a fire ; but after supper the rain, coming down
in torrents, extinguishes it, and we sit up all night, on the rocks, shivering,
and are more exhausted by the night's discomfort than by the day's toil.
August 18. — The day is employed in making portages, and we advance
but two miles on our journey. Still it rains.
While the men are at work making portages, I climb up the granite to
its summit, and go away back over the rust colored sandstones and greenish
yellow shales, to the foot of the marble wall. I climb so high that the men
and boats are lost in the black depths below, and the dashing river is a rip
pling brook ; and still there is more canon above than below. All about me
are interesting geological records. The book is open, and I can read as I
run. All about me are grand views, for the clouds are playing again in the
gorges. But somehow I think of the nine days' rations, and the bad river,
and the lesson of the rocks, and the glory of the scene is but half seen.
I push on to an angle, where I hope to get a view of the country
beyond, to see, if possible, what the prospect may be of our soon running
through this plateau, or, at least, of meeting with some geological change
that will let us out of the granite ; but, arriving at the point, I can see below
only a labyrinth of deep gorges.
August 19. — Rain again this morning. Still we are in our gran
ite prison, and the time is occupied until noon in making a long, bad
portage.
After dinner, in running a rapid, the pioneer boat is upset by a wave
12 COL
90 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
We are some distance in advance of the larger boats, the river is rough and
swift, and we are unable to land, but cling to the boat, and are carried down
stream, over another rapid. The men in the boats above see our trouble,
but they are caught in whirlpools, and are spinning about in eddies, and it
seems a long time before they come to our relief. At last they do come ;
our boat is turned right side up, bailed out ; the oars, which fortunately have
floated along in company with us, are gathered up, and on we go, without
even landing.
Soon after the accident the clouds break away, and we have sunshine
again.
Soon we find a little beach, with just room enough to land. Here we
camp, but there is no wood. Across the river, and a little way above, we
see some drift wood lodged in the rocks. So we bring two boat loads over,
build a huge fire, and spread everything to dry. It is the first cheerful
night we have had for a week ; a warm, drying fire in the midst of the camp,
and a few bright stars in our patch of heavens overhead.
August 20. — The characteristics of the canon change this morning.
The river is broader, the walls more sloping, and composed of black slates,
that stand on edge. These nearly vertical slates are washed out in places —
that is, the softer beds are washed out between the harder, which are left
standing. In this way, curious little alcoves are formed, in which are quiet
bays of water, but on a much smaller scale than the great bays and but
tresses of Marble Canon.
The river is still rapid, and we stop to let down with lines several
times, but make greater progress as we run ten miles. We camp on the
right bank. Here, on a terrace of trap, we discover another group of ruins
There was evidently quite a village on this rock. Again we find mealing
stones, and much broken pottery, and up in a little natural shelf in the rock,
back of the ruins, we find a globular basket, that would hold perhaps a
third of a bushel. It is badly broken, and, as I attempt to take it up, it
falls to pieces. There are many beautiful flint chips, as if this had been the
home of an old arrow maker.
August 21. — We start early this morning, cheered by the prospect of a
fine day, and encouraged, also, by the good run made yesterday. A quarter
Figure. 30. — Mu'-av Canon, a side gorge.
RUNNING OUT OF THE GRANITE. 91
of a mile below camp the river turns abruptly to the left, and between camp
and that point is very swift, running down in a long, broken chute, and
piling up against the foot of the cliff, where it turns to the left. We try to
pull across, so as to go down on the other side, but the waters are swift, and
it seems impossible for us to escape the rock below ; but, in pulling across,
the bow of the boat is turned to the farther shore, so that we are swept
broadside down, and are prevented, by the rebounding waters, from strik
ing against the wall. There we toss about for a few seconds in these bil
lows, and are earned past the danger. Below, the river turns again to the
right, the canon is very narrow, and we see in advance but a short distance.
The water, too, is very swift, and there is no landing place. From around
this curve there comes a mad roar, and down we are carried, with a dizzying
velocity, to the head of another rapid. On either side, high over our heads,
there are overhanging granite walls, and the sharp bends cut off our view,
so that a few minutes will carry us into unknown waters. Away we go, on
one long, winding chute. I stand on deck, supporting myself with a strap,
fastened on either side to the gunwale, and the boat glides rapidly, where
the water is smooth, or, striking a wave, she leaps and bounds like a thing
of life, and we have a wild, exhilarating ride for ten miles, which we make
in less than an hour. The excitement is so great that we forget the danger/
until we hear the roar of a great fall below ; then we back on our oars, and
are carried slowly toward its head, and succeed in landing just above, and
find that we have to make another portage. At this we are engaged until
some time after dinner.
Just here we run out of the granite!
Ten miles in less than half a day, and limestone walls below. Good
cheer returns; we forget the storms, and the gloom, and cloud covered can
ons, and the black granite, and the raging river, and push our boats from
shore in great glee.
Though we are out of the granite, the river is still swift, and we wheel
about a point again to the right, and turn, so as to head back in the direc
tion from which we come, and see the granite again, with its narrow gorge
and black crags ; but we meet with no more great falls, or rapids. Still, we
run cautiously, and stop, from time to time, to examine some places which
92 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
look bad. Yet, we make ten miles this afternoon; twenty miles, in all, to
day.
August 22. — We come to rapids again, this morning, and are occupied
several hours in passing them, letting the boats down, from rock to rock,
with lines, for nearly half a mile, and then have to make a long portage.
While the men are engaged in this, I climb the wall on the northeast, to a
height of about two thousand five hundred feet, where I can obtain a good
view of a long stretch of cation below. Its course is to the southwest. The
walls seem to rise very abruptly, for two thousand five hundred or three
thousand feet, and then there is a gently sloping terrace, on each side, for
two or three miles, and again we find cliffs, one thousand five hundred or
two thousand feet high. From the brink of these the plateau stretches back
to the north and south, for a long distance. Away down the canon, on the
right wall, I can see a group of mountains, some of which appear to stand
on the brink of the canon. The effect of the terrace is to give the appear
ance of a narrow winding valley, with high walls on either side, and a deep,
dark, meandering gorge down its middle. It is impossible, from this point
of view, to determine whether we have granite at the bottom, or not; but,
from geological considerations, I conclude that we shall have marble walls
below.
After my return to the boats, we run another mile, and camp for the
night.
We have made but little over seven miles to day, and a part of our flour
has been soaked in the river again.
August 23. — Our way to day is again through marble walls. Now and
then we pass, for a short distance, through patches of granite, like hills
thrust up into the limestone. At one of these places we have to make
another portage, and, taking advantage of the delay, I go up a little stream,
to the north, wading it all the way, sometimes having to plunge in to my
neck; in other places being compelled to swim across little basins that have
been excavated at the foot of the falls. Along its course are many cascades
and springs gushing out from the rocks on either side. Sometimes a cotton-
wood tree grows over the water. I come to one beautiful fall, of more than
a hundred and fifty feet, and climb around it to the right, on the broken
Figure 31. — Standing Rocks on the brink of Mu'-av Canon.
TWENTY-TWO MILES. 93
rocks. Still going up, I find the canon narrowing very much, being but
fifteen or twenty feet wide ; yet the walls rise on either side many hundreds
of feet, perhaps thousands; I can hardly tell.
In some places the stream has not excavated its channel down verti
cally through the rocks, but has cut obliquely, so that one wall overhangs
the other. In other places it is cut vertically above and obliquely below,
or obliquely above and vertically below, so that it is impossible to see out
overhead. But I can go no farther. The time which I estimated it would
take to make the portage has almost expired, and I start back on a round trot,
wading in. the creek where I must, and plunging through basins, and find
the men waiting for me, and away we go on the river.
Just after dinner we pass a stream on the right, which leaps into the
Colorado by a direct fall of more than a hundred feet, forming a beautiful
cascade. There is a bed of very hard rock above, thirty or forty feet in
thickness,, and much softer beds below. The hard beds above project many
yards beyond the softer, which are washed out, forming a deep cave behind
the fall, and the stream pours through a narrow crevice above into a deep
pool below. Around on the rocks, in the cave like chamber, are set beau
tiful ferns, with delicate fronds and enameled stalks. The little frondlets
have their points turned down, to form spore cases. It has very much the
appearance of the Maiden's Hair fern, but is much larger. This delicate foliage
covers the rocks ah1 about the fountain, and gives the chamber great beauty.
But we have little time to spend in admiration, so on we go.
We make fine progress this afternoon, carried along by a swift river,
and shoot over the rapids, finding no serious obstructions.
The canon walls, for two thousand five hundred or three thousand feet,
are very regular, rising almost perpendicularly, but here and there set with
narrow steps, and occasionally we can see away above the broad terrace,
to distant cliffs.
We camp to night in a marble cave, and find, on looking at our reck
oning, we have run twenty two miles.
August 24. — The canon is wider to day. The walls rise to a vertical
height of nearly three thousand feet. In many places the river runs under
a cliff, in great curves, forming amphitheatres, half dome shaped.
94 -EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
Though the river is rapid, we meet with no serious obstructions, and
run twenty miles. It is curious how anxious we are to make up our reck
oning every time we stop, now that our diet is confined to plenty of coffee,
very little spoiled flour, and very few dried apples. It has come to be a race
for a dinner. Still, we make such fine progress, all hands are in good cheer,
but not a moment of daylight is lost.
August 25. — We make twelve miles this morning, when we come to
monuments of lava, standing in the river; low rocks, mostly, but some of
them shafts more than a hundred feet high. Going on down, three or
four miles, we find them increasing in number. Great quantities of cooled
lava and many cinder cones are seen on either side; and then we come to
an abrupt cataract. Just over the fall, on the right wall, a cinder cone, or
extinct volcano, with a well defined crater, stands on the very brink of the
canon. This, doubtless, is the one we saw two or three days ago. From
this volcano vast floods of lava have been poured down into the river, and
a stream of the molten rock has run up the canon, three or four miles, and
down, we know not how far. Just where it poured over the canon wall is
the fall. The whole north side, as far as we can see, is lined with the black
basalt, and high up on the opposite wall are patches of the same material,
resting on the benches, and filling old alcoves and caves, giving to the wall
a spotted appearance.
The rocks are broken in two, along a line which here crosses the river,
and the beds, which we have seen coming down the canon for the last thirty
miles, have dropped 800 feet, on the lower side of the line, forming what
geologists call a fault. The volcanic cone stands directly over the fissure
thus formed. On the side of the river opposite, mammoth springs burst out
of this crevice, one or two hundred feet above the river, pouring in a stream
quite equal in volume to the Colorado Chiquito.
This stream seems to be loaded with carbonate of lime, and the water,
evaporating, leaves an incrustation on the rocks ; and this process has been
continued for a long time, for extensive deposits are noticed, in which are
basins, with bubbling springs. The water is salty.
We have to make a portage here, which is completed in about three
hours, and on we go.
Figure 32.— The Grand Canon, looking east from To-ro'-weap.
Figure 33. — The Grand Canon, looking west from To-ro'-weap.
LAVA. 95
We have no difficulty as we float along, and I am able to observe the
wonderful phenomena connected with this flood of lava. The canon was
doubtless filled ' to a height of twelve or fifteen hundred feet, perhaps by-
more than one flood. This would dam the water back; and in cutting
through this great lava bed, a new channel has been formed, sometimes on
one side, sometimes on the other. The cooled lava, being of firmer texture
than the rocks of which the walls are composed, remains in some places; in
others a narrow channel has been cut, leaving a line of basalt on either side.
It is possible that the lava cooled faster on the sides against the walls, and
that the centre ran out ; but of this we can only conjecture. There are
other places, where almost the whole of the lava is gone, patches of it only
being seen where it has caught on the walls. As we float down, we can see
that it ran out into side canons. In some places this basalt has a fine, col
umnar structure, often in concentric pi isms, and masses of these concentric
columns have coalesced. In some places, when the flow occurred, the canon
was probably at about the same depth as it is now, for we can see where the
basalt has rolled out on the sands, and, what seems curious to me, the sands
are not melted or metamorphosed to any appreciable extent In places the
bed of the river is of sandstone or limestone, in other places of lava, show
ing that it has all been cut out again where the sandstones and limestones
appear; but there is a little yet left where the bed is of lava.
What a conflict of water and fire there must have been here! Just
imagine a river of molten rock, running down into a -river of melted snow.
What a seething and boiling of the waters; what clouds of steam rolled
into the heavens!
Thirty five miles to day. Hurrah!
August 26. — The canon walls are steadily becoming higher as we
advance. They are still bold, and nearly vertical up to the terrace. We
still see evidence of the eruption discovered yesterday, but the thickness of
the basalt is decreasing, as we go down the stream; yet it has been rein
forced at points by streams that have come down from volcanoes standing
on the terrace above, but which we cannot see from the river below.
Since we left the Colorado Chiquito, we have seen no evidences that
the tribe of Indians inhabiting the plateaus on either side ever come down
96 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
to the river ; but about eleven o'clock to day we discover an Indian garden,
at the foot of the wall on the right, just where a little stream, with a narrow
flood plain, comes down through a side canon. Along the valley, the Indians
have planted corn, using the water which burst out in springs at the foot
of the cliff, for irrigation. The corn is looking quite well, but is not suffi
ciently advanced to give us roasting ears ; but there are some nice, green
squashes. We carry ten or a dozen of these on board our boats, and
hurriedly leave, not willing to be be caught in the robbery, yet excusing
ourselves by pleading our great want. We run down a short distance, to
where we feel certain no Indians can follow; and what a kettle of squash
sauce we make! True, we have no salt with which to season it, but it
makes a fine addition to our unleavened bread and coffee. Never was fruit
so sweet as these stolen squashes.
After dinner we push on again, making fine time, finding many rapids,
but none so bad that we cannot run them with safety, and when we stop,
just at dusk, and foot up our reckoning, we find we have run thirty five
miles again.
What a supper we make ; unleavened bread, green squash sauce, and
strong coffee. We have been for a few days on half rations, but we have
no stint of roast squash.
A few days like this, and we are out of prison.
August 27. — This morning the river takes a more southerly direction.
The dip of the rocks is to the north, and we are rapidly running into lower
formations. Unless our course changes, we shall very soon run again into
the granite. This gives us some anxiety. Now and then the river turns to
the west, and excites hopes that are soon destroyed by another turn to the
south. About nine o'clock we come to the dreaded rock. It is with no little
misgiving that we see the river enter these black, hard walls. At its very
entrance we have to make a portage ; then we have to let down with lines
past some ugly rocks. Then we run a mile or two farther, and then the
rapids below can be seen.
About eleven o'clock we come to a place in the river where it seems
much worse than any we have yet met in all its course. A little creek
comes down from the left. We land first on the right, and clamber up over
EAPIDS AND FALLS. 97
the granite pinnacles for a mile or two, but can see no way by which we
can let down, and to run it would be sure destruction. After dinner we
cross to examine it on the left. High above the river we can walk along on
the top of the granite, which is broken off at the edge, and set with crags
and pinnacles, so that it is very difficult to get a view of the river at all.
In my eagerness to reach a point where I can see the roaring fall below, I
go too far on the wall, and can neither advance nor retreat. I stand with
one foot on a little projecting rock, and cling with my hand fixed in a little
crevice. Finding I am caught here, suspended 400 feet above the river,
into which I should fall if my footing fails, I call for help. The men come,
and pass me a line, but I cannot let go of the rock long enough to take hold
of it. Then they bring two or three of the largest oars. All this takes
time which seems very precious to me; but at last they arrive. The blade of
one of the oars is pushed into a little crevice in the rock beyond me., in such
a manner that they can hold me pressed against the wall. Then another is
fixed in such a way that I can step on it, and thus I am extricated.
Still another hour is spent in examining the river from this side, but no
good view of it is obtained, so now we return to the side that was first exam
ined, and the afternoon is spent in clambering among the crags and pinna
cles, and carefully scanning the river again. We find that the lateral streams
have washed boulders into the river, so as to form a dam, over which the
water makes a broken fall of eighteen or twenty feet; then there is a rapid,
beset with rocks, for two or three hundred yards, while, on the other side,
points of the wall project into the river. Then there is a second fall below;
how great, we cannot tell. Then there is a rapid, filled with huge rocks, for
one or two hundred yards. At the bottom of it, from the right wall, a great
rock projects quite half way across the river. It has a sloping surface
extending up stream, and the water, coming down with all the momentum
gained in the falls and rapids above, rolls up this inclined plane many feet,
and tumbles over to the left. I decide that it is possible to let down over
the first fall, then run near the right cliff to a point just above the second,
where we can pull out into a little chute, and, having run over that in safety,
we must pull with all our power across the stream, to avoid the great rock
below. On my return to the boat, I announce to the men that we are to
13 COL
98 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
run it in the morning. Then we cross the river, and go into camp for the
night on some rocks, in the mouth of the little side canon.
After supper Captain Howlaud asks to have a talk with me. We walk
up the little creek a short distance, and I soon find that his object is to
remonstrate against my determination to proceed. He thinks that we had
better abandon the river here. Talking with him, I learn that his brother,
William Dunn, and himself have determined to go no farther in the boats.
So we return to camp. Nothing is said to the other men.
For the last two days, our course has not been plotted. I sit down and
do this now, for the purpose of finding where we are by dead reckoning.
It is a clear night, and I take out the sextant to make observation for lati
tude, and find that the astronomic determination agrees very nearly with
that of the plot — quite as closely as might be expected, from a meridian
observation on a planet. In a direct line, we must be about forty five miles
from the mouth of the Rio Virgen. If we can reach that point, we know
that there are settlements up that river about twenty miles. This forty five
miles, in a direct line, will probably be eighty or ninety in the meandering
line of the river. But then we know that there is comparatively open
country for many miles above the mouth of the Virgen, which is our point
of destination.
As soon as I determine all this, I spread my plot on the sand, and wake
Rowland, who is sleeping down by the river, and show him where I sup
pose we are, and where several Mormon settlements are situated.
We have another short talk about the morrow, and he lies down again;
but for me there is no sleep. All night long, I pace up and down a little
path, on a few yards of sand beach, along by the river. Is it wise to go on?
I go to the boats again, to look at our rations. I feel satisfied that we can
get over the danger immediately before us; what there may be below I
know not. From our outlook yesterday, on the cliffs, the canon seemed to
make another great bend to the south, and this, from our experience hereto
fore, means more and higher granite walls. I am not sure that we can climb
out of the canon here, and, when at the top of the wall, I know enough of
the country to be certain that it is a desert of rock and sand, between this
and the nearest Mormon town, which, on the most direct line, must be sev-
Figure 34. — Climbing the Grand Canon.
A SOLEMN BREAKFAST. 99
enty five miles away. True, the late rains have been favorable to us, should
we go out, for the probabilities are that we shall find water still standing in
holes, and, at one time, I almost conclude -to leave the river. But for years
I have been contemplating this trip. To leave the exploration unfinished,
to say that there is a part of the canon which I cannot explore, having
already almost accomplished it, is more than I am willing to acknowledge,
and I determine to go on.
I wake my brother, and tell him of Rowland's determination, and
he promises to stay with me; then I call up Hawkins, the cook, and he
makes a like promise ; then Sumner, and Bradley, and Hall, and they all
agree to go on.
August 28. — At last daylight comes, and we have breakfast, without a
word being said about the future. The meal is as solemn as a funeral.
After breakfast, I ask the three men if they still think it best to leave us.
The elder Howland thinks it is, and Dunn agrees with him. The younger
Howland tries to persuade them to go on with the party, failing in which,
he decides to go with his brother.
Then we cross the river. The small boat is very much disabled, and
unseaworthy. With the loss of hands, consequent on the departure of the
three men, we shall not be able to run all of the boats, so I decide to leave
my "Emma Dean."
Two rifles and a shot gun are given to the men who are going out. I
ask them to help themselves to the rations, and take what they think to be
a fair share. This they refuse to do, saying they have no fear but that they
can get something to eat; but Billy, the cook, has a pan of biscuits prepared
for dinner, and these he leaves on a rock.
Before starting, we take our barometers, fossils, the minerals, and some
ammunition from the boat, and leave them on the rocks. We are going over
this place as light as possible. The three men help us lift our boats over a
rock twenty five or thirty feet high, and let them down again over the first
fall, and now we are all ready to start. The last thing before leaving, I
write a letter to my wife, and give it to Howland. Sumner gives him his
watch, directing that it be sent to his sister, should he not be heard from
again. The records of the expedition have been kept in duplicate. One
100 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
set of these is given to Howland, and now we are ready. For the last time,
they entreat us not to go on, and tell us that it is madness to set out in this
place; that we can never get safely through it; and, further, that the river
turns again to the south into the granite, and a few miles of such rapids and
falls will exhaust our entire stock of rations, and then it will be too late
to climb out. Some tears are shed; it is rather a solemn parting; each party
thinks the other is taking the dangerous course.
My old boat left, I go on board of the "Maid of the Canon." The
three men climb a crag, that overhangs the river, to watch us off. The
"Maid of the Canon" pushes out. We glide rapidly along the foot of the
wall, just grazing one great rock, then pull out a little into the chute of the
second fall, and plunge over it. The open compartment is filled when we
strike the first wave below, but we cut through it, and then the men pull
with all their power toward the left wall, and swing clear of the dangerous
rock below all right. We are scarcely a minute in running it, and find that,
although it looked bad from above, we have passed many places that were
worse.
The other boat follows without more difficulty. We land at the first
practicable point below and fire our guns, as a signal to the men above that
we have come over in safety. Here we remain a couple of hours, hoping
that they will take the smaller boat and follow us. We are behind a curve
in the canon, and cannot see up to where we left them, and so we wait until
their coming seems hopeless, and push on.
And now we have a succession of rapids and falls until noon, all of
which we run in safety. Just after dinner we come to another bad place.
A little stream comes in from the left, and below there is a fall, and still
below another fall. Above, the river tumbles down, over and among the
rocks, in whirlpools and great waves, and the waters are lashed into mad,
white foam. We run along the left, above this, and soon see that we can
not get down on this side, but it seems possible to let down on the other.
We pull up stream again, for two or three hundred yards, and cross. Now
there is a bed of basalt on this northern side of the canon, with a bold
escarpment, that seems to be a hundred feet high. We can climb it, and
walk along its summit to a point where we are just at the head of the fall.
BRADLEY GOES OVER THE FALLS. 101
Here the basalt is broken down again, so it seems to us, and I direct the
men to take a line to the top of the cliff, and let the boats down along the
wall. One -man remains in the boat, to keep her clear of the rocks, and
prevent her line from being caught on the projecting angles. I climb the
cliff, and pass along to a point just over the fall, and descend by broken
rocks, and find that the break o£ the fall is above the break of the wall, so
that we cannot land ; and that still below the river is very bad, and that
there is no possibility of a portage. Without waiting further to examine
and determine what shall be done, I hasten back to the top of the cliff, to
stop the. boats from coming down. When I arrive, I find the men have let
one of them down to the head of the fall. She is in swift water, and they
are not able to pull her back ; nor are they able to go on with the line, as
it is not long enough to reach the higher part of the cliff, which is just
before them; so they take a bight around a crag. I send two men back
for the other line. The boat is in very swift water, and Bradley is standing
in the open compartment, holding out his oar to prevent her from striking
against the foot of the cliff. Now she shoots out into the stream, and up as
far as the line will permit, and then, wheeling, drives headlong against the
rock, then out and back again, now straining on the line, now striking
against the rock. As soon as the second line is brought, we pass it down
to him ; but his attention is all taken up with his own situation, and he does
not see that we are passing the line to him. I stand on a projecting rock,
waving my hat to gain his attention, for my voice is drowned by the roaring
of the falls. Just at this moment, I see him take his knife from its sheath,
and step forward to cut the line. He has evidently decided that it is better
to go over with the boat as it is, than to wait for her to be broken to pieces.
As he leans over, the boat sheers again into the stream, the stem-post breaks
away, and she is loose. With perfect composure Bradley seizes the great
scull oar, places it in the stern rowlock, and pulls with all his power (and
he is an athlete) to turn the bow of the boat down stream, for he wishes to
go bow down, rather than to drift broadside on. One, two strokes he makes,
and a third just as she goes over, and the boat is fairly turned, and she goes
down almost beyond our sight, though we are more than a hundred feet above
the river. Then she comes up again, on a great wave, and down and up, then
102 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
around behind some great rocks, and is lost in the mad, white foam below.
We stand frozen with fear, for we see no boat. Bradley is gone, so it seems.
But now, away below, we see something coming out of the waves. It is
evidently a boat. A moment more, and we see Bradley standing on deck,
swinging his hat to show that he is all right. But he is in a whirlpool. We
have the stem-post of his boat attached to the line. How badly she may be
disabled we know not. I direct Sumner and Powell to pass along the cliff,
and see if they can reach him from below. Rhodes, Hall, and myself run
to the other boat, jump aboard, push out, and away we go over the falls.
A wave rolls over us, and our boat is unmanageable. Another great wave
strikes us, the boat rolls over, and tumbles and tosses, I know not how. All
I know is that Bradley is picking us up. We soon have all right again, and
row to the cliff, and wait until Sumner and Powell can come. After a diffi
cult climb they reach us. We run two or three miles farther, and turn again
to the northwest, continuing until night, when we have run out of the
granite once more.
August 29. — We start very early this morning. The river still con
tinues swift, but we have no serious difficulty, and at twelve o'clock emerge
from the Grand Canon of the Colorado.
We are in a valley now, and low mountains are seen in the distance,
coming to the river below. We recognize this as the Grand Wash.
A few years ago, a party of Mormons set out from St. George, Utah,
taking with them a boat, and came down to the mouth of the Grand Wash,
where they divided, a portion of the party crossing the river to explore the
San Francisco Mountains. Three men — Hamblin, Miller, and Crosby — tak
ing the boat, went on down the river to Callville, landing a few miles below
the mouth of the Rio Virgen. We have their manuscript journal with us,
and so the stream is comparatively well known.
To night we camp on the left bank, in a mesquite thicket.
The relief from danger, and the joy of success, are great. When he
who has been chained by wounds to a hospital cot, until his canvas tent
seems like a dungeon cell, until the groans of those who lie about, tortured
with probe and knife, are piled up, a weight of horror on his ears that he
cannot throw off, cannot forget, and until the stench of festering wounds
THE GRAND WASH. 10,3
and anaesthetic drugs has filled the air with its loathsome burthen, at last
goes out into the open field, what a world he sees! How beautiful the sky;
how bright the sunshine; what " floods of delirious music" pour from the
throats of birds; how sweet the fragrance of earth, and tree, and blossom!
The first hour of convalescent freedom seems rich recompense for all —
pain, gloom, terror.
Something like this are the feelings we experience to night. Ever
before us has been an unknown danger, heavier than immediate peril.
Every waking hour passed in the Grand Canon has been one of toil. We
have watched with deep solicitude the steady disappearance of our scant
supply of rations, and from time to time have seen the river snatch a portion
of the little left, while we were ahungered. And danger and toil were
endured in those gloomy depths, where ofttimes the clouds hid the sky by
day, and but a narrow zone of stars could be seen at night. Only during
the few hours of deep sleep, consequent on hard labor, has the roar of the
waters been hushed. Now the danger is over; now the toil has ceased; now
the gloom has disappeared ; now the firmament is bounded only by the
horizon ; and what a vast expanse of constellations can be seen !
The river rolls by us in silent majesty; the quiet of the camp is sweet;
our joy is almost ecstacy. We sit till long after midnight, talking of the
Grand Canon, talking of home, but chiefly talking of the three men who
left us. Are they wandering in those depths, unable to find a way out ?
are they searching over the desert lands above for water I or are they near-
ing the settlements?
August 30. — We run through two or three short, low canons to day, and
on emerging from one, we discover a band of Indians in the valley below.
They see us, and scamper away in most eager haste, to hide among the
rocks. Although we land, and call for them to return, not an Indian can
be seen.
Two or three miles farther down, in turning a short bend in the river,
we come upon another camp. So near are we before they can see us that
I can shout to them, and, being able to speak a little of their language, I
tell them we are friends; but they all flee to the rocks, except a man, a
woman, and two children. We land, and talk with them. They are with-
104 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
out lodges, but have built little shelters of boughs, under which they wal
low in the sand. The man is dressed in a hat; the woman in a string of
beads only. At first they are evidently much terrified; but when I talk to
them in their own language, and tell them we are friends, and inquire after
people in the Mormon towns, they are soon reassured, and beg for tobacco.
Of this precious article we have none to spare. Sumner looks around in
the boat for something to give them, and finds a little piece of colored soap,
which they receive as a valuable present, rather as a thing of beauty than
as a useful commodity, however. They are either unwilling or unable to
tell us anything about the Indians or white people, and so we push off, for
we must lose no time.
We camp at noon under the right bank. And now, as we push out, we
are in great expectancy, for we hope every minute to discover the mouth of
the Rio Virgen.
Soon one of the men exclaims: "Yonder's an Indian in the river."
Looking for a few minutes, we certainly do see two or three persons. The
men bend to their oars, and pull toward them. Approaching, we see that
there are three white men and an Indian hauling a seine, and then we dis
cover that it is just at the mouth of the long sought river.
As we come near, the men seen far less surprised to see us than we do
to see them. They evidently know who we are, and, on talking with them,
they tell us that we have been reported lost long ago, and that some weeks
before, a messenger had been sent from Salt Lake City, with instructions for
them to watch for any fragments or relics of our^party that might drift down
the stream.
Our new found friends, Mr. Asa and his two sons, tell us that they are
pioneers of a town that is to be built on the bank.
Eighteen or twenty miles up the valley of the Rio Virgen there are
two Mormon towns, St. Joseph and St. Thomas. To night we dispatch an
Indian to the last mentioned place, to bring any letters that may be there
for us.
Our arrival here is very opportune. When we look over our store of
supplies, we find about ten pounds of flour, fifteen pounds of dried apples,
but seventy or eighty pounds of coffee.
Figure 35. — Our Indian messeuger.
THE JOURNEY ENDED. 105
August 31. — This afternoon the Indian returns with a letter, informing
us that Bishop Leithhead, of St. Thomas, and two or three other Mormons
are coming down with a wagon, bringing us supplies. They arrive about
sundown. Mr. Asa treats us with great kindness, to the extent of his ability;
but Bishop Leithhead brings in his wagon two or three dozen melons, and
many other little luxuries, and we are comfortable once more.
September 1. — This morning Sumner, Bradley, Hawkins, and Hall,
taking on a small supply of rations, start down the Colorado with the boats.
It is their intention to go to Fort Mojave, and perhaps from there overland
to Los Angeles.
Captain Powell and myself return with Bishop Leithhead to St. Thomas.
From St. Thomas we go to Salt Lake City.
14 COL
CHAPTER IX.
THE RIO VIRGEN AND THE U-IN-KA-RET MOUNTAINS.
We' have determined to continue the exploration of the canons of the
Colorado. Our last trip was so hurried, owing to the loss of rations, and
the scientific instruments were so badly injured, that we are not satisfied
with the results obtained, so we shall once more attempt to pass through the
caflons in boats, devoting two or three years to the trip.
It will not be possible to carry in the boats sufficient supplies for the
party for that length of time, so it is thought best' to establish depots of
supplies, at intervals of one or two hundred miles along the river.
Between Gunnison's Crossing and the foot of the Grand Canon, we
know of only two points where the river can be reached — one at the Cross
ing of the Fathers, and another a few miles below, at the mouth of the Paria,
on a route which has been explored by Jacob Hamblin, a Mormon mis
sionary. These two points are so near each other that only one of them
can be selected for the purpose above mentioned, and others must be found.
We have been unable, up to this time, to obtain, either from Indians or white
men, any information which will give us a clue to any other trail to the
river.
At the head waters of the Sevier, we are on the summit of a great
water-shed. The Sevier itself flows north, and then westward, into the lake
of the same name. The Rio Virgen, heading near by, flows to the south
west, into the Colorado, sixty or seventy miles below the Grand Canon.
The Kanab, also heading near by, runs directly south, into the very heart
of the Grand Canon. The Paria, also heading near by, runs a little south
of east, and enters the river at the head of Marble Canon. To the northeast
from this point, other streams, which run into the Colorado, have their sources,
until, forty or fifty miles away, we reach the southern branches of the
* -^-=^: - ,^Dv;
Figure 36. —Mary's Veil, the upper fall
ou Pine Creek, a small tributary ot
the Sevier.
Figure '.M. — Pilliiiji's Cascade, tlie
lower fall ou Piue Creek.
POTJNS-A-GUNT PLATEAU. 107
Dirty Devil River, the mouth of which stream is but a short distance below
the junction of the Grand and Green.
The Pouns-a'-gunt Plateau terminates in a point, which is bounded by
a line of beautiful pink cliffs. At the foot of this plateau, on the west, the
Rio Virgen and Sevier Rivers are*4ovetailed together, as their minute upper
branches interlock. The upper surface of the plateau inclines to the north
east, so that its waters roll off into the Sevier; but from the foot of the cliffs,
quite around the sharp angle of the plateau, for a dozen miles, we find
numerous springs, whose waters unite to form the Kanab. But a little
farther to the northeast the springs gather into streams that feed the Paria.
Here, by the upper springs of the Kanab, we make a camp, and from
this point we are to radiate on a series of trips, southwest, south, and east.
Jacob Hamblin, who has been a missionary among the Indians for more
than twenty years, has collected a number of Kai' -vav-its, with Chu-ar'-ru-
um-peak, their chief, and they are all camped with us. They assure us that
we cannot reach the river; that we cannot make our way into the depths of
the canon, but promise to show us the springs and water pockets, which are
very scarce in all this region, and to give us all the information in their power.
Here we fit up a pack train, for our bedding and instruments, and sup
plies are to be carried on the backs of mules and ponies.
September 5, 1870. — The several members of the party are engaged in
general preparation for our trip down to the Grand Cation.
Taking with me a white man and an Indian, I start on a climb to the
summit of the Pouns-a'-gunt Plateau, which rises above us on the east. Our
way, for a mile or more, is over a great peat bog, that trembles under our
feet, and now and then a mule sinks through the broken turf, and we are
compelled to pull it out with ropes.
Passing the bog, our way is up a gulch, at the foot of the Pink Cliffs,
which form the escarpment, or wall, of the great plateau. Soon we leave the
gulch, and climb a long ridge, which winds around to the right toward the
summit of the great table.
Two hours' riding, climbing, and clambering brings us near the top. We
look below, and see clouds drifting up from the south, and rolling tumult-
uously toward the foot of the cliffs, beneath us. Soon, all the countr^
108 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOKADO.
below is covered with a sea of vapor — a billowy, raging, noiseless sea — and
as the vapory flood still rolls up from the south, great waves dash against the
foot of the cliffs and roll back; another tide conies in, is hurled back, and
another and another, lashing the cliffs until the fog rises to the summit, and
covers us all.
There is a heavy pine and fir forest above, beset with dead and fallen
timber, and we make our way through the undergrowth to the east.
It rains ! The clouds discharge their moisture in torrents, and we make
for ourselves shelters of boughs, which are soon abandoned, and we stand
shivering by a great fire of pine logs and boughs, which we have kindled,
but which the pelting storm half extinguishes.
One, two, three, four hours' of the storm, and at last it partially abates.
During this time our animals, which we have turned loose, have sought
for themselves shelter under the trees, and two of them have wandered away
beyond our sight. I go out to follow their tracks, and come near to the
brink of a ledge of rocks, which, in the fog and mist, I suppose to be a little
ridge, and I look for a way by which I can go down. Standing just here,
there is a rift made in the fog below, by some current or blast of wind, which
reveals an almost bottomless abyss. I look from the brink of a great preci
pice of more than two thousand feet; but, through the mist, the forms below
are half obscured, and all reckoning of distance is lost, and it seems ten
thousand feet, ten miles — any distance the imagination desires to make it.
Catching our animals, we return to the camp. We find that the little
streams which come down from the plateau are greatly swollen, but at camp
they have had no rain. The clouds which drifted up from the south, striking
against the plateau, were lifted up into colder regions, and discharged their
moisture on the summit, and against the sides of the plateau, but there was
no rain in the valley below.
September 9. — We make a fair start this morning, from the beautiful
meadow at the head of the Kanab, and cross the line of little hills at the
headwaters of the Rio Virgen, and pass, to the south, a pretty valley, and
at ten o'clock come to the brink of a great geographic bench — a line of cliffs.
Behind us are cool springs, green meadows, and forest clad slopes; below
us, stretching to the south, until the world is lost in blue haze, is a painted
Figure H8. — Entrance to Pa-ru'-nu-weap.
PA-RU'-NU-WEAP <JA$X)N. 109
desert; not a desert plain, but a desert of rocks, cut by deep gorges, and
relieved by towering cliffs and pinnacled rocks — naked rocks, brilliant in the
sunlight.
By a difficult trail, we make our way down the basaltic ledge, through
which innumerable streams here gather into a little river, running in a deep
canon. The river runs close to the foot of the cliffs, on the right hand side,
and the trail passes along to the right. At noon we rest, and our animals
feed on luxuriant grass.
Again we start, and make slow progress along a stony way. At night
we camp under an overarching cliff.
September 10. — Here the river turns to the west, and our way, properly,
is to the south; but we wish to explore the Rio Virgen as far as possible.
The Indians tell us that the canon narrows gradually, a few miles below,
and that it will be impossible to take our animals much farther down the
river. Early in the morning, I go down to examine the head of this narrow
part. After breakfast, having concluded to explore the canon for a few miles
on foot, we arrange that the main party shall climb the cliff, and go around
to a point eighteen or twenty miles below, where, the Indians say, the ani
mals can be taken down by the river, and three of us set out on foot.
The Indian name of the canon is Pa-ru' -nn-weap, or Roaring Water
Canon. Between the little river and the foot of the walls, is a dense growth
of willows, vines, and wild rose bushes, and, with great difficulty, we make
our way through this tangled mass. It is not a wide stream — only twenty
or thirty feet across in most places; shallow, but very swift. After spend
ing some hours in breaking our way through the mass of vegetation, and
climbing rocks here and there, it is determined to wade along the stream.
In some places this is an easy task, but here and there we come to deep
holes, where we have to wade to our arm pits. Soon we come to places so
narrow that the river fills the entire channel, and we wade perforce. In
many places the bottom is a quicksand, into which we sink, and it is with
great difficulty that we make progress. In some places the holes are so deep
that we have to swim, and our little bundles of blankets and rations are fixed
to a raft made of driftwood, and pushed before us. Now and then there is
a little flood-plain, on which we can walk, and we cross and recross the
110 EXPLOKATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
stream, and wade along the channel where the water is so swift as to almost
carry us off our feet, and we are in danger every moment of being swept
down, until night comes on. We estimate we have traveled eight miles to
day. We find a little patch of flood-plain, on which there is a huge pile of
driftwood and a clump of box-elders, and near by a great stream, which bursts
from the rocks — a mammoth spring.
We soon have a huge fire, our clothes are spread to dry, we make a
cup of coffee, take out our bread and cheese and dried beef, and enjoy a
hearty supper.
The canon here is about twelve hundred feet deep. It has been very
narrow and winding all the way down to this point
September 11. — Wading again this morning; sinking in the quicksand,
swimming the deep waters, and making slow and painful progress where the
waters are swift, and the bed of the stream rocky.
The canon is steadily becoming deeper, and, in many places, very nar
row — only twenty or thirty feet wide below, and in some places no wider, and
even narrower, for hundreds of feet overhead. There are places where the
river, in sweeping by curves, has cut far under the rocks, but still preserv
ing its narrow channel, so that there is an overhanging wall on one side and
an inclined wall on the other. In places a few hundred feet above, it
becomes vertical again, and thus the view to the sky is entirely closed.
Everywhere this deep passage is dark and gloomy, and resounds with the
noise of rapid waters. At noon we are in a canon 2,500 feet deep, and we
come to a fall where the walls are broken down, and huge rocks beset the
channel, on which we obtain a foothold to reach a level two hundred feet
below. Here the canon is again wider, and we find a flood-plain, along
which we can walk, now on this, and now on that side of the stream.
Gradually the canon widens ; steep rapids, cascades, and cataracts are found
along the river, but we wade only when it is necessary to cross. We make
progress with very great labor, having to climb over piles of broken rocks.
Late in the afternoon, we come to a little clearing in the valley, and see
other signs of civilization, and by sundown arrive at the Mormon town of
Sclmnesburg; and here we meet the train, and feast on melons and
grapes.
Figure 39. — lla-koon'-to-weap Canon.
MU-KOON'-TU-WEAP CAJSfON. HI
September 12. — Our course, for the last two days, through Pa-ru' -nu-weap
Canon, was directly to the west. Another stream comes down from the
north, and unites just here at Schunesburg with the main branch of the Rio
Virgen. We determine to spend a day in the exploration of this stream.
The Indians call the canon, through which it runs, Mu-koori -tu-weap, or
Straight Canon. Entering this, w^ have to wade up stream; often the water
fills the entire channel, and, although we travel many miles, we find no flood-
plain, talus, or broken piles of rock at the foot of the cliff. The walls have
smooth, plain faces, and are everywhere very regular and vertical for a
thousand feet or more, where they seem to break back in shelving slopes to
higher altitudes; and everywhere, as we go along, we find springs bursting
out at the foot of the walls, and, passing these, the river above becomes
steadily smaller; the great body of water, which runs below, bursts out
from beneath this great bed of red sandstone ; as we go up the canon, it
comes to be but a creek, and then a brook. On the western wall of the
canon stand some buttes, towers, and high pinnacled rocks. Going up the
canon, we gain glimpses of them, here and there. Last summer, after our
trip through the canons of the Colorado, on our way from the mouth of the
Virgen to Salt Lake City, these were seen as conspicuous landmarks, from
a distance, away to the southwest, of sixty or seventy miles. These tower
rocks are known as the Temples of the Virgen.
Having explored this canon nearly to its head, we return to Schunes
burg, arriving quite late at night.
Sitting in camp this evening, Chu-ar' -ru-um-peak, the chief of the Kai'-
vav-its, who is one of our party, tells us there is a tradition among the tribes
of this country, that many years ago a great light was seen somewhere in
this region by the Pa-ru' -sha-pats, who lived to the southwest, and that
they supposed it to be a signal, kindled to warn them of the approach of
the Navajos, who live beyond the Colorado River to the east. Then other
signal fires were kindled on the Pine Valley Mountain, Santa Clara Mount
ains, and U-in-ka-ret Mountains, so that all the tribes of Northern Arizona,
Southern Utah, Southern Nevada, and Southern California were warned of
the approaching danger ; but when the Pa-ru' -sha-pats came nearer, they
discovered that it was a fire on one of the great Temples ; and then they
112 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
knew that the fire was not kindled by men, for no human being could scale
the rocks. The Tu' -mu-ur-ru-gwait' -si-gaip, or Rock Rovers, had kindled a
fire to deceive the people. In the Indian language this is called Tu'-mu-ur-
ru-gwait' -sl-gaip Tu-weap' ', or Rock Rovers' Land.
September 13. — We start very early this morning, for we have a long
day's travel before us. Our way is across the Rio Virgen to the south.
Coming to the bank of the stream here, we find a strange metamorphosis.
The streams we have seen above, running in narrow channels, leaping and
plunging over the rocks, raging and roaring in their course, are here united,
and spread in a thin sheet several hundred yards wide, and only a few inches
deep, but running over a bed of quicksand. Crossing the stream, our trail
leads up a narrow canon, not very deep, and then among the hills of golden,
red, and purple shales and marls. Climbing out of the valley of the Rio
Virgen, we pass through a forest of dwarf cedars, and come out at the foot
of the Vermilion Cliffs. All day we follow this Indian trail toward the east,
and at night camp at a great spring, known to the Indians as Yellow Rock
Spring, but to the Mormons as Pipe Spring ; and near by there is a cabin
in which some Mormon herders find shelter. Pipe Spring is a point just
across the Utah line in Arizona, and we suppose it to be about sixty miles
from the river. Here the Mormons design to build a fort another year, as
an outpost for protection against the Indians.
Here we discharge a number of the Indians, but take two with us for
the purpose of showing us the springs, for they are very scarce, very small,
and not easily found. Half a dozen are not known in a district of country
large enough to make as many good sized counties in Illinois. There are
no running streams, and these springs and water-pockets — that is, holes in
the rocks, which hold water from shower to shower — are our only depend
ence for this element.
Starting, we leave behind a long line of cliffs, many hundred feet high,
composed of orange and vermilion sandstones. I have named them "Ver
milion Cliffs." When we are out a few miles, I look back, and see the
morning sun shining in splendor on their painted faces; the salient angles
are on fire, and the retreating angles are buried in shade, and I gaze on them
until my vision dreams, and the cliffs appear a long bank of purple clouds,
Figure 40. — Temples or Rock-Rovers' Land.
PIPE SPKEffG. 113
piled from the horizon high into the heavens. At noon we pass along a
ledge of chocolate cliffs, and, taking out our sandwiches, we make a dinner
as we ride along.
Yesterday, our Indians discussed for hours the route which we should
take. There is one way, farther by ten or twelve miles, with sure water ;
another shorter, where water i* found sometimes; their conclusion was
that water would be found now; and this is the way we go, yet all day long
we are anxious about it. To be out two days, with only the water that can
be carried in two small kegs, is to have our animals suffer greatly. At five
o'clock we come to the spot, and there is a huge water-pocket, containing
several barrels. What a relief ! Here we camp for the night.
September 15. — Up at day-break, for it is a long day's march to the next
water. They say we must "run very hard" to reach it by dark.
Our course is to the south. From Pipe Spring we can see a mountain,
and I recognize it as the one seen last summer from a cliff overlooking the
Grand Canon; and I wish to reach the river just behind the mountain.
There are Indians living in the group, of which it is the highest, whom I
wish to visit on the way. These mountains are of volcanic origin, and we
soon come to ground that is covered with fragments of lava. The way
becomes very difficult. We have to cross deep ravines, the heads of canons
that run into the Grand Canon. It is curious now to observe the knowl
edge of our Indians. There is not a trail but what they know; every gulch
and every rock seems familiar. I have prided myself on being able to
grasp and retain in my mind the topography of a country; but these Indians
put me to shame. My knowledge is only general, embracing the more
important features of a region that remains as a map engraved on my mind;
but theirs is particular. They know every rock and every ledge, every
gulch and canon, and just where to wind among these to find a pass; and
their knowledge is unerring. They cannot describe a country to you, but
they can tell you all the particulars of a route.
I have but one pony for the two, and they were to ride u turn about" ;
but Chu-ar' ' -ru-um-pcak, the chief, rides, and Shuts, the one-eyed, bare
legged, merry-faced pigmy, walks, and points the way with a slender cane;
then leaps and bounds by the shortest way, and sits down on a rock and
15 COL
114 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
waits demurely until we come, always meeting us with a jest, his face a rich
mine of sunny smiles.
At dusk we reach the water-pocket. It is in a deep gorge, on the flank
of this great mountain. During the rainy season the water rolls down the
mountain side, plunging over precipices, and excavates a deep basin in the
solid rock below. This basin, hidden from the sun, holds water the year
round.
September 16. — This morning, while the men are packing the animals,
I climb a little mountain near camp, to obtain a view of the country. It is
a huge pile of volcanic scoria, loose and light as cinders from a forge, which
give way under my feet, and I climb with great labor ; but reaching the
summit, and looking to the southeast, I see once more the labyrinth of deep
gorges that flank the Grand Canon; in the multitude, I cannot determine
whether it be in view or not. The memories of grand and awful months
spent in their deep, gloomy solitudes come up, and I live that life over again
for a time.
I supposed, before starting, that I could get a good view of the great
mountain from this point ; but it is like climbing a chair to look at a castle.
I wish to discover some way by which it can be ascended, as it is my inten
tion to go to the summit before I return to the settlements. There is a cliff
near the summit, and I do not see the way yet. Now down I go, sliding
on the cinders, making them rattle and clang.
The Indians say we are to have a short ride to day, and that we will
reach an Indian village, situated by a good spring. Our way is across the
spurs that put out from the great mountain, as we pass it to the left.
Up and down we go, across deep ravines, and the fragments of lava
clank under our horses' feet; now among cedars, now among pines, and now
across mountain side glades. At one o'clock we descend into a lovely val
ley, with a carpet of waving grass; sometimes there is a little water in the
upper end of it, and, during some seasons, the Indians we wish to find are
encamped here. Chu-ar' -ru-um-peak rides on to find them, and to say we
are friends, otherwise they would run away, or propose to fight us, should
we come without notice. Soon we see Chu-ar' -ru-um-peak riding at full
speed, and hear him shouting at the top of his voice, and away in the dis-
Figure 4t. — U-nn'-piii Pi-ka'-vu, or Elfin Water Pocket.
Figure 42.— Wu-nav'-ai gathering seeds.
INQUIEING THE WAY. H5
tance are two Indians, scampering up the mountain side. One stops; the
other still goes on, and is soon lost to view. We ride up, and find CJm-ar'-
ru-um-peak talking with the one who had stopped. It is one of the ladies
resident in these mountain glades; she is evidently paying taxes, Godiva
like. She tells us that her people are at the spring; that it is only two hours'
ride; that her good master has gone on to tell them we are coming, and
that she is harvesting seeds.
We sit down and eat our luncheon, and share our biscuit with the
woman of the mountains ; then on we go, over a divide between two rounded
peaks. I send the party on to the village, and climb the peak on the left,
riding my horse to the upper limit of trees, and then tugging up afoot.
From this point I can see the Grand Canon, and know where I am. I can
see the Indian village, too, in a grassy valley, embosomed in the mountains,
the smoke curling up from their fires; my men are turning out their horses,
and a group of natives stand around. Down the mountain I go, and reach
camp at sunset.
After supper we put some cedar boughs on the fire, the dusky villagers
sit around, and we have a smoke and a talk. I explain the object of my
visit, and assure them of my friendly intentions. Then I ask them about a
way down into the canon. They tell me that years ago, a way was discov
ered by which parties could go down, but that no one has attempted it for
a long time; that it is a very difficult and very dangerous undertaking to
reach the "Big Water." Then I inquire about the SM'-vwits, a tribe that
lives about the springs on the mountain sides and canon cliffs to the south
west. They say that their village is now about thirty miles away, and
promise to send a messenger for them to morrow morning.
Having finished our business for the evening, I ask if there is a tu-givi'-
na-gunt in camp : that is, if there is any one present who is skilled in relat
ing their mythology. Chu-ar' -ru-um-peak says To-mor'-ro-un-ti-kai, the chief
of these Indians, is a very noted man for his skill in this matter; but they
both object, by saying that the season for tu-gwi'-nai has not yet arrived.
But I had anticipated this, and soon some members of the party come with
pipes and tobacco, a large kettle of coffee, and a tray of biscuits, and, after
sundry ceremonies of pipe lighting and smoking, we all feast, and, warmed
116 EXPLORATION OF THE OASWS OF THE COLORADO.
up by this, to them, unusual good living, it is decided that the night shall
be spent in relating mythology. I ask To-mor' -ro-un-ti-kai to tell us about
the So'-kus Wai'-un-ats, or One Two Boys, and to this he agrees.
The long winter evenings of an Indian camp are usually devoted to
the relation of mythological stories, which purport to give a history of an
ancient race of animal gods. The stories are usually told by some old man,
assisted by others of the party, who take secondary parts, while the mem
bers of the tribe gather about, and make comments, or receive impressions
from the morals which are enforced by the story teller, or, more properly,
story tellers; for the exercise partakes somewhat of the nature of a theatri
cal performance.
THE SO'-KUS WAl'-UN-ATS.
Tum-pwi-nai' -ro-gwi-nump, he who had a stone shirt, killed Si-Jcor', the
Crane, and stole his wife, and seeing that she had a child, and thinking it
would be an incumbrance to them on their travels, he ordered her to kill it.
But the mother, loving the babe, hid it under her dress, and carried it away
to its grandmother. And Stone Shirt carried his captured bride to his own
land.
In a few years the child grew to be a fine lad, under the care of his
grandmother, and was her companion wherever she went.
One day they were digging flag roots, on the margin of the river, and
putting them in a heap on the bank. When they had been at work a little
while, the boy perceived that the roots came up with greater ease than was
customary, and he asked the old woman the cause of this, but she did not
know; and, as they continued their work, still the reeds came up with less
effort, at which their wonder increased, until the grandmother said, " Surely,
some strange thing is about to transpire." Then the boy went to the heap,
where they had been placing the roots, and found that some one had taken
them away, and he ran back, exclaiming, "Grandmother, did you take the
roots awayf And she answered, "No, my child; perhaps some ghost has
taken them off; let us dig no more; come away." But the boy was not
satisfied, as he greatly desired to know what all this meant; so he searched
about for a time, and at length found a man sitting under a tree, whom he
taunted with being a thief, and threw mud and stones at him, until he broke
THE STRANGER'S STORY. 117
the stranger's leg, who answered not the boy, nor resented the injuries he
received, but remained silent and sorrowful; and, when his leg was broken,
he tied it up in sticks, and bathed it in the river, and sat down again under
the tree, and beckoned the boy to approach. When the lad came near, the
stranger told him he had something of great importance to reveal. "My
son," said he, "did that old woman ever tell you about your father and
mother?" "No," answered the boy; "I have never heard of them." "My
son, do you see these bones scattered on the ground? Whose bones are
these?" "How should I know?" answered the boy. "It may be that some
elk or deer has been killed here." "No," said the old man. "Perhaps they
are the bones of a bear;" but the old man shook his head. So the boy men
tioned many other animals, but the stranger still shook his head, and finally
said, "These are the bones of your father; Stone Shirt killed him, and left
him to rot here on the ground, like a wolf." And "the boy was filled with
indignation against the slayer of his father. Then the stranger asked, "Is
your mother in yonder lodge?" and the boy replied, "No." "Does your
mother live on the banks of this river?" and the boy answered, "I don't
know my mother; I have never seen her; she is dead." "My son," replied
the stranger, "Stone Shirt, who killed your father, stole your mother, and
took her away to the shore of a distant lake, and there she is his wife to day."
And the boy wept bitterly, and while the tears filled his eyes so that he could
not see, the stranger disappeared. Then the boy was filled with wonder at
what he had seen and heard, and malice grew in his heart against his fath
er's enemy. He returned to the old woman, and said, "Grandmother, why
have you lied to me about my father and mother?" and she answered not,
for she knew that a ghost had told all to the boy. And the boy fell .upon
the ground weeping and sobbing, until he fell into a deep sleep, when strange
things were told him.
His slumber continued three days and three nights, and when he
awoke, he said to his grandmother: "I am going away to enlist all nations
in my fight;" and straightway he departed.
(Here the boy's travels are related with many circumstances concern
ing the way he was received by the people, all given in a series of conver
sations, very lengthy, so they will be omitted.)
118 EXPLOEATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOKADO.
Finally he returned in advance of the people whom he had enlisted,
bringing with him Shin-au'-av, the wolf, and To-go'-av, the rattlesnake.
When the three had eaten food, the boy said to the old woman: "Grand
mother, cut me in two ! " But she demurred, saying she did not wish to kill
one whom she loved so dearly. "Cut me in two!" demanded the boy; and
he gave her a stone ax, which he had brought from a distant country, and
with a manner of great authority he again commanded her to cut him in
two. So she stood before him, and severed him in twain, and fled in terror.
And lol each part took the form of an entire man, and the one beautiful
boy appeared as two, and they were so much alike no one could tell them
apart.
When the people or natives, whom the boy had enlisted, came pouring
into the camp, Shin-au'-av and To-go'-av were engaged in telling them of
the wonderful thing that had happened to the boy, and that now there were
two; and they all held it to be an augury of a successful expedition to the
land of Stone Shirt. And they started on their journey.
Now the boy had been told in the dream of his three days' slumber, of
a magical cup, and he had brought it home with him from his journey among
the nations, and the So'-kus Wai'-un-ats earned it between them, filled with
water. Shin-au'-av walked on their right, and To-go'-av on their left, and
the nations followed in the order in which they had been enlisted. There
was a vast number of them, so that when they were stretched out in line it
was one day's journey from the front to the rear of the column.
When they had journeyed two days, and were far out on the desert,
all the people thirsted, for they found no water, and they fell down upon the
sand, groaning, and murmuring that they had been deceived, and they
cursed the One-Two.
But the So'-kus Wai'-un-ats had been told in the wonderful dream of
the suffering which would be endured, and that the water which they carried
in the cup was only to be used in dire necessity; and the brothers said to
each other: "Now the time has come for us to drink the water." And when
one had quaffed of the magical bowl, he found it still full; and he gave it
to the other to drink, and still it was full; and the One-Two gave it to the
Figure 43. — Indian Village.
TOGO'-AV KILLS THE ANTELOPE. 119
people, and one after another did they all drink, and still the cup was full
to the brim.
But Shin'-au-av was dead, and all the people mourned, for he was a
great man. The brothers held the cup over him, and sprinkled him with
water, when he arose and said: "Why do you disturb me? I did have a
vision of mountain brooks and meadows, of cane where honey-dew was
plenty." They gave him the cup, and he drank also; but when he had
finished there was none left. Refreshed and rejoicing they proceeded on
their journey.
The next day, being without food, they were hungry, and all were
about to perish ; and again they murmured at the brothers, and cursed them.
But the So'-kus Wai'-un-ats saw in the distance an antelope, standing on an
eminence in the plain, in bold relief against the sky; and Shin-au'-av knew
it was the wonderful antelope with many eyes, which Stone Shirt kept for
his watchman; and he proposed to go and kill it, but To-go'-av demurred,
and said: "It were better that I should go, for he will see you, and run
away." But the So'-kus Wai'-un-ats told Shin-au'-av to go; and he started
in a direction away to the left of where the antelope was standing, that he
might make a long detour about some hills, and come upon him from the
other side. To-go'-av went a little way from camp, and called to the broth
ers: "Do you see me I" and they answered they did not. "Hunt for me;"
and while they were hunting for him, the rattlesnake said: "I can see you;
you are doing" — so and so, telling them what they were doing; but they
could not find him.
Then the rattlesnake came forth, declaring: "Now you know I can see
others, and that I cannot be seen when I so desire. Shin-au'-av cannot kill
that antelope, for he has many eyes, and is the wonderful watchman of Stone
Shirt; but I can kill him, for I can go where he is, and he cannot see me."
So the brothers were convinced, and permitted him to go; and he went and
killed the antelope. When Shin-au'-av saw it fall, he was very angry, for
he was extremely proud of his fame as a hunter, and anxious to have the
honor of killing this famous antelope, and he ran up with the intention of
killing To-go'-av ; but when he drew near, and saw the antelope was fat,
120 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
and would make a rich feast for the people, his anger was appeased. " What
matters it," said he, "who kills the game, when we can all eat it?"
So all the people were fed in abundance, and they proceeded on their
journey.
The next day the people again suffered for water, and the magical cup
was empty; but the So'-kus Wai'-un-ats, having been told in their dream
what to do, transformed themselves into doves, and flew away to a lake, on
the margin of which was the home of Stone Shirt.
Coming near to the shore, they saw two maidens bathing in the water;
and the birds stood and looked, for the maidens were very beautiful. Then
they flew into some bushes, near by, to have a nearer view, and were caught
in a snare which the girls had placed for intrusive birds. The beautiful
maidens came up, and, taking the birds out of the snare, admired them very
much, for they had never seen such birds before. They earned them to
their father, Stone Shirt, who said: "My daughters, I very much fear these
are spies from my enemies, for such birds do not live in our land;" and he
was about to throw them into the fire, when the maidens besought him, with
tears, that he would not destroy their beautiful birds; but he yielded to their
entreaties with much misgiving. Then they took the birds to the shore of
the lake, and set them free.
When the birds were at liberty once more, they flew around among
the bushes, until they found the magical cup which they had lost, and tak
ing it up, they carried it out into the middle of the lake and settled down
upon the water, and the maidens supposed they were drowned.
The birds, when they had filled their cup, rose again, and went back
to the people in the desert, where they arrived just at the right time to save
them with the cup of water, from which each drank; and yet it was full
until the last was satisfied, and then not a drop remained.
The brothers reported that they had seen Stone Shirt and his daughters.
The next day they came near to the home of the enemy, and the
brothers, in proper person, went out to reconnoitre. Seeing a woman glean
ing seeds, they drew near, and knew it was their mother, whom Stone Shirt
had stolen from Si-kor', the crane. They told her they were her sons, but
she denied it, and said she had never had but one son; but the boys related
THE SO-KUS WALW-ATS TRIUMPHANT. 121
to her their history, with the origin of the two from one, and she was con
vinced. She tried to dissuade them from making war upon Stone Shirt, and
told them that no arrow could possibly penetrate his armor, and that he
was a great warrior, and had no other delight than in killing his enemies,
and that his daughters also were furnished with magical bows and arrows,
which they could shoot so fast that the arrows would fill the air like a cloud,
and that it was not necessary for them to take aim, for their missiles went
where they willed; they thought the arrows to the hearts of their enemies;
and thus the maidens could kill the whole of the people before a common
arrow could be shot by a common person. But the boys told her what the
spirit had said in the long dream, and had promised that Stone Shirt should
be killed. They told her to go down to the lake at dawn, so as not to be
endangered by the battle.
During the night, the So' -1ms Wai'-un-ats transformed themselves into
mice, and proceeded to the home of Stone Shirt, and found the magical bows
and aiTows that belonged to the maidens, and with their sharp teeth they cut
the sinew on the backs of the bows, and nibbled the bow strings, so that
they were worthless; while To-go'-av hid himself under a rock near by.
When dawn came into the sky, Tum-pwi-nai'-ro-gwi-nump, the Stone
Shirt man, arose and walked out of his tent, exulting in his strength and
security, and sat down upon the rock under which To-go'-av was hiding; and
he, seeing his opportunity, sunk his fangs into the flesh of the hero. Stone
Shirt sprang high into the air, and called to his daughters that they were
betrayed, and that the enemy was near; and they seized their magical bows,
and their quivers filled with magical arrows, and hurried to his defense.
At the same time, all the nations who were surrounding the camp rushed
down to battle. But the beautiful maidens, finding their weapons were
destroyed, waved back their enemies, as if they would parley; and, stand
ing for a few moments over the body of their slain father, sang the death
song, and danced the death dance, whirling in giddy circles about the dead
hero, and wailing with despair, until they sank down and expired.
The conquerors buried the maidens by the shores of the lake; but
Tum-pwi-nai' -ro-gwi-nump was left to rot, and his bones to bleach on the
sands, as he had left Si-kor'.
16 COL,
122 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
There is this proverb among- the Utes: "Do not murmur when you
suffer in doing what the spirits have commanded, for a cup of water is pro
vided." And another: "What matters it who kills the game, when we can
all eat of it."
It is long after midnight when the performance is ended. The story
itself was interesting, though I had heard it many times before; but never,
perhaps, under circumstances more effective. Stretched beneath tall, som
bre pines; a great camp fire, and by the fire, men, old, wrinkled, and ugly;
deformed, blear eyed, wry faced women; lithe, stately young men; pretty
but simpering maidens, naked children, all intently listening, or laughing
and talking by times, their strange faces and dusky forms lit up with the
glare of the pine-knot fire. All the circumstances conspired to make it a
scene strange and weird. One old man, the sorcerer or medicine-man of the
tribe, peculiarly impressed me. Now and then he would interrupt the play
for the purpose of correcting the speakers, or impressing the moral of the
story with a strange dignity and impressiveness that, seemed to pass to the
very border of the ludicrous; yet at no time did it make me smile.
The story is finished, but there is yet time for an hour or two's sleep.
I take Chu-ar' -ru-um-peak to one side for a talk. The three men who left
us in the canon last year found their way up the lateral gorge, by which
they went into the SM'-vwits Mountains, lying west of us, where they met
with the Indians, and camped with them one or two nights, and were finally
killed. I am anxious to learn the circumstances, and as the people of the
tribe who committed the deed live but a little way from and are intimate
with these people, I ask Chu-ar' -ru-um-peak to make inquiry for me. Then
we go to bed.
September 17. — Early this morning the Indians come up to our camp.
They have concluded to send out a young man after the Shi' -v wits. The
runner fixes his moccasins, puts some food in a sack and water in a little
wicker work jug, straps them on his back, and starts at a good round pace.
We have concluded to go down the canon, hoping to meet the Shi'-
vwits on our return. Soon we are ready to start, leaving the camp and pack
animals in charge of the two Indians who came with us. As we move out,
our new guide conies up, a blear eyed, weazen faced, quiet old man, with
Figure 44. — An'-ti-naints, Pu-tu'-siv, and Wi'-chuts.
Figure 45. — The Human Pickle.
A DIFFICULT WAY. 123
Iris bow and arrows in one hand, and a small cane in the other. These
Indians all cany canes with a crooked handle, they say to kill rattlesnakes,
and to pull rabbits from their holes. The valley is high up in the mountain,
and we descend from it, by a rocky, precipitous trail, down, down, down
for two long, weary hours, leading our ponies and stumbling over the rocks.
At last we are at the foot of the mountain, standing on a little knoll, from
which we can look into a canon below. Into this we descend, and then we
follow it for miles, clambering down and still down. Often we cross beds
of lava, that have been poured into the canon by lateral channels, and these
angular fragments of basalt make the way very rough for the animals.
About two o'clock the guide halts us with his wand, and springing over the
rocks he is lost in a gulch. In a few minutes he returns, and tells us there
is a little water below in a pocket. It is vile and stinking, and our ponies
refuse to drink it. We pass on, still ever descending. A mile or two from
the water basin we come to a precipice, more than a thousand feet to the
bottom. There is a canon running at a greater depth, and at right angles
to this, into which this enters by the precipice; and this second canon is a
lateral one to the greater one, in the bottom of which we are to find the
river. Searching about, we find a way by which we can descend along the
shelves, and steps, and piles of broken rocks.
We start leading our ponies; a wall upon our left; unknown depths on
our right. At places our way is along shelves so narrow, or so sloping, that
I ache with fear lest a pony should make a misstep, and knock a man over
the cliffs with him. Now and then we start the loose rocks under our feet,
and over the cliffs they go, thundering down, down, as the echoes roll
through distant canons. At last we pass along a level shelf for some dis
tance, then we turn to the right, and zigzag down a steep slope to the bottom.
Now we pass along this lower canon, for two or three miles, to where it
terminates in the Grand Canon, as the other ended in this, only the river is
1,800 feet below us, and it seems, at this distance, to be but a creek. Our
withered guide, the human pickle, seats himself on a rock, and seems won
derfully amused at our discomfiture, for we can see no way by which to
descend to the river. After some minutes, he quietly rises, and, beckoning
us to follow, he points out a narrow sloping shelf on the right, and this is to be
124 EXPLORATION OP THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
our way. It leads along the cliff, for half a mile, to a wider bench beyond,
which, he says, is broken down on the other side in a great slide, and there
we can get to the river. So we start out on the shelf; it is so steep we can
hardly stand on it, and to fall, or slip, is to go — don't look and see!
It is soon manifest that we cannot get the ponies along the ledge. The
storms have washed it down, since our guide was here last, years ago. One
of the ponies has gone so far that we cannot turn him back until we find a
wider place, but at last we get him off. With part of the men, I take the
horses back to the place where there are a few bushes growing, and turn
them loose; in the mean time the other men are looking for some way by
which we can get down to the river. When I return, one, Captain Bishop,
has found a way, and gone down. We pack bread, coffee, sugar, and two
or three blankets among us, and set out. It is now nearly dark, and we
cannot find the way by which the captain went, and an hour is spent in
fruitless search. Two of the men go away around an amphitheater, more
than a fourth of a mile, and start down a broken chasm that faces us, who
are behind. These walls, that are vertical, or nearly so, are often cut by
chasms, where the showers run down, and the top of these chasms will be
back a distance from the face of the wall, and the bed of the chasm will
slope down, with here and there a fall. At other places, huge rocks have
fallen, and block the way. Down such a one the two men start. There is
a curious plant growing out from the crevices of the rock. A dozen stems
will start from one root, and grow to the length of eight or ten feet, and not
throw out a branch or twig, but these stems are thickly covered with leaves.
Now and then the two men come to a bunch of dead stems, and make
a fire to mark for us their way and progress.
In the mean time we find such a gulch, and start down, but soon come
to the "jumping off place," where we can throw a stone, and hear it faintly
striking, away below. We fear that we shall have to stay here, clinging to
the rocks until daylight. Our little Indian gathers a few dry stems, ties them
into a bundle, lights one end, and holds it up. The others do the same, and
with these torches we find a way out of trouble. Helping each other, hold
ing torches for each other, one clinging to another's hand until we can get
footing, then supporting the other on his shoulders, so we make our passage
AT THE SIDE OF THE COLORADO. 125
into the depths of the canon. And now Captain Bishop has kindled a huge
fire of driftwood, on the bank of the river. This, and the fires in the gulch
opposite, and. our own flaming torches, light up little patches, that make
more manifest the awful darkness below. Still, on we go, for an hour or
two, and at last we see Captain Bishop coming up the gulch, with a huge
torch-light on his shoulders. He looks like a fiend, waving brands and light
ing the fires of hell, and the men in the opposite gulch are imps, lighting
delusive fires in inaccessible crevices, over yawning chasms; our own little
Indian is surely the king of wizards, so I think, as I stop for a few moments
on a rock to rest. At last we meet Captain Bishop, with his flaming torch,
and, as he has learned the way, he soon pilots us to the side of the great
Colorado. We are hungry and athirst, almost- to starvation. Here we lie
down on the rocks and drink, just a mouthful or so, as we dare; then we
make a cup of coffee, and, spreading our blankets on a sand beach, the
roaring Colorado lulls us to sleep.
September 18. — We are in the Grand Canon, by the side of the Col
orado, more than six thousand feet below our camp on the mountain side,
which is eighteen miles away; but the miles of horizontal distance represent
but a small part of the days' labor before us. It is the mile of altitude we
must gain that makes it a herculean task. We are up early; a little bread
and coffee, and we look about us. Our conclusion is, that we can make
this a deJDot of supplies, should it be necessary; that we can pack our rations
to the point where we left our animals last night, and that we can employ
Indians to bring them down to the water's edge.
On a broad shelf, we find the ruins of an old stone house, the walls of
which are broken down, and we can see where the ancient people who lived
here — a race more highly civilized than the present — had made a garden,
and used a great spring, that comes out of the rocks, for irrigation. On
some rocks near by we discover some curious etchings. Still, searching
about, we find an obscure trail up the canon wall, marked, here and there,
by steps which have been built in the loose rock, elsewhere hewn stairways,
and we find a much easier way to go up than that by which we came down
in the darkness last night. Coming to the top of the wall, we catch our
horses, and start. Up the canon our jaded ponies toil, and we reach the
126 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
second cliff; np this we go, by easy stages, leading the animals. Now we
reach the stinking water pocket; our ponies have had no water for thirty
hours, and are eager even for this foul fluid. We carefully strain a kettleful
for ourselves, then divide what is left between them — two or three gallons for
each; but this does not satisfy them, and they rage around, refusing to eat
the scanty grass. . We boil our kettle of water, and skim it; straining, boil
ing, and skimming makes it a little better, for it was full of loathsome, wrig
gling larvae, with huge black heads. But plenty of coffee takes away the
bad smell, and so modifies the taste that most of us can drink, though our
little Indian seems to prefer the original mixture. We reach camp about
sunset, and are glad to rest.
September 19. — We are tired and sore, and must rest a day with our
Indian neighbors. During the inclement season they live in shelters, made
of boughs, or bark of the cedar, which they strip off in long shreds. In
this climate, most of the year is dry and warm, and during such time they
do not- care for shelter. Clearing a small, circular space of ground, they
bank it around with brush and sand, and wallow in it during the day, and
huddle together in a heap at night, men, women, and children; buckskin,
rags, and sand. They wear very little clothing, not needing much in this
lovely climate.
Altogether, these Indians are more nearly in their primitive condition
than any others on the continent with whom I am acquainted. They have
never received anything from the Government, and are too poor to tempt
the trader, and their country is so nearly inaccessible that the white man
never visits them. The sunny mountain side is covered with wild fruits, nuts,
and native grains, upon which they subsist. The oose, the fruit of the yucca,
or Spanish bayonet, is rich, and not unlike the paw-paw of the valley of
the Ohio. They eat it raw, and also roast it in the ashes. They gather the
fruits of a cactus plant, which is rich and luscious, and eat them as grapes,
or from them express the juice, making the dry pulp into cakes, and saving
them for winter; the wine they drink about their camp fires, until the mid
night is merry with their revelries. "
They gather the seeds of many plants, as sunflowers, golden rods, and
grasses. For this purpose, they have large conical baskets, which hold two
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 127
or more bushels. The women carry them on their backs, suspended from
their foreheads by broad straps, and with a smaller one in the left hand, and
a willow woven fan in the right, they walk among the grasses, and sweep
the seed into the smaller basket, which is emptied, now and then, into the
larger, until it is full of seeds and chaff; then they winnow out the chaff
and roast the seeds. They roast these curiously ; they put the seeds, with a
quantity of red hot coals, into a willow tray, and, by rapidly and dexter
ously shaking and tossing them, keep the coals aglow, and the seeds and
tray from burning. As if by magic, so skilled are the crones in this work,
they roll the seeds to one side of the tray, as they are roasted, and the coals
to the other. Then they grind the seeds into a fine flour, and make it into
cakes and mush. It is a merry sight, sometimes, to see the women grinding
at the mill. For a mill, they use a large flat rock, lying on the ground, and
another small cylindrical one in their hands. They sit prone on the ground,
hold the large flat rock between the feet and legs, then fill their laps with
seeds, making a hopper to the mill with their dusky legs, and grind by push
ing the seeds across the larger rock, where it drops into a tray. I have seen
a group of women grinding together, keeping time to a chant, or gossiping
and chatting, while the younger lassies would jest and chatter, and make
the pine woods merry with their laughter. Mothers carry their babes curi
ously in baskets. They make a wicker board, by plaiting willows, and sew
a buckskin cloth to either edge, and this is fulled in the middle, so as to form
a sack, closed at the bottom. At the top, they make a wicker shade, like
"my grandmother's sun bonnet," and, wrapping the little one in a wild cat
robe, place it in the basket, and this they carry on their backs, strapped over
the forehead, and the little brown midgets are ever peering over their moth
er's shoulders. In camp, they stand the basket against the trunk of a tree,
or hang it to a limb.
There is little game in the country, yet they get a mountain sheep now
and then, or a deer, with their arrows, for they are not yet supplied with
guns. They get many rabbits, sometimes with arrows, sometimes with nets.
They make a net of twine, made of the fibers of a native flax. Sometimes
this is made a hundred yards in length, and is placed in a half circular posi
tion, with wings of sage brush. They have a circle hunt, and drive great num.-
128 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
bers of rabbits into the snare, where they are shot with arrows. Most of their
bows are made of cedar, but the best are made of the horns of mountain sheep.
These are taken, soaked in water, until quite soft, cut into long thin strips,
and glued together, and are then quite elastic. During the autumn, grass
hoppers are very abundant. When cold weather sets in, these insects are
numbed, and can be gathered by the bushel. At such a time, they dig a
hole in the sand, heat stones in a fire near by, put some in the bottom of
the hole, put on a layer of grasshoppers, then a layer of hot stones, and
continue this, until they put bushels on to roast. There they are left until
cool, when they are taken out, thoroughly dried, and ground into meal.
Grasshopper gruel, or grasshopper cake, is a great treat.
Their lore consists in a mass of traditions,. or mythology. It is very
difficult to induce them to tell it to white men; but the old Spanish priests,
in the days of the conquest of New Mexico, have spread among the Indians
of this country many Bible stories, which the Indians are usually willing to
tell. It is not always easy to recognize them, the Indian mind being a
strange receptacle for such stories, and they are apt to sprout new limbs.
May be much of their added quaintness is due to the way in which they
were told by the " fathers." But in a confidential way, while you are alone,
or when you are admitted to their camp fire on a winter night, you will hear
the storied of their mythology. I believe that the greatest mark of friend
ship, or confidence, that an Indian can give, is to tell you his religion.
After one has so talked with me, I should ever trust him; and I feel on very
good terms with these Indians, since our experience of the other night.
A knowledge of the watering places, and of the trails and passes, is
considered of great importance, and is necessary, to give standing to a chief.
This evening, the Shi'-vwits, for whom we have sent, come in, and, after
supper, we hold a long council. A blazing fire is built, and around this we
sit — the Indians living here, the Ski'-vwits, Jacob Hamblin, and myself.
This man, Hamblin, speaks their language well, and has a great influence
over all the Indians in the region round about. He is a silent, reserved man,
and when he speaks, it is in a slow, quiet way, that inspires great awe. His
talk is so low that they must listen attentively to hear, and they sit around
him in deathlike silence. When he finishes a measured sentence, the chief
Figure 46. — Indians gambling.
A TALK WITH THE INDIANS. 129
repeats it, and they all give a solemn grunt But, first, I fill my pipe, light
it, and take a few whiffs, then pass it to Hamblin; he smokes, and gives it
to the man next, and so it goes around. When it has passed the chief, he
takes out his own pipe, fills, and lights it, and passes it around after mine.
I can smoke my own pipe in turn, but, when the Indian pipe comes around, I
am nonplussed. It has a large ^tem, which has, at some time, been broken,
and now there is a buckskin rag wound around it, and tied with sinew, so
that the end of the stem is a huge mouthful, and looks like the burying
ground of old dead spittle, venerable for a century. To gain time, I refill
it, then engage in very earnest conversation, and, all unawares, I pass it to
my neighbor unlighted.
I tell the Indians that I wish to spend some months in their country
during the coming year, and that I would like them to treat me as a friend.
I do not wish to- trade; do not want their lands. Heretofore I have found
it very difficult to make the natives understand my object, but the gravity
of the Mormon missionary helps me much. I tell them that all the great
and good white men are anxious to know very many things ; that they spend
much time in learning, and that the greatest man is he who knows the most.
They want to know all about the mountains and the valleys, the rivers and
the canons, the beasts, and birds, and snakes. Then I tell them of many
Indian tribes, and where they live; of the European nations; of the Chi
nese, of Africans, and all the strange things about them that come to my
mind. I tell them of the ocean, of great rivers and high mountains, of
strange beasts and birds. At last I tell them I wish to learn about their
canons and mountains, and about themselves, to tell other men at home; and
that I want to take pictures of everything, and show them to my friends
All this occupied much time, and the matter and manner made a deep
impression.
Then their chief replies: "Your talk is good, and we believe what you
say. We believe in Jacob, and look upon you as a father. When you are
hungry, you may have our game. You may gather our sweet fruits. We
will give you food when you come to our land. We will show you the
springs, and you may drink; the water is good. We will be friends, and
when you come we will be glad. We will tell the Indians who live on the
17 COL
130 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
other side of the great river that we have seen Ka'-pu-rats, and he is the
Indians' friend. We will tell them he is Jacob's friend. We are very poor.
Look at our women and children; they are naked. We have no horses;
we climb the rocks, and our feet are sore. We live among rocks, and they
yield little food and many thorns. When the cold moons come, our chil
dren are hungry. We have not much to give ; you must not think us mean.
You are wise; we have heard you tell strange things. We are ignorant.
Last year we killed three white men. Bad men said they were our enetnies.
They told great lies. We thought them true. We were mad; it made us
big fools. We are very sorry. Do not think of them, it is done; let us be
friends. We are ignorant — like little children in understanding compared
with you. When we do wrong, do not get mad, and be like children too.
"When white men kill our people, we kill them. Then they kill more
of us. It is not good. We hear that the white men are a great number.
When they stop killing us, there will be no Indian left to bury the dead.
We love our country; we know not other lands. We hear that other lands
are better; we do not know. The pines sing, and w.e are glad. Our chil
dren play in the warm sand; we hear them sing, and are glad. The seeds
ripen, and we have to eat, and we are glad. We do not want their good
lands ; we want our rocks, and the great mountains where our fathers lived.
We are very poor; we are very ignorant; but we are very honest. You
have horses, and many things. You are very wise ; you have a good heart.
We will be friends. Nothing more have I to say."
Ka' -pu-rats is the name by which I am known among the Utes and
Shoshones, meaning "arm off." There was much more repetition than I
have given, and much emphasis. After this a few presents were given, we
shook hands, and the council broke up.
Mr. Hamblin fell into conversation with one of the men, and held him
until the others had left, and then learned more of the particulars of the
death of the three men. They came upon the Indian village almost starved
and exhausted with fatigue. They were supplied with food, and put on
their way to the settlements. Shortly after they had left, an Indian from
the east side of the Colorado arrived at their village, and told them about a
number of miners>having killed a squaw in drunken brawl, and no doubt
MOUNT TEUMBULL. 131
these were the men. No person had ever come down the canon; that was
impossible ; they were trying' to hide their guilt. In this way he worked
them into a -great rage. They followed, surrounded the men in ambush, and
filled them full of arrows.
That night I slept in peace, although these murderers of my men, and
their friends, the U-in-ka-rets, were sleeping not five hundred yards away.
While we were gone to the canon, the pack-train and supplies, enough to
make an Indian rich beyond his wildest dreams, were all left in their charge,
and were all safe; not even a lump of sugar was pilfered by the children.
September 20. — For several days we have been discussing the relative
merits of several names for these mountains. The Indians call them U-in-
Jca-rets, the region of pines, and we adopt the name. The great mountain
we call Mount Trumbull, in honor of the Senator. To day the train starts
back to the canon water pocket, while Captain Bishop and I climb Mount
Trumbull. On our way we pass the point that was the last opening to the
volcano.
It seems but a few years since the last flood of fire swept the valley.
Between two rough, conical hills it poured, and run down the valley to the
foot of a mountain standing almost at the lower end, then parted, and ran
on either side of the mountain. This last overflow is very plainly marked;
there is soil, with trees and grass, to the very edge of it, on a more ancient,
bed. The flood was everywhere on its border from ten to twenty feet in
height, terminating abruptly, and looking like a wall from below. On cool
ing, it shattered into fragments, but these are still in place, and you can see
the outlines of streams and waves. So little time has elapsed since it ran
down, that the elements have not weathered a soil, and there is scarcely any
vegetation on it, but here and there a lichen is found. And yet, so long ago
was it poured from the depths, that where ashes and cinders have collected
in a few places, some huge cedars have grown. Near the crater the frozen
waves of black basalt are rent with deep fissures, transverse to the direction
of the flow. Then we ride through a cedar forest, up a long ascent, until
we come to cliffs of columnar basalt. Here we tie our horses, and prepare
for a climb among the columns. Through crevices we work, till at last we
are on the mountain, a thousand acres of pine land spread out before us,
132 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
gently rising to the other edge. There are two peaks on the mountain.
We walked two miles to the foot of the one looking to be the highest, then
a'iong, hard climb to its summit. And here, oh, what a view is before us!
A "vision of glory! Peaks of lava all around below us. The Vermilion
Cliffs to the north, with their splendor of colors; the Pine Valley Mountain
to -the northwest, clothed in mellow, perspective haze; unnamed mountains
to the southwest, towering over canons, bottomless to my peering gaze, like
chasms to the nadir hell; and away beyond, the San Francisco Mountains,
lifting their black heads into the heavens. We find our way down the
mountain, reaching the trail made by the pack-train just at dusk, and fol
low it through the dark until we see the camp-fire — a welcome sight.
, Two days more, and we are at Pipe Spring; one day, and we are at
Kanab. Eight miles above the town is a canon, on either side of which is
a group of lakes. Four of these are in caves, where the sun never shines.
By the side of one of these I sit, the crystal waters at my feet, at which I
may drink at will.
Figure 47.— Cave Lake in Kanab Canon.
CHAPTER X.
N^
REPORT ON A TRIP TO THE MOUTH OF THE DIRTY DEVIL RIVER.
By A. H. THOMPSON.
KANAB, UTAH TER., July 30, 1872.
SIR: In accordance with your instructions, I proceeded, in the latter part
of May, 1872, with the party under my charge, to Kanab, Utah Territory,
and immediately refitted for a trip to the junction of the Colorado and
Dirty Devil Eivers, having in view the double object of exploring the
country, and bringing the boat left, in October, 1871, at that point, to the
mouth of the Paria River.
In the summer of 1871,. a small party, belonging to this expedition,
attempted to reach the junction of the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers, by
proceeding east from Glencove, Utah Territory; but, after traveling forty or
fifty miles, they found it impossible to induce their Indian guides to go farther,
and impracticable to proceed without them, so the attempt was abandoned.
Soon after, another party, under charge of Jacob Hamblin, attempted
to reach the same point, by proceeding in a northeast direction from Kanab.
They discovered the head waters of a stream flowing in an easterly direc
tion to the Colorado River, and followed its course a hundred miles, and
until within an estimated distance of ten miles from its mouth. From the
volume of water which Mr. Hamblin represented it as carrying, its length,
and general course, I had but little doubt it was the Dirty Devil; the more
especially as, on our voyage down the Colorado, we had discovered the
mouth of no other considerable stream between the junction of the Grand
and Green and the Paria. From the report of the same party, I supposed
no serious difficulties would be encountered, and that the time necessary for
the round trip would be about six weeks, including that occupied by the
river party in descending the Colorado through Glen Canon to the- mouth
134 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOKADO.
of the Paria River. As re-organized, my party consisted of S. V. Jones
and F. S. Dellenbuagh, topographers; J. Fennemore, photographic artist,
with W. C. Powell and J. K. Killers, assistants; P. Dodds, W. D. Johnson,
A. Hattan, and Gr. Adair, packers and general assistants.
Our preparations being completed, we left Kanab on May 27, 1872,
traveling that day thirteen miles, in a northeast direction. At first our way
was over low, sandy ridges, running out from the base of the Vermilion Cliffs.
At the end of ten miles, we entered a canon, half a mile wide, cut
through the Vermilien Cliffs, and known as Johnson Canon. At the entrance
the walls rose 1,000 feet, but rapidly decreased in height, so that at our
camp, three miles above its mouth, we had low, rocky hills on either side.
Our course from Camp No. 2 to Camp No. 3 was nearly north. For
six miles we were in a broad, sandy valley, bounded by vertical walls of
sandstone on the east, and on the west by low, rocky hills, that, gradually
rising, form the northeast slope of the plateau above the Vermilion Cliffs.
Six miles from Camp No. 2 we entered a narrow canon, cut through the
White Cliffs. At the entrance it is half a mile wide, with vertical walls one
thousand to one thousand two hundred feet high, often beautifully arched
in bas relief. As we ascended, the canon narrowed to fifty feet, its floor
rose rapidly, the walls grew lower, and at the end of three miles we came
out into the open country, near the Mormon settlement of Skoompa, hav
ing risen 1,098 feet above Kanab settlement. Here we made a camp, and
established a topographic station on the summit of a near hill.
Toward the south, between Kanab and Skoompa, the country is trav
ersed by two lines of cliffs — the Vermilion and White — having a general
trend north 55° east, and presenting bold, vertical faces from one thousand
two hundred to one thousand five hundred feet high. Through these cliffs
but three passes were known between the Virgen and the Paria Rivers, a
distance of one hundred and ten miles. The first, tha,t known as the Long
Valley Pass; the second, up the Kanab Creek; the third, the route which
we followed. From the very brink, or crest, of these cliffs, the surface of
the country slopes back at an angle of about 2°, so that the general appear
ance is that of terraces, with escarpments fronting southward and summits
sloping toward the north. Scattered over these declivities are fields of loose
PAITNS-A'-GUNT PLATEAU. 135
sand, with continually changing boundaries, in some places burying trees
and rocks; in others heaped in huge drifts.
North of our camp, and eight miles distant, the south end of the table
land known as the Pauns-a'-gunt Plateau rose to an altitude which we deter
mined to be 3,295 feet above our camp, or about nine thousand two hundred
feet above sea level. The eastern boundary of this plateau is a line of
cliffs, having a general trend north 45° east. These cliffs show in the dis
tance a beautiful pink color, and, for the upper 2,000 feet, present bold,
perpendicular faces, with here and there steep, rocky slopes. From the foot
of these, slopes and vertical faces long, narrow ridges run out on the plain
below. Between these ridges are many beautiful valleys, but probably the
whole country is too much elevated for permanent settlement.
From Camp No. 3 to Camp No. 4 our course was northeast. Camp
No. 4 was in a beautiful, grassy valley, half a mile wide and six miles long,
lying between two cedar covered ridges. At its foot, a small lake stands at
the entrance of a narrow cafion, that drains the valley, and cuts its way
through both the White and Vermilion Cliffs, furnishing, as we determined
by exploration, another practicable route through these escarpments to the
valley connecting the Kanab and Paria settlements.
From Camp No. 4 to Camp No. 5 our course was nearly northeast.
For four miles we passed over low, grass covered ridges, when we came to
the blink of a basin like region, drained by the head waters of the Paria
River. The extension of the White Cliffs to the east forms the southern
boundary of this basin, and the Pink Cliffs (forming the eastern face of the
Pauns-a'-gunt Plateau, and here swinging in a great curve to the north) the
northern.
From underneath the cliffs standing around the northern rim of this
basin many springs .burst forth. These gather at first into five considerable
streams, which, uniting near the southern limit of the basin, form the Paria
River, and cut through the White and Vermilion Cliffs in deep canons. In
the soft, easily eroded rock within this basin each of these five streams has
cut a deep, narrow canon. Literally, hundreds of side canons are tributary
to these. Between the side canons stand long, narrow mesas. Sometimes
the. canon is cut two or three hundred feet, and then, in its floor, a still
136 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
naiTOwer canon, often as deep as the first, will be found. One such that we
followed is ten miles long, from fifty to three hundred feet deep, and fre
quently not more than ten feet wide at the top.
As peculiar as the canons, are the mesas, sometimes miles in length,
and only a few hundred yards in width, presenting in the distance the
appearance of huge knife blades. These mesas are usually covered by a
loose, sandy soil, though occasionally wide surfaces of bare rock are seen.
Occasionally the canons widen into little, alcovelike valleys, a few
acres in extent, rock walled, and covered by dense growths of grass, canes,
or willows. Travel through this country was exceedingly slow and difficult.
Our progress was often barred by a canon, along whose brink we were
compelled to follow, till some broken down slope afforded a way to descend,
then up or down the cafioii, till another broken slope permitted us to ascend,
then across a mesa to another canon, repeating the same maneuver a dozen
times in half that number of miles.
After a laborious day's work we made fifteen miles, and camped on the
right bank of the Paria River, 800 feet below Camp No. 4, and at an alti
tude of about five thousand seven hundred feet above the level of the sea.
From Camp No. 5 we followed up the Paria River to its junction with
Table Cliff Creek; then up the latter to its source. Here we climbed a
thousand feet up a steep, clay ridge, having an average slope of 20°, and
often not more than five feet in thickness at the top, to the head of a narrow
valley called Potato Valley. Down this we traveled three miles, and made
Camp No. 6 at a cool spring, in the middle of a beautiful meadow, 1,500 feet
above our camp on the Paria River, and about seven thousand two hundred
feet above the sea. To the north, and three miles distant, Table Cliff Pla
teau rose 3,000 feet above us, its face a succession of inaccessible precipices,
and steep, broken, tree-clad slopes. From the base of the cliffs, long ridges
run out to the edge of the valley. To the east, low, rounded hills gradually
rise higher and higher, till, at an elevation of 1,800 feet above camp, they
roll off into a long, narrow plateau, bounded on the west by a well marked
line of cliffs, beginning near the foot of Table Cliff Plateau, and continuing
southeast sixty miles, to a point on the Colorado River opposite the Navajo
Mountain. At the western terminus this line is somewhat broken, but
Figure 48. — Canon in Escalanti Basin.
POTATO VALLEY. 137
toward the east it increases in height, till at last it stands for thirty miles an
inaccessible, vertical wall, 2,500 feet high. Its eastern boundary is a line of
cliffs, commencing at the foot of Potato Valley, and presenting an almost
unbroken front to the Colorado River, at a point but four miles above the
termirius of the western line, thus giving to the plateau a trapezoidal out
line, having a length of fifty five" miles, a breadth at the base of fifteen, at
the apex of four, and standing at an altitude of 9,000 feet above sea level.
For fifteen or twenty miles the western end is cut by a perfect net work of
canons and short lines of cliffs, making travel across it almost impossible.
The middle and eastern portions are quite level, and when once on the sum
mit progress in any direction is easy. So far as I have been able to ascer
tain, we were the first white men to visit the plateau. The Indian naine for
a small elevation near the north end is Kai-par'-o-wits, so we called the whole
plateau by that name.
Our course from Camp No. 6 was northeast, down Potato Valley. At
first we had low, rolling hills on either side, but these soon changed into
vertical walls, and the valley became a wide canon, with a floor descending
seventy five feet to the mile. Three miles from camp we came to the head
of a small creek, which, receiving accessions from the north side, soon
became a considerable stream, with such steep banks and swift current that
great difficulty was experienced in fording. We called the creek by the
same name as the valley, Potato Creek.
At the end of twenty miles this cafion valley was abruptly ended by a
line of cliffs, that stood directly across its course, and into which the stream
we followed entered by a narrow cafion, 1,200 feet deep at the very outset,
and filled from wall to wall by a torrent. It was down this gorge Mr.
Hamblin and party traveled in 1871; but as such a route was manifestly
impracticable in the present stage of water, we went into camp, and climbed
the cliff to get a view of the country.
On reaching the summit we found we were on the western rim of a
basinlike region, seventy miles in length by fifty in breadth, and extending
from the eastern slope of the Aquarius Plateau, on the north, to the Colo
rado River, on the south, and from the Henry Mountains, on the east, to our
point of observation, on the west. A large portion of this area is naked,
18 COL
138 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
sandstone rock, traversed in all directions by a perfect labyrinth of narrow
gorges, sometimes seeming to cross each other, but finally uniting in a prin
cipal one, whose black line could be traced, cutting its way to the Colorado,
a few miles above the mouth of the San Juan River.
The perilous character of the journey of Mr. Hamblin and party was
apparent. For eighty miles they traveled in a canon, finding, in all that
distance, but two places where the walls could be scaled. They crossed,
recrossed, waded, and sometimes swam a rapid stream, that often filled the
gorge from wall to wall. A single shower, on the rock land above, would
have changed the stream to a raging torrent, that would have swept them
into the Colorado, or imprisoned them in some rock walled alcove, with no
possible way of escape.
Away to the east, and fifty miles distant, rose the Henry Mountains,
their gray slopes streaked with long lines of white by the snow which yet
remained in the gulches near their summits. On our voyage down the Colo
rado River, in 1871, we had determined the mouth of the Dirty Devil River
to be about thirty miles northeast from these mountains, making it at least
eighty miles from our present camp, and directly across the net work of
caiions before us. To proceed farther in the direction we had been pursu
ing was impossible. No animal without wings could cross the deep gulches
in the sandstone basin at our feet. The stream which we had followed, and
whose course soon became lost in the multitude of chasms before us, was
not the one we were in search of, but an unknown, unnamed river, draining
the eastern slope of the Aquarius Plateau, and flowing, through a deep,
narrow caiion, to the Colorado River. Believing our party to be the discov
erers, we decided to call this stream, in honor of Father Escalarite, the old
Spanish explorer, Escalante River, and the country which it drains, Esca-
lante Basin.
The western boundary of the basin is the vertical wall forming the east
ern edge of the Kai-par'-o-wits Plateau. From the very base of this cliff,
the drainage is to the Escalante River, by narrow, deep canons, presenting
apparently impassable barriers to travel toward the south. To the north,
and twenty miles away, rose the eastern slope of the Aquarius Plateau. Its
general trend is north and south, but away to the northwest, and about forty
AQUARIUS PLATEAU. 139
miles from our point of observation, a great, salient angle projects eastward
toward the Henry Mountains, the slopes at its base seeming to continue out
a long distance, and form a low, broken ridge between canons running
southward, to the Escalante River, and others running northward. Here, if
anywhere, this canon region could be crossed, and I decided to go eastward
along the slope of the great plateau, to the salient spoken of, and then
attempt the passage along the ridge.
To carry out this plan would require more supplies and time than were
allotted, so I decided to divide my party, sending three men to bring rations
from Kanab to the foot of Potato Valley, while I prosecuted the exploration
with the remainder.
Leaving the foot of Potato Valley, we traveled a little west of north,
up a creek called, from the many fine pine trees in its valley, Pine Creek.
This stream rises in a semicircular alcove in the eastern wall of the Aquarius
Plateau, and flows at the foot of the sandstone cliff which forms the western
wall of the Escalante Basin, till near Potato Creek, when it turns abruptly
to the eastward, cuts a deep, narrow canon in the cliff, and unites with the
main stream in the heart of the basin.
After pursuing this course for twelve miles, and rising about five hun
dred feet, we turned to the right, climbed 900 feet of steep slope to the crest
of a long, narrow, ridge running out from the Aquarius Plateau. On this
we traveled toward the north till night, when we camped on the bank of a
beautiful birch fringed brook, 2,000 feet above the foot of Potato Valley.
The table land, which we called Aquarius Plateau, is about forty miles
long, by twenty broad. Its general surface is a level, rocky plain, dotted
by numerous lakes. Its eastern side, near the summit, is a steep, and often
vertical wall, over which little streams plunge in most beautiful cascades
and falls. From the foot of this wall, a long, gentle slope reaches to the
level of the Escalante Basin. Lakes dot the upper portion, and, at inter
vals, cascade brooks make the air musical with running waters.
For two days we traveled along this slope, having, all the time, the snow
covered crest of the Aquarius Plateau on our left, and the Escalante Basin
with its wilderness of dark canons, white capped buttes, and orange cliffs,
• with intervening miles of naked rock, and loose, drifting sands on our right,
140 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
till we reached the salient spoken of. Here we found that the eastern line
of the plateau swung in another great curve to the north, and thus again
projected in a salient, like the one we had reached.
In the angle between these salients lies a beautiful valley, drained by
a stream flowing northward, being, in fact, as we after ward ascertained, one
of the southern branches of the Dirty Devil River. We went into camp at
this point, and spent a day in exploration.
The stream draining the valley between the salients soon enters a nar
row canon, and the whole country becomes so cut by transverse gorges that
travel in that direction was manifestly impracticable. " During the day an
old Indian trail was discovered, leading along the low, broken ridge noticed
from the foot of Potato Valley. This we followed the next morning, and
after many wanderings around the heads of canons, running both northward
and southward, came to the edge of the cliff forming the eastern rim of the
Escalante Basin, and overlooking a valley 2,000 feet below. After some
trouble we found a practicable way to descend, though most of the time
we were on bare rock, often sloping at an angle of twenty five degrees.
Reaching the foot, we found ourselves on the bank of a clear stream, flow
ing through groves of cottonwood, and well entitled to the name which we
gave it — Pleasant Creek. During the day we had observed many fresh
signs of Indians, and early the next morning we found a small party gather
ing seeds. From their questions, and the surprise they evinced at our
appearance, it was evident that we were the first white men who had been
known to visit this portion of their country. We traveled but three miles
this day, spending the most of the time in endeavoring to induce the Indians
to accompany us, but with no success.
On leaving this camp our course was south fifteen degrees east, for eight
miles, when we turned to the left, and entered a narrow cailon, with vertical
walls 800 feet high. We followed this for ten miles, and to its head, find
ing no place where its walls could be scaled, and reluctantly returned, and
camped for the night near its mouth. The next day, after much searching
and considerable labor, we made a trail up a rocky point, and camped that
night at a water pocket, in the head of a canon, on the mesa above. The
next day we crossed the mesa, to the flank of the Henry Mountains, and
X
HENRY MOUNTAINS 141
camped on the side of the second peak of the range, at an elevation of
about eight thousand feet above the sea. Our camp was on a small stream,
evidently formed by the melting snows in the gulches above us.
The Henry Mountains consist of five peaks, having a northerly and
southerly axis, standing on the back of the plateau lying between the
Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers. They are completely isolated, being fifty
miles from the Wasatch Plateau and Thousand Lake Mountain, on the west;
about the same distance from the Sierra Abajo, on the east, and sixty miles
from a huge, lone peak, which we have called the Navajo Mountain, on the
south. The three northern peaks have an elevation of about eleven thou
sand feet above the sea; the others, less. The crest of the most northern
is a long, irregular ridge ; but the others rise to sharp points.
From the summits of these mountains we could see the junction of the .
canons of the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers. So, after such an examin
ation of the range as our limited time would permit, we pursued a course a
little north of east, and camped, the night after leaving the mountains, by a
small stream, which, from the boulders in its bed, we called Trachyte Creek.
The next day we followed its course, with considerable difficulty, until we
found it would take us to the Colorado, at a point south of our point of
destination. We then camped, and, after much search, found a way up and
across the sand covered mesa lying north of the creek, and came to the head
of a deep canon, that joined the Colorado two miles south of the mouth of
the Dirty Devil River. I recognized it as one explored by members of our
party when camped near its mouth last year, and felt confident that if we
could once get down its precipitous side to the bottom, we could easily make
our way to the river. After many efforts, we succeeded in descending, and
camped that night near a spring in the canon. The next day we followed
down its course without difficulty, and came to the river about two miles
below the point where our boat was cached.
Here we went into camp, and made our way on foot along the west
bank of the Colorado to our boat, finding it undisturbed, although the high
water had washed the sand from underneath her keel. The next day was
spent in repairing the boat. With the aid of the materials brought from
Kanab we were able to make her perfectly seaworthy.
142 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
I again divided my small party, detaching Messrs. Hillers, Fenni-
more, Dellenbaugh, and Johnson as a boat party, to proceed through the
caiion, to the mouth of the Paria, while, with the remainder, I returned, by
the same route we had explored, to the foot of Potato Valley, passing over
in six days the distance we were fifteen days in making on our journey out.
Here we found the party sent to Kanab awaiting us with supplies.
After spending two days at this point making astronomic observations, we
returned to Kanab, establishing several geodetic and topographic stations
on our way, and arriving July 8, having been absent forty one days.
The boat party arrived at the mouth of the Paria, after a successful
trip, on July 11.
FORESTS.
The low ridges running out from the base of the Vermilion Cliffs are
usually covered by a scanty growth of cedars, fit only for fencing and fire
wood. About one-fourth of the area of the plateaus above — the Vermilion
and the White Cliffs — is covered by a scattered growth of pine and cedar;
but neither the quantity, quality, nor accessibility renders it of much value.
The ridges spoken of as running out from the foot of the eastern face of
the Pauns-a'-gunt Plateau, are usually covered by a scanty growth of low,
scrubby cedars; but in the intervening valleys are groves of pine, from
which considerable quantities of lumber might be cut; while on the plateau
itself is the finest forest of pine and spruce in Southern Utah. It is easily
accessible from the valley of the Sevier River, on the west, and when the
country is settled must become quite valuable.
The mesas in the basin of the Paria River are mostly covered by cedars
and pinon pines. Where the canons of the streams widen into valleys,
small groves of cottonwoods are often found, and near the sources of these
streams are scattered pitch pines, thickets of birch, and a low, scrubby oak
of no value.
The eastern end of the Kai-par'-o-wits Plateau, the ridges running down
from Table Cliff Plateau, as well as its summit, and the broken country
around the foot of Potato Valley, are covered by a forest of pine and cedar.
No timber of any value is found in the Escalante Basin. The summit of
the Aquarius Plateau is crowned by a forest of spruce, that also extends in
WATER, ARABLE LAND, GRASS, ETC. 143
dark masses along the foot of the nearly vertical wall that forms the eastern
crest of the eastern slope, while aspens and birches fringe its lakes and streams.
Farther down, pines stand in open groves, and give to the whole country a
park like appearance. These continue till near the level of Escalante Basin,
where they give way to cedars.
Upon the foot-hills of the Henry Mountains is a dense growth of low,
scrubby cedars, and in the gulches near their summits are a few groves of
aspen, pine, and spruce; but generally the timber upon these mountains is
in almost inaccessible places.
In the canon of the Dirty Devil River, and in other canons draining
into the Colorado, are considerable quantities of cottonwood. From the
data collected, I estimate that ten per cent, of the country explored is cov
ered by forests, valuable for lumber, thirty per cent, by forests valuable
only for fuel and fencing, and the remainder by grass, sage, greasewood,
loose sands, or naked rock.
WATER, ARABLE LAND, GRASS, ETC.
Irrigation is a necessary adjunct to successful cultivation in all the
region explored, so the amount of arable land depends solely upon the
amount of water that can be used for that purpose. In Johnson's Canon
springs burst out from the foot of the cliffs, and form a small stream, that
flows a mile or two before sinking in the sand, furnishing enough water,
during the dry season, to irrigate one hundred acres of land.
At Skoompa, a small stream, coming down from the Pink Cliffs, furnishes
sufficient water to irrigate one hundred and fifty acres, but the altitude is so
great that only the more hardy cereals can be grown.
Over all fhe country between the Pauns-a'-gunt Plateau and the White
Cliffs grass grows abundantly, and the many fine springs in the valleys
lying between the ridges furnish sufficient water for grazing.
In the Paria Basin the streams are from fifty to three hundred feet below
the general level of the country, so no land can be cultivated except where
the canons widen into narrow valleys. At Camp No. 5 the caiion of the
Paria expands into a valley, half a mile wide and about three miles long
The river carries here about the same volume of water as at its mouth, fifty
miles distant. In fact, no permanent stream joins it below this point. Fresh-
144 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
ets often occur, and, as every shower washes down great quantities of the
soft, clayey soil of the basin, the stream frequently presents the appearance
of a river of mud. So great is the quantity of the clay held in solution
that considerable difficulty is experienced in using its waters for irrigation
at the Paria settlement. When turned into the fields it soon covers the whole
surface with an impervious coat, that effectually prevents the water from
sinking into the soil.
The canon of Table Cliff Creek is wider than that of the Paria, and
contains some hundreds of acres of land that might be cultivated, except for
the limited quantity of water the creek affords.
On the mesas, in the Paria Basin, is a considerable extent of grazing
land. The lower end of Potato Valley is elevated about five thousand feet
above the sea level, and contains two thousand acres of arable land. Potato
Creek would easily furnish sufficient water to irrigate it. In the upper por
tion of this valley are many acres of fine, natural meadows, while on the
mesas and in the broken country is a fine range for cattle.
We found no arable land within the limits of Escalante Basin.
The eastern slope of the Aquarius Plateau has an average elevation of
7,000 feet, and, though too high for cultivation, it furnishes the finest natural
facilities for grazing. Grass grows abundantly everywhere, and streams of
pure, cool water are met at intervals of every two or three miles. Indeed,
from the depth, rapidity, and number of the streams we crossed flowing into
the Escalante Basin, we supposed the river of that name carried twice the
amount of water as the Paria, but when the boat party arrived at its junc
tion with the Colorado, they found only a small stream, that a man could
leap across; the greater portion had been absorbed, or evaporated in the
sandstone basin.
Along Pleasant Creek are about a thousand acres of land, which the
water of the creek might be used to irrigate. We saw no arable land, and
but one spring that we thought permanent, m the Henry Mountains. There
is a small stream, which we called Trachyte Creek, east of the range, and
flowing into the Colorado. There are some good grazing lands along its
course, but none fit for cultivation.
I estimate that not more than one per cent, of the land adjacent to our
DISTANCE, ETC. 145
route of travel can be cultivated, but sixty per cent, is of greater or less
value for grazing. '
DISTANCE, ETC.
.The distance traveled by the main party, to the mouth of the Dirty
Devil River, was two hundred and eighty miles, through a country, for the
most part, completely unknown. I have not been able to find any evidence
that white men ever before visited any considerable portion of the country
explored.
With the data collected, we shall be able to make a valuable reconnais
sance map, showing the general features of the region, and quite full in
detail, along the route traveled.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
A. H. THOMPSON.
J. W. POWELL,
In charge Exploration of the Colorado River, and its Tributaries.
19 COL
SECOND.
ON THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE VALLEY
OF THE COLORADO.
CHAPTER XL
ON THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE VALLEY OF THE COLORADO.
The topographic features of the valley of the Colorado, or the area
drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries, are, in many respects,
unique, 'as some of these features, perhaps, are not reproduced, except to a very
limited extent, on any other portion of the surface of the globe. Mountains,
hills, plateaus, plains, and valleys are here found, as elsewhere throughout
the earth; but, in addition to these topographic elements in the scenic
features of the region, we find .buttes, outlying masses of stratified rocks,
often of great altitude, not as dome shaped or conical mounds, but usually
having angular outlines; their sides are vertical walls, terraced or buttressed,
and broken by deep, re-entering angles, and often naked of soil and vege
tation.
Then we find lines of cliffs, abrupt escarpments of rock, of great length
and great height, revealing the cut edges of strata swept away from the
lower side. Thirdly, we find canons, narrow gorges, scores or hundreds of
miles in length, and hundreds or thousands of feet in depth, with walls of
precipitous rocks.
In the arid region of the western portion of the United States, there
are certain tracts of country which have received the name of mauvaises terres,
or bad-lands. These are dreary wastes — naked hills, with rounded or con
ical forms, composed of sand, sandy clays, or fine fragments of shaly rocks,
with steep slopes, and, yielding to the pressure of the foot, they are
climbed only by the greatest toil, and it is a labor of no inconsiderable
magnitude to penetrate or cross such a district of country. The steep hills
are crowded together, and the water-ways separating them are deep arroyas.
Where the mud rocks or sandy clays arid shales, of which the hills are
composed, are interstratified with occasional harder beds, the slopes are
terraced; and when these thinly bedded, though harder, rocks prevail, the
150 EXPLORATION OF THE OAStONS OVF THE COLORADO.
outlines of the topography are changed, and present angular surfaces, and
give rise to another type of topographic features, which I have denominated
Alcove Lands.
The agencies and conditions under which all of these features have
been formed deserve mention, and in this and following chapters I shall
briefly discuss this subject, in a manner as free from technical terms as will
be consistent with accurate description.
The discussion will by no means be exhaustive, and I hope hereafter to
treat this subject in a more thorough manner. In view of these facts, I
shall not attempt any logical classification of the elements of the topography,
nor of the agencies and conditions under which they were produced; but,
commencing at the north, at the initial point of the exploration, I shall take
them up in geographic order, as we proceed down the river.
BAD-LANDS AND ALCOVE LANDS NORTH OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS.
The area north of the Uinta Mountains embraced in the survey is but
small. Through the middle of it runs Green Biver, in a deep, narrow val
ley, the sides or walls of which sometimes approach so near to each other,
and are so precipitous, as to form a canon.
The general surface of the country, on the north of this district, is
about a thousand feet above the river, with peaks, here and there, rising a
few hundred feet higher; but south, toward the Uinta Mountains, this gen
eral surface, within a few miles of the river, gradually descends, and at the
foot of the mountains we find a valley on either side, with a direction trans
verse to that of the course of Green River, and parallel to the mountain
range.
To the north, the water-ways are all deeply eroded; the permanent
streams have flood-plains of greater or lesser extent, but the channels of the
wet weather streams, i. e., those which are dry during the greater part of
the year, are narrow, and much broken by abrupt falls.
The rocks are the sediments of a dead lake, and are quite variable in
lithologic characteristics. We find thinly laminated shales, hard limestones,
breaking with an angular fracture, crumbling bad-land rocks, and homo
geneous, heavily bedded sandstones.
THE ALCOVE LAND. 151
The scenic features of the country are alike variable. On the cliffs
about Green River City, towers and buttes are seen as you look from below,
always regarded by the passing traveler as strange freaks of nature. The
limestones, interstratified with shales, give terraced and buttressed character
istics to the escarpments of the canons and narrow valleys.
Immediately south of Bitter Creek, on the east side of Green River,
there is a small district of country which we have called the Alcove Land.
On the east, it is drained by Little Bitter Creek, a dry gulch much of the
year. This runs north into Bitter Creek, a permanent stream, which empties
into the Green. The crest of this water-shed is an irregular line, only two
to four miles back from the river, but usually more than a thousand feet
above it, so that the waters have a rapid descent, and every shower born
rill has excavated a deep, narrow channel, and these narrow canons are so
close to each other as to be separated by walls of rock so steep, in most
places, that they cannot be scaled, and many of these little canons are so
broken by falls as to be impassable in either direction.
The whole country is cut, in this way, into irregular, angular blocks,
standing as buttresses, benches, and towers, about deep water-ways and
gloomy alcoves.
The conditions under which the canons have been carved will be more
elaborately discussed hereafter.
To the west of Green River, and back some miles, between Black's
Fork and Henry's Fork, we have a region of buff, chocolate, and lead col
ored bad-lands. This bad-land country differs from the Alcove Land, above
mentioned, in that its outlines are everywhere beautifully rounded, as the
rocks of which it is composed crumble quickly under atmospheric agencies,
so that an exposure of solid rock is rarely seen; but we have the same
abrupt descent of the streams, and the same elaborate system of water
channels. Here we have loose, incoherent sandstones, shales, and clays,
carved, by a net-work of running waters, into domes and cones, with flow
ing outlines. But still there is no vegetation, and the loose earth is naked.
Occasionally, a thin stratum of harder rock will be found. Such strata will
here and there form shelves or steps upon the sides of the mountains.
Traces of iron, and rarer minerals, are found in these beds, and on
152 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
exposure to the air, the chemical agencies give a greater variety of colors,
so that the mountains and cones, and the strange forms of the bad-lands, are
elaborately and beautifully painted ; not with the delicate tints of verdure,
but with brilliant colors, that are gorgeous when first seen, but which soon
pall on the senses.
THE U1NTA MOUNTAINS.
To the west of Green River stand the Wasatch Mountains, a system
of peaks, tables, and elevated valleys, having a northerly and southerly
direction, nearly parallel to the river. The range known as the Uinta
Mountains stands at right angles to the Wasatch, extending toward the east,
and no definite line of division can be noticed. The Wasatch is a great
trunk, with a branch called the Uinta. Near the junction, the two ranges
have about the same altitude, and the gulches of their summits are filled
with perpetual snow ; but toward the east, the Uinta peaks are lower, grad
ually diminishing in altitude, until they are lost in low ridges and hills.
Through this range Green River runs, and a series of canons forms its
channel.
To a person studying the physical geography of this country, without
a knowledge of its geology, it would seem very strange that the river should
cut through the mountains, when, apparently, it might have passed around
them to the east, through valleys, for there are such along the north side of
the Uintas, extending to the east, where the mountains are degraded to hills,
and, passing around these, there are other valleys, extending to the Green,
on the south side of the range. Then, why did the river run through the
mountains ?
The first explanation suggested is that it followed a previously formed
fissure through the range; but very little examination will show that this
explanation is unsatisfactory. The proof is abundant that the river cut its
own channel; that the canons are gorges of corrasion. Again, the question
returns to us, why did not the stream turn around this great obstruction,
rather than pass through it I The answer is that the river had the right
of way; in other words, it was running ere the mountains were formed; not
before the rocks of which the mountains are composed, were deposited, but
before the formations were folded, so as to make a mountain range.
THE RIVER OLDER THAN THE MOUNTAINS. 153
The contracting or shriveling of the earth causes the rocks near the
surface to wrinkle or fold, and such a fold was started athwart the course of
the river. Had it been suddenly formed, it would have been an obstruction
sufficient to turn the water in a new course to the east, beyond the extension
of the wrinkle; but the emergence of the fold above the general surface of
the country was little or no faster tHan the progress of the corrasion of the
channel. We may say, then, that the river did not cut its way down through
the mountains, from a height of many thousand feet above its present site,
but, having an elevation differing but little, perhaps, from what it now has,
as the fold was lifted, it cleared away the obstruction by cutting a canon,
and the walls were thus elevated on either side. The river preserved its
level, but mountains were lifted up; as the saw revolves on a fixed pivot,
while the log through which it cuts is moved along. The river was the saw
which cut the mountains in two.
Recurring to the time before this wrinkle was formed, there were beds
of sandstone, shale, and limestone, more than twenty four thousand feet in
thickness, spread horizontally over a broad stretch of this country. Then
the summit of the fold slowly emerged, until the lower beds of sandstone
were lifted to the altitude at first occupied by the upper beds, and if these
upper beds had not been earned away, they would now be found more than
twenty four thousand feet above the river, and we should have a billow of
sandstone, with its axis lying in an easterly and westerly direction, more
than a hundred miles in length, fifty miles in breadth, and over twenty four
thousand feet higher than the present altitude of the river, gently rounded
from its central line above to the foot of the slope on either side. But as
the rocks were lifted, rains fell upon them and gathered into streams, and
the wash of the rains and the corrasion of the rivers cut the billow down
almost as fast as it rose, so that the present altitude of these mountains
marks only the difference between the elevation and the denudation.
It has been said that the elevation of the wrinkle was twenty-four thou
sand feet, but it is probable that this is not the entire amount, for the present
altitude of the river, above the sea, is nearly six thousand feet, and when this
20 COL
154 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
folding began we have reason to believe that the general surface of this
country was but slightly above that general standard of comparison.
Then there were down-turned as well as up-turned wrinkles, or, as the
geologist would say, there were synclinal as well as anticlinal folds. Had
there been no degradation of the fold, there would have been a bed of rock
turned over its summit twenty-four thousand feet above the present level of
the river. Now that bed is gone from the mountains, yet it can be seen turned
up on edge against the flanks of the mountains, dipping under the beds of
rocks found still farther out from the range. Follow it down, and doubtless
we could trace it to a depth much below the level of the sea. While the folds
were forming, the upturned flexures were cut down, and the troughs in the
down-turned flexures were filled up, and we have more than eight thousand
feet of these later sediments to the. north of the Uinta Mountains.
It will thus be seen that the upheaval was not marked by a great con
vulsion, for the lifting of the rocks was so slow that the rains removed the
sandstones almost as fast as they came up. The mountains were not thrust
up as peaks, but a great block was slowly lifted, and from this the mount
ains were carved by the clouds — patient artists, who take what time may be
necessary for their work.
We speak of mountains forming clouds about their tops; the clouds
have formed the mountains. Lift a district of granite, or marble, into their
region, and they gather about it, and hurl their storms against it, beating
the rocks into sands, and then they carry them out into the sea, carving out
caiions, gulchee, and valleys, and leaving plateaus and mountains embossed
on the surface.
Instead of having a rounded billow, we have an irregular table, with
beds dipping to the north, on the north side of the axis, and to the south, on
the south side, cnnd in passing over the truncated fold we pass over their
upturned edges.
Go out on the flank of the fold, and find the bed of rock which would
form the summit of the great wrinkle, had there been no erosion, and there
sink a shaft 24,000 feet, arid you will be able to study a certain succession
of beds of sandstones, shales, and limestones. Go two or three miles farther
from the mountains, and sink a shaft; the first eight thousand feet or more
THE UINTA FOLD. 155
•
will be through sandstones and shales, unlike those seen in the first section;
then you will strike the summit of the first section. Continuing down for
24,000 feet, the. first will be reproduced, stratum for stratum. Now start on
either side of the fold, and cross to its center, and you will pass over the
same series of strata in the same order as you would in descending the first
mentioned shaft, and in the seconchalso, below the upper 8,000 feet. Now
pass again from the center to the flank of the fold, in either direction, and
you can study the same rocks in the same order as you would in ascending
these shafts. It will thus be seen that in these truncated wrinkles we are
enabled to study geological formations without descending into the depths
of the earth.
Figure 51 has been constructed for the purpose of graphically express
ing some of the important facts observed in the great Uinta Fold. In this,
the beds are seen to turn up in a great flexure, and to be cut away above,
the higher beds more than the lower; thus 4, 4-4, 4, has been cut away much
more than 5, 5-5, 5; and 10, 10-10, 10 has suffered much less erosion than the
beds above it. The only place where the water has earned it away is at Y,
the bottom of the canon.
In this diagram, the line A-B represents the lowest line of observation,
as exhibited in the bed of the river. All below this line is theoretical. The
line C— D represents the level of the sea. The stratum E, E— E, E was the
last deposited antecedent to the commencement of the emergence of the
summit of the fold. Had there been no erosion of the fold, the beds inter
vening between the broken line I, I, I, (which is a continuation of the lines
E, E— E, E,) and the irregular line which represents the surface of the country,
cutting the edges of the eroded beds, and passing through the lowest, No. 10,
at Y, would still be found, but they have been carried away.
The diagram does not properly represent the entire amount of erosion,
from the fact that the vertical scale is exaggerated, and the beds have been
extended beyond their proper limits, for the purpose of representing more
clearly other facts of interest.
It will be seen that in passing along the line A-B, (the bottom of the
river channel,) from the shaft F, to the bottom of the canon Y, we are able
to observe the beds 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, in the same order that we would in
156 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
descending the shaft F. The beds 1-1, 2-2 have been deposited since the
emergence of the summit of the fold, and hence never extended quite across
it; yet the lower members of these beds, doubtless, at one time extended
much farther up on the flanks of the fold. They have been cut away, how
ever, as represented in the diagram. Let the lines H, H-H, H, represent the
limit of the continuation of these beds. In the shaft Gr these beds also are
exposed above those seen in shaft F.
The altitude of the rocks above the line of observation, (A, B,) is
exaggerated about five times. If they were reduced to one-fifth, the propor
tion between the rocks seen in the various escarpments of these mountains,
and those carried away below the broken lines, would be properly repre
sented.
By sinking a shaft, only a little surface along the edge of the strata could
be seen; but on the sides of the fold they are exposed for many miles, and
often the top or bottom is cleared off for a great space, revealing even the
ripple marks of the ancient sea, or rounded impressions of rain drops which
fell in that elder time; or the sands have buried shells and bones of ancient
animals, and they are still encased in the rock; and even impressions of
leaves that were buried in the mud can yet be seen in such a fine state of
preservation that you can trace their delicate veins.
In speaking of the great upheaval of rocks from which the Uinta
Mountains are carved, I have spoken of wrinkling and folding, as if the
rocks were always flexed; but these displacements are sometimes attended
with fractures, on one side of which the rocks are upheaved, or thrown down
on the other. Such displacements are called faults. Faults like these are
seen in many places in the Uinta Mountains; one great one, on the north
side, the throw of which is nearly twenty thousand feet, and many others
are found of lesser magnitude.
In speaking of elevation and depression by faulting or folding, it must
be understood that reference is made to a change of altitude in relation to
the surface of the sea, so that upheaval or throw is only relative to this gen
eral standard of comparison. But during the geological ages represented
in the folding and carving of the Uinta Mountains, it is possible the level of
the sea itself has been changed by the shrinking of the earth, and a part,
THE UINTA CANONS. 157
at least, of the apparent upheaval above mentioned may be accounted for
by a depression of the formations in synclinal folds, and the letting down
of broad areas of the earth's surface by lateral contraction exhibited in
corrugation.
When we arrive at a point a few miles north of Flaming Gorge, we
strike the flank of this great fold, and find the rocks dipping to the north,
and, as we run south, the course of the stream is against the inclination of
the beds; and this is true, in the main, until we reach Bee Hive Point, where
the river turns to the east, almost at right angles to its former course, and
to the dip; then it runs nearly in the direction of the strike, but the axis is
not crossed until after passing through Red Canon. The rocks on both
sides of this canon dip to the north; that is, they incline to the river on the
south, and from it on the north. Under these conditions, the two walls of
Red Canon present very different characteristics ; that on the south exhibits
steep slopes, covered, to a greater or lesser extent, with forests; the north
wall is a bold escarpment, often vertical, and almost treeless; high cliffs, set
with pinnacles and towers, and narrow side canons, are its salient features.
From the foot of Red Canon to the Gate of Lodore, a distance of more
than thirty miles, the river runs through a valley known as Brown's Park,
five or six miles wide, and enclosed by mountains. It is a curious fact that
the central line of this valley corresponds to the axis of the fold; that is,
had the fold been made, and left without erosion, the very summit would
have been directly above the deepest part of the park.
When we enter the Gate of Lodore, we are in rocks dipping to the
south, having crossed the axis of the fold. From here to Split Mountain
Canon the general course is southwest, hence not directly across the dip, but
158 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
passing obliquely through the formations. The great billow or wave has a
rippled surface, or wavelets are formed across it, some of which have their
axis nearly at right angles to that of the great fold, others more or less
oblique.
Split Mountain Canon is cut lengthwise through one of the rock wave
lets, a southward spur of the Uintas. The course of the river does not
chance to be in the direction of the billow for its whole length, but, running
down the wavelet for a few miles, it runs out of it to the right, where it
passes through Island Park, then into it again at the head of Split Mountain
Canon, and then it divides the fold by a gorge to its foot.
Leaving Split Mountain Canon, and entering the valley below, we run
into a down-turned wrinkle, or, in the language of the geologist, into a
synclinal fold. The axis of the fold is parallel to the Uinta Mountains.
The valley of the Uinta, on the west, and the valley of White River, on the
east, mark, in a general way, the bed of this down-turned wrinkle; and
still continuing to the south, we pass into another up-turned fold.
It has already been said that the cutting off of the fold has left the
upturned edges of the formations exposed to view. Some of these beds are
quite hard, others are composed of very soft material, so there are alternat
ing beds of harder and softer rocks running in an easterly and westerly
direction, both on the north and south side of the range. The soft rocks,
yielding much more readily to atmospheric degradation, have been washed
out in irregular valleys, between intervening ridges of harder rock, so that
we have a series of nearly parallel valleys, and also a series of intervening
parallel ridges, and both valleys and ridges are approximately parallel to the
range. But as the great fold of the Uinta Mountains is greatly complicated
by minor oblique and transverse flexures, while the general direction of
these ridges is as described, they are turned back and forth from these lines
in gentle or abrupt curves. These ridges are sometimes low mountain
ranges.
So, if we approach these mountains from either direction, north or
south, we first meet with ridges, or, as they are usually called in the western
country, hog-backs. In many places these are so steep as to form a com
plete barrier to progress.
INTER-HOG-BACK VALLEYS. 159
Usually the slope away from the side of the mountain corresponds
above with the dip of the rock, and is gentle or steep, as the dip is lesser
or greater. The side of the hog-back, next to the mountain, is composed
of the cut edges of the strata, and varies greatly with the texture of the
rock, but usually it is steep or broken, sometimes buttressed, sometimes ter
raced, sometimes columned and^fluted.
On the south side of the Yampa Plateau, near the head of Cliff Creek
Valley, there is an abrupt, oblique flexure, on the side of the great fold, by
which the rocks are turned up, so as to stand vertically. In the rocks at
this place there are two very hard conglomerates ; the intervening strata are
soft sandstones and marls, and have been carried away, and the conglomer
ates stand as vertical walls, thirty or forty feet in thickness, fifty to three
hundred feet in height, and several miles in length, and between these is a
broad avenue, or narrow valley, beset with ragged boulders of conglomerate.
The drainage of these narrow valleys between the hog-backs is not
always along their lengths, but the water is sometimes carried by channels
crossing them and cutting through intervening ridges ; hence there are num
bers of transverse streams and wet weather channels running across valleys
and through ridges.
Now, if the great axis of the Uinta Fold was everywhere the summit
of a water-shed, we should mid the streams heading along that irregular
line running off to the flank of the fold on either side ; but, as the fold is
bisected by Green River, some of the minor water courses, especially those
near the river, and those near the center of the fold, follow the strike of the
rocks directly into that stream. On the north side, some head back near
the summit of the fold, and run to the north, crossing the hog-backs in a
direction with the dip, and then turn, at the foot of the mountains, and run
into the Green, where the waters take a general southerly direction. Others,
again, head back on the hog-backs, or even beyond them, on the plains and
the bad-lands to the north, and cut quite through the hog-backs and mount
ains in a direction against the dip of the rocks, and empty into the Green.
This is especially true where the river has its easterly and westerly direc
tion through Brown's Park. On the other side of the range, streams head
high up in the mountains, and cut directly or obliquely against the upturned
160 EXPLOBATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
edges of the strata, and run in a general direction with the dip of the strata
until they reach the long valleys between hog-backs, then down these valleys
they turn, sometimes cutting through intervening ridges, until they find
their way into the Green, where they are turned to the south, away from
the mountain.
It will thus be seen that the relation of the direction of the streams to
the dip of the rocks is very complex, and, for convenience of description, I
have elsewhere classified these valleys, on the basis of these relations, in the
following manner :
Order first. Transverse valleys, having a direction at right angles to the
strike.
Order second. Longitudinal valleys, having a direction the same as the
strike.
Of the first order, three varieties are noticed:
a, diaclinal, those which pass through a fold. (Fig. 53.)
&, cataclinal, valleys that run in the direction of the dip. (Fig. 54.)
c, anaclinal, valleys that run against the dip of the beds. (Fig. 57.)
Of the second order, we have, also, three varieties:
Aj anticlinal valleys, which follow anticlinal axes. (Fig. 55.)
Bj synclinal valleys, which follow synclinal axes. (Fig. 56.)
(7, monoclinal valleys, which run in the direction of the strike between
the axes of the fold — one side of the valley formed of the summits of the
beds, the other composed of the cut edges of the formation. (Fig. 58.)
Many of the valleys are thus simple in their relations to the folds; but,
as we may have two systems of displacements, a valley may belong to one
class, in relation to one fold, and to another in its relation to a second. Such
we designate as complex valleys.
Again, a valley may belong to one class in one part of its course and
to another elsewhere in its course. Such we designate as compound valleys.
It will be further noticed that valleys may have many branches, but, in
relegating a valley to its class, we consider only the stem of the valley
proper, and not its branches.
A great diversity in the features of all these valleys is observed. Most
of these modifications are due to three principal causes: First, a greater or
Figure 53. — A Diaclinal Valley.
Figure 54. — A Cataclinal Valley.
Figure 55. — An Auticliual Valley, with section.
Figure 56. — A Synclinal Valley.
CLASSIFICATION OF VALLEYS. 161
lesser inclination of the rocks. Second, the texture of the beds — that is,
their greater or lesser degree of heterogeneity. The third class of modify
ing influences is found in the eruptive beds.
The last mentioned agencies are not found in the region under imme
diate discussion.
No sharp line of division can Jbe drawn between canons and valleys.
For convenience, we designate intervening depressions, caused by erosion,
canon valleys, but all these excavated basins, troughs, and channels will be
included under the general head of valleys, and the above terms will be
used in describing them.
I should remark, farther, that species are not found in structural geology,
if we use that term as it has heretofore been used in the description of organic
nature; that is, there are no definite "hard and fast" lines of demarkation
between valleys of one class and those of another, and the classification
rests solely on typical examples.
With these terms before us, let us again describe the valleys of the
Uinta Mountains.
The canons through which the river passes from Flaming Gorge to Bee
Hive Point are anaclinal. Red Canon is obliquely anaclinal; Brown's Park
is anticlinal; the Canon of Lodore is cataclinal; Whirlpool Canon above is
anaclinal where it runs into a fold, and then obliquely cataclinal in cutting
through the other side of the fold.
Split Mountain Canon is at first anaclinal, then along its central course
anticlinal, and at its foot, where it runs out on the opposite side of the fold,
is cataclinal; hence it is structurally compound. This is the relation it bears
to the minor fold of Split Mountain; but it bears another relation to the
great fold of the Uinta Mountains, and is complex. Hence it is a com
pound, complex valley.
The canons and valleys heading near the summit of the range running
with the strike of the rocks into Green River, as above mentioned, are onono-
clinal. A good example of this is Summit Valley. Those on the north,
which head near the summit of the range, and, running down the flank, turn
into Green River, are, in their upper courses, cataclinal, and when they turn
to follow the strike of the rocks into Green River, are monoclinal. Those
21 COL
162 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
which head back in the plains and bad-lands, and cut across ridges and
through mountains, are anaclinal, while those on the south side, which head
near the summits of the mountains, and roll down to the foot of the range,
and then turn off into the Green, are also cataclinal above, and monoclinal
below.
Taking the general course of Green River through the Uinta Mount
ains, without regard to the several portions, as above mentioned, it would
be described as diaclinal.
The explanation of the canons of Green River will assist us in under
standing the origin of the lateral valleys and canons. The streams were
there before the mountains were made — that is, the streams carved out the
valleys, and left the mountains. The direction of the streams is indubitable
evidence that the elevation of the fold was so slow as not to divert the
streams, although the total amount of elevation was many thousands of feet.
Had the fold been lifted more rapidly than the principal streams could have
cut their channels, Green River would have been turned about it, and all
the smaller streams and water-ways would have been cataclinal.
Thus it is that the study of the structural characteristics of the valleys
and canons teaches us, in no obscure way, the relation between the prog
ress of upheaval and that of erosion and corrasion, showing that these
latter were parl passu with the former, and that the agencies of nature pro
duce great results — results no less than the carving of a mountain range out
of a much larger block lifted from beneath the sea; not by an extravagant
and violent use of power, but by the slow agencies which may be observed
generally throughout the world, still acting in the same slow, patient manner.
There are yet some interesting facts to be observed concerning these
inter-hog-back valleys. Their floors are usually lower than the general
surface farther away from the mountains. There seem to be two causes for
this. The great fold having been lifted and truncated prior to the exposure
of the rocks farther away from the mountains, its strata present their edges,
instead of their upper surfaces, to the down falling rain, and the softer beds
are not so well shielded by the harder. Erosion hence progresses more
rapidly than where the beds are approximately horizontal.
Again, the mountains, with peaks among the clouds, condense their
Fignre 59. — Horse-Shoe Cafion.
ANTECEDENT AND CONSEQUENT VALLEYS. 163'
moisture, and a greater quantity of rain falls on them, or in their vicinity.
The region of country adjacent to the mountains receives a portion of this
extra rain-fall, so that this dynamic agency increases from the plains to the
summits of the mountains, probably in some direct ratio. This increase of
the eroding agency, and the greater exposure of the soft beds, probably
accounts for the fact that the lowest country is at the foot of the mountains.
There is a limit to the effect of these conditions, for it should be
observed no valley can be eroded below the level of the principal stream,
which carries away the products of its surface degradation; and where the
floor of such a valley has been cut down nearly to the level of such a
stream, it receives the debris of the adjacent cliffs and mountains, and in this
way the rocks composing the floor are usually masked, to a greater or lesser
extent. The same topographic facts, under like conditions, are found on
the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado Territory, and the
valleys which run into the South Platte from the south, between the hog
backs, are lower than the mesas and plateaus farther away from the mount
ains, but not lower than the flood plain of the river.
I have endeavored above to explain the relation of the valleys of the
Uinta Mountains to the stratigraphy, or structural geology, of the region,
and, further, to state the conclusion reached, that the drainage was estab
lished antecedent to the corrugation or displacement of the beds by faulting
and folding. I propose to call such valleys, including the orders and vari
eties before mentioned, antecedent valleys.
In other parts of the mountain region of the west, valleys are found
having directions dependent on corrugation. I propose to call these conse
quent valleys. Such valleys have been observed only in limited areas, and
have not been thoroughly studied, and I omit further discussion of them.
In the great metamorphic belt extending through the Territory of Col
orado, comprising the Rocky Mountain chain of this Territory, the structural
geology is exceedingly complex, while the drainage is comparatively simple,
and only to a limited extent does it seem to be governed by geological
structure. The conclusions to which I arrived were that the present drain
age was established in rocks now earned away from the higher regions, but
still seen to be turned up against the flanks of most of the ranges.
164 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
A part of the district in which my observations were made has since
been much more thoroughly studied by Mr. Archibald R. Marvine, one of
the geologists of the First Division of the " Geological and Geographical
Survey of the Territories." In his report of June 19, 1874, he says:
"Three causes combine to render the rapid study of the stratigraphy
of the archsean rocks difficult and its results uncertain: First, their structure
is not only often complex, but obscure, the evidence of it being at times
nearly or wholly obliterated by the metamorphism, and often over large
areas very difficult to find; second, this metamorphism renders lithological
characters inconstant, so that a stratum that at one point may be character
istic among its neighbors, may, at another, become like them, or all may
change so as to retain none of their geological features, becoming again
like other series, so that lithological resemblances cannot often be taken as
a guide to follow, and may even become misleading; third, the erosion pro
ducing the present surface features of the mountain region had the direction
of its action determined by movements of the surface which were not
closely connected with the extended plications of its rocks; and, moreover,
since this erosion has not long been acting among these rocks, there appears
no well defined connection between the topography and the structural
geology. The ancient erosion gradually wore down the mass to the surface
of the sea, and while previously to this it was no doubt directed by the
structure, yet the mass was finally leveled off irrespective of structure or
relative hardness of its beds by the encroaching ocean, which worked over
its ruins and laid them down upon the smoothed surface in the form of the
Triassic and other beds. The recent great uplift, while it probably added
new plications to the accumulated plications of the past in the ancient
rocks, was quite simple with respect to their total plication, and left the
upper Triassic and other sedimentary beds comparatively simply structured,
they having been affected alone by the later movements.
"As the mass appeared above the sea and surface erosion once more
commenced, but which now acts upon the recent rocks covering probably
in greater part the complex underlying rocks, it was directed off from the
line of greater uplift down the long slopes of the rising continent to the
retiring sea. The channels of drainage started were directed solely by the
MARVINE ON SUPERIMPOSED VALLEYS. 165
structure and characters of the upper rocks, and when they gradually cut
down through these and commenced sinking their canons into the under
lying complicated rocks, these canons bore no relation whatever to their
complications. It is but recently that the upper rocks have been completely
removed from the summits of the mountain-spurs, the ancient level of sub
aqueous erosion being still indicated by the often uniform level of the spurs
and hill-tops over considerable areas, and large plateau-like regions which
became very marked from certain points of view. Two or three such levels
are indicated at a few places, showing not only that the sedimentaries have
once extended up over what are now the mountain rocks, but that the uplift
ing has been mainly confined along certain partly well-defined lines, the
intermediate belts, though uplifted bodily, remaining comparatively level, a
type of folding, probably, not uncommon farther west, and which will be
referred to again in the following chapter.
*******
"It is true that the structure of the lower rocks has begun to affect the
courses of the streams, and in places to a considerable extent. Meeting a
softer bed a canon will often have its course directed by it, and follow it
for some distance, leaving the adjacent harder beds plainly indicated by the
ridges, and sometimes the sinuosities of structure are very curiously fol
lowed by a stream in all its windings, but it soon breaks away and runs
independently of the bedding. Many of the smaller ravines have had their
positions determined by the structure; but in a broad sense the drainage is
from the main mountain crest eastward, independent of structure. Thus,
while in places geological features may find expression in surface form, yet,
as often, there may be no conceivable relation between topography and
geology. The subaqueous erosion, in smoothing all to a common level,
destroys all former surface expression of geological character, and the
present erosion has not yet been in progress sufficiently long to recreate the
lost features."
I fully concur with Mr. Marvine in the above explanation of the valleys
in the main Rocky Mountains of Colorado, as my own observations in that
country had led me to the same conclusion. There can be no doubt that
the present courses of the streams were determined by conditions not found
1 66 EXPLORATION OF THE CAJStONS OF THE COLORADO.
in the rocks through which the channels are now carved, but that the beds
in which the streams had their origin when the district last appeared above
the level of the sea, have been swept away. I propose to call such super
imposed valleys. Thus the valleys under consideration, if classified on the
basis of their relation to the rocks in which they originated, would be called
consequent valleys, but if classified on the basis of their relation to the rocks
in which they are now found, would be called superimposed valleys.
Recurring again to the valleys of the Uinta Mountains, it may be well
to remark here that, coming from the Rocky Mountains to the study of the
Uinta Mountains, I at first supposed that the valleys of this region also were
superimposed upon the rocks now seen, but gradually, on a more thorough
study, the hypothesis was found to be not only inadequate to the explana
tion of the facts, but to be entirely inconsistent with them; and again and
again I visited the region, and re-examined the facts, and at last reached the
conclusion which I have heretofore stated.
A brief reference to the character of this evidence may not be out of
place here, though I reserve the subject for a more full discussion in my
report on the geology of the Uinta Mountains. If the valleys were super
imposed on the present rocks, they must be consequent to rocks which have
been carried away; but the valleys consequent upon the corrugation, which
was one of the conditions of the origin of the Uinta Mountains, could not
have taken the direction observed in this system; they would have all been
cataclinal, as they ran down from the mountains, and turned into synclinal
valleys at the foot, forming a very different system from that which now
obtains. Again, the later sedimentary beds, both to the north and south,
were found not to have been continuous over the mountain system, but to
have been deposited in waters whose shores were limited by the lower
reaches of the range; that is, they all gave evidence of littoral origin, and,
further, that the principal canons through the mountains had been carved
nearly to their present depth before the last of these sediments were
deposited.
BAD-LANDS AND ALCOVE LANDS SOUTH OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS.
South of the Uinta Mountains, and beyond the hog-backs on either
side of the river, is a district known to the Indians as Wa-ka-ri' -chits, or the
TEEEACE CANONS. 167
Yellow Hills. This country is elaborately embossed with low, rounded,
naked hills. The rocks from which they are carved are yellow clays and
shales. Some, few of the shales are slate colored, others pink ; none so glar
ing and brilliant as the bad-lands of Black's Fork, but the tints are soft and
delicate. The whole country is carved by a net-work of water-ways, which
descend rapidly toward Green River, and the intervening hills are entirely
destitute of vegetation. Looking at it from an eminence, and in the light
of the mid-day sun, it appears like a billowy sea of molten gold.
To the south of these yellow hills, and separated from them by a gently
curved, but well defined ridge of upturned sandstone, there is a broad
stretch of red and buff colored bad-lands. Some of the beds are highly
bituminous, and a fresh fracture reveals a black surface, but usually they
weather gray. Where these bituminous rocks are found, hills and mesas are
seen, covered, more or less, with vegetation, and the bad-land forms disap
pear. Still farther to the south, across White River, we find a continuation
of these beds, but here more shaly, and interstratified with harder beds,
and the alcove structure appears, somewhat like that in the Alcove Land
near Green River Station. These White River alcove lands were, by Gen
eral Hughes, named " Goblin City."
THE TERRACE CANONS AND CLIFFS.
A few miles south of the mouth of the Uinta, Green River enters the
Canon of Desolation. The walls of this gorge steadily increase in altitude
to its foot, where it terminates abruptly at the Brown Cliffs; then the river
immediately enters Gray Canon, with low walls, steadily increasing in alti
tude until the foot is reached, where it terminates abruptly at the Book Cliffs.
In like manner the walls of Labyrinth Canon are low above, and increase
in altitude as we descend the river, until the canon terminates as those above,
in a line of cliffs. To these last we have given the name Orange Cliffs.
We sometimes call these the Terrace Canons. They are cut through
three great inclined plateaus.
Conceive of three geographic terraces, many hundred feet high, and
many miles in width, forming a great stairway, from the Toom'-pin Wu-
near' Tu-weap', below, to the valley of the Uinta, above. The lower step
168 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
of this stairway, the Orange Cliffs, is more than one thousand two hundred
feet high, and the step itself is two or three score miles in width. The second
step, the Book Cliffs, is two thousand feet high, or more, and a score of
miles in width. The third, or upper step, is more than two thousand feet
high. Passing along this step, for two or three score miles, we reach the
valley of the Uinta; but this valley is not five or six thousand feet higher
than the Toom'-pin Wit-near* Tu-weap', for the stairway is tipped backward.
Climb the Orange Cliffs, 1,200 feet high, and go north to the foot of
the Book Cliffs, and you have gradually descended, so that at the foot of
the Book Cliffs you are not more than a hundred feet above the foot of the
Orange Cliffs In like manner the foot of the Brown Cliffs is but 200 feet
higher than the foot of the Book Cliffs, and the valley of the Uinta is not
quite three hundred feet higher than the foot of the Brown Cliffs.
To go by land from the valley of White Eiver to the Toom'-pin Wu-near'
Tu-weap'j you must gradually, almost imperceptibly climb as you pass to the
south, for a distance of forty or fifty miles, until you attain an altitude of
two thousand five hundred or three thousand feet above the starting point.
Then you descend from the first terrace, by an abrupt step, to a lower.
Still continuing to the south, you gradually climb again, until you attain an
altitude of more than a thousand feet, when you arrive at the brink of
another cliff, and descend abruptly to the top of the lowest terrace. Still
extending your travels in the same direction, you climb gradually for a third
time, until you reach the brink of the third line of cliffs, or the edge of the
escarpment of the lower terrace, and here you descend by another sudden
step to the plane of the river, at the foot of Labyrinth Canon. In coming
down by the river, of course you do not ascend, but you pass these terraces
along the plane of the river, the upper terrace, through the Canon of Deso
lation, the middle terrace through Gray Canon, and the third through
Labyrinth Canon.
The beds, or series of rocks, through which Labyrinth Canon is cut,
extend under the beds of Gray Canon, and these run under the beds of the
Canon of Desolation. At one time the Desolation series and the Gray
Cafton series extended over the Labyrinth Canon series, but they have been
washed away.
PLATEAUS AND HOG-BACKS. 169
It will be remembered that in the description of the country lying to
the north of Red Canon and Brown's Park, it was explained that ridges
were formed by the unequal progress of erosion through the upturned edges
of the formations lying on the flank of the fold.
Thus ridges are seen where the dip of the rocks is at a higfc angle —
often twenty to forty five degrees; but where the dip is at a low angle — from
one to five degrees — such ridges are not found; the cut edges of the forma
tions stand in steep escarpments, or lines of cliffs, while the slope of the
summit of the formation is very gentle, so that when you climb one cliff the
descent is almost imperceptible to the foot of another. (Compare lines of
cliffs, seen in Figure 61, with hog-back cliffs, seen in Figure 52.)
In passing through the last three canons, we have observed that the
rocks have thus gently dipped to the north, and so, in following the river to
the south, we are constantly running into rocks of lower geological position
and greater age. In this way we are able to study successive beds from
higher to lower, as we would should we descend a shaft many thousands of
feet in depth, as previously explained.
Expand a fold like that of the Uinta Mountains, where the rocks dip
from ten to ninety degrees, to a more gentle curve, where the rocks dip at
a much smaller angle, so that the inclination is scarcely perceptible to the
eye, and can only be determined by an extended leveling and tracing
of the strata, and the hog-backs are thrown farther apart. The escarpments
of these hog-backs, facing the axis of the fold, are still lines of cliffs; but
the slopes on the opposite sides are so gently inclined as not, at once, to be
apparent, and the streams heading near the brink of the cliffs, and running
down the gentle slope away from this line, excavate their own valleys and
canons, and so break up the plane of this slope that its inclination is not at
once observed; in fact, it can only be discovered as a generalization from a
careful study, and such an inclined plateau, when seen from the side away
from the axis of plication, would usually be considered a range of mount
ains. Yet it has some features which readily distinguish it. The peaks
are low mountains and hills, bordering the foot of the slope, and the table
lands are beyond and above them, near the crest of the cliffs which face the
axis.
22 COL
170 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
The bird's-eye view (Figure 61) is intended to show these topographic
features. The escarpment below, and in the foreground, represents the
Orange Cliffs, at the foot of Labyrinth Canon; the second escarpment, the
Book Cliffs, at the foot of Gray Canon; the third, away in the distance,
the Brown Cliffs, at the foot of the Canon of Desolation. It will be seen
that the three tables incline to the north, and are abruptly terminated by
cliffs on the south. For want of space the whole view is shortened.
In the three canons there are three distinct series of beds, belonging to
three distinct geological periods. In the Canon of Desolation we have Ter
tiary sandstones; in Gray Caiion, Cretaceous sandstones, shales, and impure
limestones; between the head of Labyrinth Caiion and the foot of Gray
Caiion, rocks of Cretaceous and Jurassic Age are found, but they are soft,
and have not withstood the action of the water so as to form a canon.
These formations differ not only in geological age, but also in structure
and color. It will be interesting to notice how these structural differences
affect the general contour of the country, and modify its scenic aspects.
In the description of the three cafions in the history of their explor
ation, the attentive reader has already noticed the great variety of geological
and topographic features observed as we passed along.
Let us now take a view of the three lines of cliffs. The Brown Cliffs
are apparently built of huge blocks of rock, exhibiting plainly the lines
of stratification. The beds are usually massive and hard, and break with
an angular fracture. The whole is very irregular, and set with crags, towers,
and pinnacles. The upper beds of the Book Cliffs are somewhat like those
last described, and they form a cap to extensive laminated beds of blue
shales, in which we see exhibited the curious effects of rain sculpture. The
whole face of the rock is set with buttresses, and these are carved with a
fret-work of raised and rounded lines, that extend up and down the face of
the rock, and unite below in large ridges. The little valleys between these
ridgelets are the channels of rills that roll down the rocks during the storms,
and from one standpoint you may look upon millions of these little water
ways.
Labyrinth Canon is cut through a homogeneous sandstone. The fea
tures of the canon itself have been described, but the cliffs with which it
Figure 61.— Bird's-eye view of the Terrace Canons.
ARIDITY AND EROSION. 171
terminates present characteristics peculiar to themselves. Below, we have
rounded buttresses, and mounds and hills of sand, and piles of great, angu
lar blocks; above, the walls are of columnar structure, and sometimes
great columns, seen from a distance, appear as if they were elaborately
fluted. The brink of this escarpment is a well defined edge. But if these
formations extended over the underlying beds at one time, and if they have
been earned away by rains and rivers, why has not the country between
been left comparatively level, or embossed with hills separated by valleys?
It is easy to see that a river may cut a channel, and leave its banks steep
walls of rocks ; but that rains, which are evenly distributed over a district,
should dig it out in great terraces, is not so easy to perceive.
The climate is exceedingly arid, and the scant vegetation furnishes no
protecting covering against the beating storms. But though little rain falls,
that which does is employed in erosion to an extent difficult to appreciate by
one who has only studied the action of water in degrading the land in a
region where grasses, shrubs, and trees bear the brunt of the storm. A
little shower falls, and the water gathers rapidly into streams, and plunges
headlong down the steep slopes, bearing with it loads of sand, and for a few
minutes, or a few hours, the district is traversed by brooks and creeks and
rivers of mud. A clear stream is never seen without going up to a moister
region on some high mountain, and no permanent stream is found, unless it
has its source in such a mountain. In a country well supplied with rains,
so that there is an abundance of vegetation, the water slowly penetrates the
loose soil, and gradually disintegrates the underlying solid rock, quite as
fast as, or even faster than it is carried away by the wash of the rains, and
the indurated rock has no greater endurance than the more friable shales
and sandstones ; but in a dry climate, the softer rocks are soon carried away,
while the harder rocks are washed naked, and the rains make but slow
progress in tearing them to pieces.
When a great fold emerges from the sea, or rises above its base level
of erosion,* the axis appears above the water (or base level) first, and is
immediately attacked by the rains, and its sands are borne off to form new
deposits. It has before been explained that the emergence of the fold is but
* For explanation of this term, " base level of erosion," see Chapter XII.
172 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
little faster than the degradation of its surface, but, as it comes up, the
wearing away is extended still farther out on the flanks, and the same beds
are attacked in the new land which have already been earned away nearer
the center of the fold. In this way the action of erosion is continued on
the same bed from the up-turned axis toward the down-turned axis, and it
may and does often happen that any particular bed may be entirely carried
away, with many underlying rocks, near the former line, before it is attacked
near the latter. Now, as the beds are of heterogeneous structures, some
hard and others soft, the harder beds withstand the action of the storms,
while the softer beds are rapidly carried away.
The manner in which these beds are degraded is very different. The
softer are washed from the top, but the harder are little affected by the
direct action of the waters — they are torn down by another process. As
the softer beds disappear, the harder are undermined, and are constantly
breaking down; are crushed, more or less, by the fall, and scattered over,
and mingled with the softer beds, and are carried away with them. But the
progress of this undermining and digging down of the cliff is parallel with
the upturned axis of the fold, so that the cliffs face such an axis.
When the fold is abrupt, so that the rocks on either side are made to
incline at a great angle, ridges are formed, and this topographic structure of
a country may be found even in a land of rains, though the ridges will
usually be low, rounded, and more or less irregular, while in a dry climate
they will be steep and regular, and will usually culminate above in a sharp
edge; but where the rocks are slightly inclined, terraces will be formed, with
well defined escarpments.
It is interesting to note the manner in which the textures of these hard
capping rocks affect the contours of the cliffs. When the hard rocks are
separated into well defined layers, or beds, the cliffs will be more or less
terraced, as the strata vary in hardness. This is well seen in the Brown
Cliffs and the upper portion of the Book Cliffs. In the last mentioned escarp
ment the harder beds are underlaid by soft, bluish shales, which appear
below in the beautifully carved buttresses.
In the Orange Cliffs there are a thousand feet of homogeneous light
red sandstone, and this is underlaid by beds of darker red, chocolate, and
THE ORANGE CLIFFS. 173
lilac colored rocks, very distinctly stratified. The dark red rocks are very
hard, the chocolate and lilac are very soft, so below we have terraced and
buttressed walls and huge blocks scattered about, which have fallen from
the upper part of the escarpment. The homogeneous sandstone above is
slowly undermined — so slowly that, as the unsupported rocks yield to the
force of gravity, fissures are fornied parallel to the face of the cliff. Trans
verse vertical fissures are also formed, and thus the wall has a columnar
appearance, like an escarpment of basalt, but on a giant scale; and it is
these columns that tumble over at last, and break athwart into the huge
blocks which are strewn over the lower terraces.
The drainage of an inclined terrace is usually from the brink of the
cliff toward the foot of the terrace above, i. e., in the direction of the dip
of the strata. As the channels of these intermittent streams approach the
upper escarpment, they turn and run along its foot until they meet with
larger and more permanent streams, which run against the dip of the rock
in a direction opposite the course of the smaller channels, and these latter
usually cut either quite through the folds, or at least through the harder
series of rocks which form the cliffs.
In some places the waters run down the face of the escarpment, and cut
narrow canons, or gorges, back for a greater or less distance into the cliffs,
until what would, otherwise, be nearly a straight wall, is cut into a very
irregular line, with salients and deep re-entering angles.
These canons which cut into the walls also have their lateral canons
and gorges, and sometimes it occurs that a lateral canon from each of two
adjacent main canons will coalesce at their heads, and gradually cut off the
salient cliff from the ever retreating line. In this way buttes are formed.
The sides of these buttresses have the same structural characteristics as the
cliffs from which they have been cut. So the buttes on the plains below the
Orange Cliffs are terraced and buttressed below, and fluted and columned
above. Often the upper parts of these buttes are but groups of giant
columns.
The three lines of cliffs, which I have thus described, have been traced
to the east but a few miles back from the river. The way in which they
terminate is not known ; but, from a general knowledge obtained from a
174 EXPLOBATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
hasty trip made through that country, it is believed that they are cut
off by a system of monoclinal folds. To the west they are known to
gradually run out in plateaus and mountains, which have another oro-
graphic origin.
Climb the cliff at the end of Labyrinth Canon, and look over the plain
below, and you see vast numbers of buttes scattered about over scores of
miles, and every butte so regular and beautiful that you can hardly cast
aside the belief that they are works of Titanic art. It seems as if a thou
sand battles had been fought on the plains below, and on every field the
giant heroes had built a monument, compared with which the pillar on
Bunker Hill is but a mile stone. But no human hand has placed a block in
all those wonderful structures. 'The rain drops of unreckoned ages have
cut them all from the solid rock.
Between the foot of Gray Canon and the head of Labyrinth Caiion we
descend through many hundred feet of soft shales, sandstones, marls, and
gyp^iferous rocks of a texture so friable that no canon appears along the
course of the Green, but along the southern border of the terrace above the
Orange Cliffs, buttes of gypsum are seen. Sometimes the faces of these
buttes are as white as the heart of the alabaster from which they are carved,
while in other places they are stained and mottled red and brown.
As we come near to the Book Cliffs the buttes are seen to be composed
of the same beds as those seen in the escarpment, and we see the same light
blue buttresses and terraced summits.
On the terrace above the Book Cliffs, the buttes are less numerous, but
the few seen have the angular, irregular appearance of the Brown Cliffs.
The summit of the high plateau through which the Caiion of Desola
tion is cut, is fretted into pine clad hills, with nestling valleys and meadow
bordered lakes, for now we are in that upper region where the clouds yield
their moisture to the soil. In these meadows herds of deer carry aloft with
pride their branching antlers, and sweep the country with their sharp out
look, or test the air with their delicate nostrils for the- faintest evidence of an
approaching Indian hunter. Huge elk, with heads bowed by the weight of
ragged horns, feed among the pines, or trot with headlong speed through
the undergrowth, frightened at the report of the red man's rifle. Eagles
Figure 62. — Bird's-eye view ol the Toom'-pin Wu-near' Tu-weap' looking to the north east,
showing the Sierra la Sal on the right, the canons through the center, and lines ol cliffs on
the left.
THE LAND OF STANDING ROCKS. 175
sail down from distant mountains, and make their homes upon the trees;
grouse feed on the pine nuts, and birds and beasts have a' home from which
they rarely winder to the desert lands below. Among the buttes on the
lower terraces rattlesnakes crawl, lizards glide over the rocks, tarantulas
stagger about, and red ants build their play house mountains. Sometimes
rabbits are seen, and wolves prowl in their quest; but the desert has no bird
of sweet song, and no beast of noble mien.
THE TOOM'-PIN WU-NEAR' TU-WEAP'.
We now proceed to the discussion of Stillwater Canon, Cataract Canon,
and Narrow Canon, and the region of country adjacent thereto.
At the head of Stillwater Canon the river turns to a more easterly
course, and runs into a fold, which has a northeast and southwest axis, but
its central line is never reached. Before coming to it the river turns again
to the west, and runs entirely out of the fold, at the mouth of the Dirty
Devil River. It will thus be seen that the dip of the formations under dis
cussion is to the northwest. Going down to the middle of Cataract Canon,
we constantly see rocks of lower geological position appearing at the water's
edge; and, still continuing from that point to the foot of Narrow Canon,
the same beds are observed in reverse order; that is, we see at the water's
edge rocks of later geological age.
Where the upturned axis of this fold is situated is not known; but,
looking away to the southeast, mountains are seen— the Sierra La Sal and
Sierra Abajo. Looking over the general surface of the country, it appears
that the course of the river is from lower into higher lands, and then back
again. Observing the present topographic features of the country, it seems
strange that it did not find its way directly across from the foot of Labyrinth
to the foot of Narrow Canon, following the low lands. Why should it leave
this lower region, and run away out into the slope of a system of mountains,
and then return! We must remember that the river is older than the mount
ains and the cliffs. We must not think of a great district of country, over
which mountains were piled, or built, or heaved up, and that when rain fell
it gathered into streams along the natural depressions of such a country,
and thus attempt to account for the course of the river; but we must under-
176 EXPLOITATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
stand that the river cut its way through a region that was slowly rising
above the level of the sea, and the rain washed out the valleys, and left
rocks and cliffs standing, and the river never turned aside from its original
course to seek an easier way, for the progress of uplifting was not greater
than that of corrasion. Again we see how slowly the dry land has emerged
from the sea; no great convulsion of nature, but steady progress.
The Orange Cliffs, which terminate Labyrinth Caiion, extend to the
west a few miles, and then change their course to the southwest, running
parallel with the axis of the fold we are now discussing, and they cross the
Dirty Devil a few miles above its mouth. Thus they are seen, like the
other lines of cliffs, to face the axis of a fold. Figure 62 is a bird's-eye
view, of this country, showing the course of the river through Still water,
Cataract, and Narrow Canons. It represents the cutting of the stream into
the slope of a mountain range, and out of it again, without crossing the
range. On the left it shows two lines of cliffs. Here we have a district
inclosed within Titanic walls. On ' the southeast are great mountains, and
from the foot of their slope, on the north side, near Grand River, we find a
line of cliffs crossing this stream, and extending to the Green, in a westerly
direction; then' to the southwest, to the Dirty Devil River, and then broken
and confused by buttes and canon walls, which extend toward the east,
until it strikes the southern foot of the mountains. Within this walled area
a profound gorge — Cataract Caiion — is seen, with Stillwater Canon above,
and Narrow Canon below. The lower canon of the Grand is also seen,
and a number of lateral canons.
Along the genera'l slope of the district between the canons are vast
numbers of buttes. Their origin is the same as that of the buttes previously
described. Often they are but monuments, or standing columns of rocks.
From them is derived the Indian name Toom'-pin Wu-near' Tu-weap' — the
Land of Standing Rocks.
Adjacent to the larger canons, especially near the junction of the
Grand and Green, walled coves are found. Each main gulch branches into
a number of smaller gulches above, and each of these smaller gulches heads
in an amphitheater. The escarpments of these amphitheaters are broken
and terraced, and in many places two such amphitheaters are so close
HENttY MOUNTAINS. 177
together that they are separated only by a narrow gorge of vertical homo
geneous sandstone.
This latter, though homogeneous in general structure, is banded with
red and gray, so that the walls of the amphitheaters seem painted. In
many places these walls are broken, and the coves are separated by lines of
monuments. Where these covers or amphitheaters are farther apart, the
spaces above are naked, presenting a smooth but billowy pavement of sand
stone, in the depressions of which are many water pockets, some of them
deep, preserving a perennial supply; but the greater number So shallow
that the water is evaporated within a few days after the infrequent showers.
In many places, especially in the sharp angles between gulches, the
rocks are often fissured, and huge chasms obstruct the course of the advent
urous climber.
These canons, and coves, and standing rocks, and buttes, and cliffs,
and distant mountains present an ensemble of strange, grand features.
Wierd and wonderful is the Toom'-pin Wu-near' Tu-weap'.
GLEN CANON.
The deepest part of Glen Canon is found in the bend to the north,
several miles above the mouth of the Paria, where the river runs through
the variegated beds.
Its entire course is through rocks of Triassic Age, chiefly red sand
stones. These rocks, beautifully exposed in the Orange Cliffs, return to
the river down the western bank of the Dirty Devil, and we enter them
again immediately below the mouth of that stream; and here we pass
around the lower end of the fold which brought up the Carboniferous lime
stones and sandstones through which Stillwater, Cataract, and Narrow
Canons are excavated. The group of mountains discovered in coming down
Narrow Canon is composed of eruptive rocks in part, but only in part.
Quantities of molten matter poured out through some fissures here, and
spread over the country before it had been eroded to its present depth; and
this harder material, which came from the depths below, protected the sand
stones, over which it was spread, from the 'degradation which befell the
extension of the beds beyond the capping trachyte. The base of tlie
23 COL
178 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
mountain is composed of sedimentary beds, and the summit of this, cooled
lava. So even, these so called eruptive mountains were not piled up, but
were carved from beds of sedimentary and igneous matter.
We have named this group, in honor of the Secretary of the Smith
sonian Institution, ''Henry Mountains."
A few miles below the mouth of the San Juan River we come to an
interesting monoclinal fold, where the dip of the rocks is in a direction a
little north of east; that is, the beds are dropped down on the eastern side
of the line, which trends nearly north and south, not broken off and
dropped down, but flexed, or bent, so that the beds on the western side of
the line are found at an altitude many hundreds of feet above those on the
east, and farther down the river the rocks exposed at the water edge are of
greater age than those above.
Hereafter, in this discussion, I shall more fully explain the nature of
these monoclinal folds and faults, and the topographic features to which they
give origin.
At the foot of this canon another monoclinal fold is seen, with the
throw, or drop, also on the east side, or the uplift, if one is so pleased to
term it, on the west side; and this brings up again Carboniferous sandstones
and limestones. The surface of the country immediately outside the canon,
along its whole course, is on the summit of the red Trias; but, away back
on either side, we see long lines of towering cliffs, now running in this, now
in that direction, still keeping their courses parallel to the axes of folds which
are scattered in many directions over the country. A region more desolate,
and, for all economic purposes, more valueless, perhaps, cannot be found on
the continent.
There are some features of this canon of great interest, which I have
already mentioned in the account of the exploration. These are the cham
bers, or caves, found along the canon, at the foot of the wall, here and there,
or in the side canons and gulches ; the great mural cliffs, about sweeping
curves of the river; terraced glens, where the walls are composed of well
denned strata, with springs about which oaks and aspens grow; and the
deep, narrow alcoves or side gulches.
The origin of these chambers was explained in the mention of Music
CANONS IN THE SANDSTONE. 179
Temple. They are due to the crumbling of softer rocks, which underlie
harder beds, the friable material being carried away by springs, or wet
weather streams. The greater number are found at the heads of little
gulches.
In many places the walls of the canon are .of homogeneous sandstone,
and where the river sweeps in a great curve at the foot of the wall, mural
cliffs are found.
The oak glens have been excavated by springs, and the alcoves are the
channels of intermittent rills.
Away from the river, on either side, there are broad stretches of naked
sandstone, carved by the rains into gentle billows or mounds. As the rains
gather into streams, the little valleys, or grooves, between the mounds
become gulches, and where the smaller streams gather into larger the gulches
become canons, often having vertical or even overhanging walls.
When, in the progress of corrasion, these streams have cut through
harder beds, and reach softer, the channels are seen to widen. The
manner in which this widening occurs is curious. The streams are
everywhere tortuous, and, as the power of the water is constantly exerted
in corrasion, the streams are not only made deeper, but the curves are
increased by methods well known to those who have studied the origin and
change of river channels; so the walls are often undermined on the outer
side of curves, and here overhanging cliffs are found.
So these canons are not only flexuous in horizontal outline, but they
are also flexuous in vertical outline, giving them warped or tortuous courses.
The streams do not always cut channels with vertical walls. Occasionally,
deep water-ways are found, with flaring walls to the very bottom. Such
canons usually occur where the beds of streams are in rocks quite as hard,
or even harder, than those above. A good illustration of such a channel is
seen in Figure 48. Besides the grooves, gulches, and canons that head
among the mounds, we have another class of water-ways, to which the former
are sometimes tributary. Many streams come down from distant mountains,
where they receive a more constant supply of water. They often run for
many miles through narrow, winding canons, with walls so precipitous that
they cannot be scaled, and they form impassable barriers to the traveler.
180 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
Other interesting features of the landscape are found in the great monu
ments and buttes that are scattered here and there, attesting to a former
extension of the beds seen in the more distant cliffs. Of the cliffs more will
be said hereafter.
Glen Canon is the channel which the Colorado River has cut for
itself through beds of red and orange sandstones. Its head is at the mouth
of the Dirty Devil, and its foot at the mouth of the Paria. It termi
nates abruptly below by an escarpment which we have called the "Vermil
ion Cliffs." Along this irregular line, extending from east to west across the
Colorado, and far back on either side, the general surface of the country
suddenly drops down.
MARBLE CANON.
The escarpment, which we call the " Vermilion Cliffs," at the foot of
Glen Canon, exposes the same beds as are seen in the face of the Orange
Cliffs, at the foot of Labyrinth Canon. It will be remembered that the beds
exposed in the Terrace Canons dip to the north. Between the Orange Cliffs
and the Vermilion Cliffs the strata are variously dipped by monoclinal folds,
having their axes in a northerly and southerly direction, and the red beds
are at about the same altitude above the sea at the two points. The Ver
milion Cliffs which face the south form a deep, re-entering angle at the mouth
of the Paria. On the east side of the Colorado, the line stretches to the
southeast for many miles; on the west side, it extends, in a southwesterly
direction, about fifteen miles, then turns west, and, at last, to the northwest.
The general northerly dip is again observed from the mouth of the Paria to
the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito.
The general surface of the country between the two points is the sum
mit of the Carboniferous formation. At the mouth of the Paria this is at
the water's edge; at the mouth of the Colorado Chiquito it is 3,800 feet
above the river. The fall of the river, in the same distance, is about six
hundred feet, so that the whole dip of the rock between the two points is
about three thousand two hundred feet. The distance, by river, is sixty five
miles; in a direct line, twenty miles less. So we have a dip of the formation
of 3,200 feet in forty five miles, or about seventy feet to a mile.
Figure 63. — View of Marble Canon from the Vermilion Cliffs near the mouth of the Paria.
In the distance, the Colorado River is seen to turn to the west, where its gorge divides the
twin plateaus. On the right is seen the Eastern Kaibab Displacements, appearing as folds,
and, farther in the distance, as faults.
MARBLE CASfON. 181
The slope of the country to the north is the same as the dip of the beds,
for the country rises to the south as the beds rise to the south.
Stand on the Vermilion Cliffs, at the head of Marble Canon, and look
off down the river over a stretch of country that steadily rises in the dis
tance until it reaches an altitude far above even the elevated point of obser
vation, and then see meandering through it to the south the gorge in which
the river runs, everywhere breaking down with a sharp brink, and in the
perspective the summits of the walls appearing to approach until they are
merged in a black line, and you can hardly resist the thought that the river
burrows into, and is lost under, the great inclined plateau.
CHAPTER XII.
THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE VALLEY OF THE COLORADO, CONTINUED.
In the previous chapter, I have made frequent mention of long lines of
cliffs, or escarpments, extending across the Colorado, far back into the
country on either side. I have attempted to explain the origin of these
cliffs, as well as the origin of canons, as due to the erosion of greater or
smaller folds of the stony formations, or beds of rock. To explain the chief
characteristics of the Grand Canon, and the adjacent country, it is neces
sary to describe other lines of cliffs, due to other causes.
CLIFFS AND SLOPES OF DISPLACEMENT.
The geological formations, or beds of rock, exposed in the Grand Cailon
and the tributary gorges, have been fractured, or folded, on an extensive
scale. These great fractures, or folds, extend across the canon in a northerly
and southerly direction, and can be traced for scores of miles on either side —
not as huge cracks, or chasms, for they are observable only to the eye of
the geologist, and are traced by the high steps and great displacements seen
along their courses. Along these fractures we find what geologists call
faults, i. e., the beds have fallen down on one side of each crack. This dis
placement, or throw of the fault, as it is technically called, is from one or two
hundred to two or three thousand feet, and is always noticed to be quite
variable along any particular fault which may be studied.
Let us try to obtain a well defined conception of such a fault. Sup
pose that a fracture should be formed, extending from the shore of Lake
Erie, in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, diagonally through the State
to the head of Delaware Bay — a great crack, through the underlying rocks,
to unknown depths below — and that the country on the southwestern side
Figure 64. — Section across a simple fault.
Figure 65.— Section across a fault with walls widely separated, the
inteivening space filled with broken rocks.
Figure 66.— Section across a fault with walls widely separated, the
intervening space filled with broken rock, still exhibiting the
original stratification.
Figure 67. — A rnonocliual fold.
FAULTS. 183
of this fracture should drop down many hundreds of feet. Now, to go from
the low lands to the high lands it would be necessary to climb a great wall.
We must- conceive this line to be a somewhat meandering one, so that
the wall is turned more or less from a direct course. Again, the throw of
the beds is variable, being greater or lesser here and there along the fault —
in some places, but two or three hundred feet, perhaps; in others, two or
three thousand. For this reason the altitude of the cliffs is greatly variable.
Again, the brink, or edge, of the irregular wall has tumbled down in
many places, leaving pinnacles, towers, and crags here and there, and below
may be seen a great talus, where the rocks which have tumbled down are
piled against the foot of the wall. Then there are streams heading in the
upper country, and running down into the lower, which have cut for them
selves channels — narrow gulches, or, perhaps, in some places, narrow valleys,
so that we have, not a vast, unbroken wall, but an irregular line of cliffs.
Let us turn our attention to these faults, and the topographic features
to which they give rise. Sometimes we find that the beds are broken by a
well defined fracture, and the plane of separation between the beds which
have dropped down and those which have remained in place is clearly
marked. Figure 64 is designed to represent a section across such a fault,
where the bed «, a on the left is seen to lie at a higher level than on the
right. Sometimes the fault branches, and the throw, or displacement, occurs
along two or more lines, so that a great step may be broken into two or
more smaller ones, as represented in Figure 69, where the bed «, a is
seen in each step. In other places, the beds have fallen down without
obstruction for a part of the distance, and have been caught and turned up,
as in Figure 71. In many places we find no definite line of separation
between the strata in place and the fallen strata, and there is a space of
greater or lesser extent, sometimes several hundred feet wide, between the
two -series, composed of fragments of the same rocks, in some cases, thrown
down promiscuously, and found much mixed, as seen in Figure 65; but in
others, preserving, in an irregular, broken way, the stratification, by a flex
ure, from the upper to the lower beds, as seen in Figure 66, where the rocks
seem to have been torn asunder by the stretching they received in displace
ment. Again, we find the rocks intervening between the horizontal beds
184 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
above and the horizontal beds below, unbroken ; the flexure is complete, and
we have a monoclinal fold, as represented in Figure 67.
Still another variation is found. In the same vertical section we may
sometimes see that a bed composed of a so'mewhat brittle material is broken
so as to form a fault, while the bed above or below, composed of a more
flexible material, is bent so as to form a fold, and thus a fault and fold will
be represented in the same cross section as in Figure 68. Thus it is seen
that the transformation of a fold into a fault may occur in two ways — longi
tudinally along the course of the fault, and vertically 'in the strata.
The flexures, or monoclinal folds, also change in character, for the dip
of the beds may vary greatly — from two or three to ninety degrees — and if
we trace such a fold along its course, commencing at its transformation from
a fault, we may find the flexure becoming less and less, until it can scarcely
be detected by the eye, and then, perhaps, increase gradually into an abrupt
fold, and then into a fault, reproducing, in some irregular way, the varieties
of faulting above described.
These faults run in lines approximately parallel, and divide the district
under consideration into long belts, or blocks, and one edge of each block
usually lies at the foot of an escarpment, the other at the summit of an
escarpment. In examining the down-throw of these blocks, it is observed
that the edge which lies against the foot of an escarpment has usually been
thrown down much more than the opposite one, so that the blocks are tilted
more or less. The relative amount of the downfall of these two edges is
ever changeable. There are cases where the summit edge seems to have
preserved its original position without down-throw, arid there are other cases
where the summit edge seems to have fallen quite as much as the other.
There is yet another change rung on these displacements. In some
places the beds, at the edge of the table, lying against the foot of the escarp
ment, are turned down, while farther back from the fault, toward the summit
edge, the beds are approximately horizontal. This is represented in Figure
70. Thus the long, narrow blocks, into which the country is divided by
these displacements, are warped, or twisted.
These faults and folds, thus ever changing in their characteristics, pro
duce like changeable features in the topography of the country. A sharp
Figure 68. — Fault and fold in same cross-section.
Figure 69. — Section across a branching fault
Figure 70. — Fault with thrown beds flexed downward.
Figure 71. — Fault with thrown beds flexed upward — a dragged fault.
KAIBAB PLATEAU. 185
fault, especially where -the throw is great and the rocks are indurated, pro
duces precipitous cliffs, with a small talus below, made of the fragments
which have fallen from above. Where the down-fallen rocks have caught
and have been flexed, we usually find a long slope at the foot of the cliffs,
and where the faults change into flexures gentle slopes are observed, stretch
ing from the high lands to the lower country.
The elevated district traversed by the Grand Canon is broken by a
number of such faults, and portions of the country have fallen down, so
that, although the general upper surface is formed, in chief part, of the same
beds of cherty limestone, the canon is not cut through one great, unbroken
plateau, but through a series of plateaus, or great geographic terraces and
tables.
The most elevated portion of the country is a central belt, about twenty
five or thirty miles in width, and about eighty miles in length. This is
called, by the Indians, Kaibab, or "mountain lying down," and we have
adopted the name. It is well defined on the east and west by lines of cliffs
and steep slopes, which have been formed by displacements, and on the
south by the chasm of the Colorado, but on the north it abuts against" the
Vermilion Cliffs. The lines of cliffs which form its eastern and western
boundaries extend to the south beyond the Grand Canon, for the faults run
far to the south, and they define there, in part, a companion, or twin plateau.
Had there been no river running there, there would have been but 'one
plateau.
From this central belt the general surface of the country drops by steps
to the east and west, and the edge of each step marks the line of a fault, or
its equivalent fold.
In the region under discussion there are six of these great displace
ments, which give rise to important elements in the topography, and deserve
special mention. I shall enumerate them in order, from east to west, omit
ting mention of the faults and folds of minor importance.
East of Marble Canon, and running in a general northerly and south
erly course, so as to cross the Colorado at the mouth of the Paria, we have
the Paria Fold, in which the down-fall of the rocky foundation is to the
24 OOL
186 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
east of the axis of the flexure. Where it crosses the river the throw is
about one thousand eight hundred feet, but it increases toward the south.
Going- west across Marble Canon to the foot of the Kaibab Plateau, we
find another great fold. Tracing it from the northern extremity of the pla
teau to the south, we find that, nearly half way along, it branches so as to
form two monoclinal folds. These separate rapidly until they are about four
miles apart, and then run parallel to each other for twenty five or thirty
miles, when they change into faults. The throw of the displacement is
about three thousand feet, and is, approximately, the same, whether it
appears as one fold, as two folds, or two faults. We have called these the
Eastern Kaibab Faults. The down-fall of the beds, as in the Paria Fold,
is to the east of the axis of flexure.
Crossing the Kaibab Plateau, we come to another great monoclinal
fold, which changes into a fault in some places, and these faults sometimes
branch. The throw is here on the western side of the axis of flexure, and
varies from five hundred to two thousand feet. We call this the Western
Kaibab Fault.
Continuing to the west, and passing over some minor faults, we reach,
at last, the To-ro'-weap Valley. On the eastern side of this valley there is
an abrupt wall, eight hundred or nine hundred feet high, which marks
another fault, the throw of which is also to the west. This is the To-ro'-weap
Fault. Its throw is but little over eight hundred feet, where it crosses the
Grand Canon. Farther to the south it increases somewhat, but to the north
it becomes less, and where it crosses the Vermilion Cliffs it is only about
two hundred feet.
Twelve or fifteen miles to the west is the Hurricane Ledge Fault. Its
throw is also to the west. It has been traced from a point north of Toker-
ville southward across the Grand Canon, and out to the brink of the great
San Francisco Plateau. The throw varies from two to three thousand feet.
Usually it is a sharp, or abrupt, fault, though here and there the strata have
been caught below.
Twenty five or thirty miles farther to the west, we find the Grand Wash
Fault — a" fault in some places,*) elsewhere a fold. Here, also, the throw is to
the west, and it is more than five thousand feet where it crosses the Colorado.
Figure 72.— Bird's-eye view of thej Grand Canon looking east from the Grand Wash. One bird, Echo Cliffs. Two
birds, Kaibab Plateau. Three bi^ds, To-ro'-weap Cliffs. Four birds, Hurricane Ledge. Five birds, Shi-vwits
Plateau.
FAULTS AND FOLDS. 187
So wo have selected, for purposes of discussion here, six great displace
ments — the Paria Fold, the Eastern Kalbab Fault, the Western Kaibab
Fault, the To-r.o'-weap Fault, the Hurricane Ledge Fault, and the Grand
Wash Fault. Let us review them in reverse order, and examine the lines of
cliffs to which they give rise, and the table lands which they divide. (See
bird's-eye view, Figure 72.)
We will start at the Grand Wash, half a dozen miles north of the river.
Here the summit of the Carboniferous rocks is deeply buried beneath sand
stones and shales of later origin. At the start we are but five or six hun
dred feet above the level of the Colorado, and we climb by a gentle slope
several miles in length, until we reach an altitude of six or eight hundred
feet above the starting point, and are at the foot of the Grand Wash Cliffs.
Now we must climb this great wall, one thousand five hundred or one thou
sand eight hundred feet high; no easy task, as it is not a mountain slope, up
which we can walk, but a wall, broken somewhat with gulches, and set with
narrow benches, or shelves, here and there, and up some one of these gulches
and along the narrow shelves we pass, until we reach the summit of the first
great terrace.
Still we go a short distance to the east, and must climb another thou
sand feet, or more, and we are on the Shi' -wits Plateau This last escarp-
. ment of a thousand feet is not due to a fault, but is a line of cliffs formed
by erosion. On the plateau there is a dead volcano, and from its crater
have poured floods of basalt in great sheets, which now stand as a central
and higher table on the plateau.
We go on to the east thirty miles. It is not an easy way, but we stop
not here to describe it, and we arrive at the foot of the Hurricane Ledge. We
have descended a little, for the Shi' -wits Plateau inclines, or dips, from its
western margin to the foot of this ledge, or line of cliffs. The Hurricane
Ledge is more than two thousand feet high, and we have another hard climb.
It is related that a storm overtook a party of Mormon officials while
attempting to explore a route for a wagon road up a gulch which comes
down from the upper country, and hence its name, Hurricane Ledge.
It presents a bold, precipitous wall to the west, which forms, along its
entire course, an impassable barrier to the traveler, except that here and
188 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
there it Is cut by narrow cafions or gulches, which may be ascended, and
in two or three places volcanoes, standing on the plateau above, have poured
out streams of lava, that have run over this wall in rugged slopes, which
can be climbed with difficulty.
Then we pass on to the east, winding among volcanic cones, and in
many places walking over sheets of cooled basalt and beds of cinders, until
. we reach the foot of the To-ro'-weap Cliffs. Here we have another wall
800 feet high to climb.
Still passing to the east, by a difficult way, crossing canons and gulches,
at last we reach the western foot of the Kaibab Plateau, and again climb
2,000 feet to its summit, where we are 8,000 feet above the level of the sea.
To the south, we can see the Grand Canon of the Colorado ; its meandering
course can be traced for two hundred miles ; far away to the north, we see
the ragged lines of Vermillion Cliff, an escarpment due to erosion.
On to the east, for thirty miles, and we reach the eastern brink of the
Kaibab Plateau. Descending 1,500 feet, we have a bench three or four
miles wide, and make a second descent of fifteen hundred or eighteen hun
dred feet, when we reach the eastern foot of the plateau, and stand on the
plain above Marble Canon. To the south, these eastern Kaibab steps have
escarpments, as the displacements are by faults. To the north, they have
slopes, as the displacements are by folds.
Then we cross the plain, and still go on to the east for a distance of
thirty five or forty miles, and reach the foot of a line of cliffs facing the west
once more.
Climbing this, we find it to be a sharp ridge, with a face also turned to
the east, so that we have two lines of cliffs or escarpments, one facing the
east, the other the west, brought so close together as to form a sharp ridge.
The eastern face is due to erosion; the western face to displacement by
folding. I shall hereafter discuss this ridge in a more elaborate manner.
The Grand Wash Valley is a desert of broken rocks and naked sands.
There are two or three springs in the valley, and here squalid Indians live,
in a region so warm and so arid, that they are not compelled to build them
selves even shelter of bark and boughs, but wallow in the sand or seek the
shade of the few scrubby cedars that grow from the crevices of the rocks.
U-IN-KA-EET MOUNTAINS. 189
. The Shi' -wits Plateau is naked and desolate, but here and there springs
burst from beneath the basaltic cliffs, and deep gulches and canons are cut
from its margin and run into side cafions of the Colorado. About these
springs and in the deep gulches the Shi'-wits Indians live, cultivating
little patches of corn, gathering seeds, eating the fruits and fleshy stalks of
cactus plants, and catching a rabbit^ar a lizard now and then ; dirty, squalid,
but happy, and boasting of their rocky land as the very Eden of the earth.
In the region above the Hurricane Ledge there are extensive grazing
lands, and where there are a few springs,. which can be used for irrigation,
the Mormon people have succeeded in raising the products of a temperate
climate. In the region below there are two or three small towns along the
course of the Virgen and Santa Clara Rivers, where the inhabitants have
succeeded in cultivating sub-tropical products, and you can throw a stone
from the land of the potato and apple to the land of the fig and sugar cane.
On this great table-land, immediately north of the Colorado River, there
is a group of mountains and volcanic cones, known as the U-in-ka-rets, of
which mention will be made hereafter.
The benches I have described are steps in the great stairway to the
Kaibab Plateau, where the clouds yield their snows even in July, and the
moisture of this upper region has disintegrated the rocks, and formed a soil
which gives footing to vast pine forests. Springs of water abound, beautiful
lakes are scattered here and there, and meadows, clothed with verdure, give
pasturage to herds of deer. This is the summer home of the Kai-vav' -its.
The plain between the foot of the Kaibab Plateau and the Echo Cliffs,
along the Paria Fold, is naked and desolate. Through its center runs the
deep gorge known as Marble Canon, with its many side canons and gulches.
On the eastern slope of the Echo Cliffs a number of springs are found,
and these are famous watering places for the Navajo Indians.
The western slope of the range is composed of homogeneous, but
rather friable, sandstone, and the rain-water rills have corraded deepi chan
nels, interrupted by many pot-holes. After a shower, these pot-holes are
found filled with water. There is a place, near by the trail which passes
from the mouth of the Paria to the province of Tusayan, where there is a
collection of these water-pockets, known as the Thousand Wells.
190 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
(The plateaus and tables, the faults, and folds, and the escarpments,
due to displacement and erosion, are exhibited in bird's-eye view, Figure
72, and also in section and bird's-eye view, Figure 73.)
CLIFFS OF EROSION.
I have said that the upper surface of the district adjacent to the Grand
Canon is the summit of the rocks of Carboniferous Age. North of the
Grand Canon, from forty to sixty miles, we find rocks of later age, standing
in cliffs, the escarpments of which face the south. There are four lines of
these, preserving, in their courses, a general parallelism. Going north from
the Grand Canon, we first meet with the SMn-ar'-ump Cliffs, a step to a
bench, low, and much broken. Capping the cliffs, we find conglomerate,
over which are scattered many fragments of silicified wood, known to the
Indians as the arrows of Skin-au'-av, or Skin-ar'-ump. Still proceeding
north, we come to a second line of cliffs, with soft beds below, and harder
beds above, known as the Vermilion Cliffs. The rocks exposed in these two
lines of cliffs have been, by courtesy, called Trias, but without sufficient
paleontological evidence. The third line of cliffs has a gray, homogeneous
sandstone at the base, and a capping of limestone, containing Jurassic fossils.
Above this line we have many hills, carved out of beds- of Cretaceous Age,
and above and beyond these hills, a line of cliffs, the summit of which is of.
Tertiary Age. The faces of these upper cliffs are stained with red oxide of
iron, and they are called the Pink Cliffs. The dip of the beds is to the
north; the strike east and west; and as these are cliffs of erosion, they fol
low the strike in a general way, and hence have an easterly and westerly
trend.
The ascent from the foot of the Shin-ar'-ump Cliffs to the summit of
the Pink Cliffs is but 4,000 feet; but as the dip is to the north, in the direc
tion of the ascent, the thickness of the beds passed over is much greater,
being more than ten thousand feet.
I have said that these lines of cliffs have an easterly and westerly
course, but they deviate greatly from this general direction in many places.
Wherever a north and south fault is found, the block which has been thrown
down has its lines of cliffs carried southward, or toward the axis of upheaval,
\f
Virgen Valley.
Pine Valley Mountain.
••
// ' H ' f\
9' i\ V
ui ii \
f'.\\ ri
Paria Fold.
Echo Cliffs.
Marble Canon.
East Kaibab Fold.
Kaibab Plateau.
•
West Kaibab Fold.
Kanab Plateau.
Kanab Canon.
Kauab Plateau.
To-ro'-weap Fault.
U-in-kar-et Mountains.
Hurricane Fault.
Shi'-vwits Platea
SI
-^ —
I1
O o
iJ
CO 00
33 S3
§s
£
B
I
. Grand Wash Fault.
§ Grand Wash.
Figure 74.— Bird's-eye view of cliffs of erosion, showing the Shin-ar'-ump Cliffs, Ver
milion Cliffs, and Gray Cliffs, in order from right to left.
Figure 76.— Section through Echo Cliff's.
East.
CLIFFS OF DISPLACEMENT AND EEOSION. 191
or, if we are to consider the displacement as caused by upheaval, the blocks
uplifted have their lines of cliffs set farther back to the north; and the
amount of this .backward or forward displacement is in direct ratio to the
amount of vertical displacement in the fault or monoclinal fold. The higher
region has suffered a greater amount of erosion, and as erosion progresses
chiefly by undermining, as I have explained in the discussion of the Terrace
Canons, the cliffs of the higher blocks stand farther back from the axis of
upheaval than those of the lower blocks.
The general line of these cliffs is broken in another way. Streams,
heading on the high plateaus to the north, run southward into the Grand
Canon, and have carved out canons through the cliffs, and turned the escarp
ment far back into the several benches, so that instead of four unbroken
walls facing the south, and having an easterly and westerly direction, we
have, in fact, a series of salients and re-entering angles.
Entering this country from the east or west, it is necessary to climb
great benches, due to displacements along faults, and crossing it from south
to north, it is necessary to climb great benches, but these are due to erosion;
so we have two systems of cliffs — cliffs of displacement, having a northerly
and southerly trend, and cliffs of erosion, having an easterly and westerly
trend.
The first — cliffs of displacement — are of two classes: those facing the
west, where the throw of the beds is on the western side of the fracture, and
those facing the east, where the throw of the beds is on the eastern side of
the fracture.
The cliffs of erosion are very irregular in direction, but somewhat con
stant in vertical outline; and the cliffs of displacement are somewhat regular
in direction, but very inconstant in vertical outline. This inconstancy is
due to the frequent changes in the character of the faults, which I have
previously described.
In the Echo Cliffs, east of Marble Canon, a line of cliffs, due to ero
sion, and a slope due to displacement, have come together, back to back.
The position of the slope is essentially unchangeable, as it is due to a
flexure; but the escarpment, due to erosion, has doubtless been carried back
from Marble Canon to the east, until it has just reached this .slope. Figure
192 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
76 is a cross section, intended to represent the structure of these interesting
cliffs. In some places, the erosion of the western escarpment has been
carried back farther than the line of displacement; in other places, not
quite up to it. But wherever the line of erosion has been brought up to the
line of displacement, or near it, we find the rocks standing in sharp crags.
I have heretofore explained that one of the conditions essential to the
cliff structure is that the beds of the summit must be comparatively hard,
and the beds below, at the foot of the cliffs, very soft; and this condition is
well illustrated in these cliffs. Now the lower beds are turned down, by the
monoclinal fold, below the reach of the waters employed in degradation, as
you pass across the fold from west to east, and hence these cliffs cannot be
carried farther to the east, by the progress of undermining, as long as the
present conditions exist; and now the agency of erosion can only be exerted
in obliterating the ridge. For this reason the ridge disappears in those
places along its line where the undermining erosion from the west has pro
gressed the farthest.
• On the western side of the Paria Plateau there is an escarpment, facing
the west, due to erosion, and the line of the escarpment, on its northern end,
coincides with the line of flexure of the Eastern Kaibab Fault. Here, again,
we have a line of crags or peaks, forming an irregular ridge, like that in the
Echo Cliffs; but this stands on the brink of a well defined plateau, and is
higher than the general surface of the table. The crags and peaks are
carved from the upturned edges of the beds. The slope due to displace
ment is seen farther to the west, and is the slope of the Kaibab Plateau, and
faces the escarpment. Only a small portion of this slope is seen in the edge
of the plateau, where stands the line of crags. The softer beds at the bottom,
which constitute one of the conditions on which the escarpment depends, are
still exposed to the action of rains and streams, and the cliff condition is not
terminated, as in the section previously given, and future erosion will carry
this line of cliffs back to the east, as long as the present conditions are pre
served.
Figure 77 is a section extending from the Paria Plateau, on the east,
across House Rock Valley, to the Kaibab Plateau, on the west, and shows
the upturned edges of the rocks on the brink of the Paria Plateau. The
THE GKAND CANON OF THE COLORADO. 193
sharp crags and peaks seen along this edge of the Paria Plateau are not
well represented in the section, as it was taken along the line a little too far
to the south for that purpose.
So the district of country through which the Grand Canon is cut, is
divided into blocks by cliffs and canons, and to each of the greater blocks
~ \
we have given a name, and called it a plateau. Only a few of these, like
the Kaibab, are well denned as tables, i. e., blocks of land bounded on all
sides by escarpments and slopes, which descend to lower lands. Many of
them have escarpments and slopes to lower lands only on two or three sides,
while the escarpments on the other sides are ascents to other plateaus. I
shall not linger here to describe these plateaus in detail, but shall defer a
more thorough discussion of the subject to the detailed report on the geology
of the district.
THE GRAND CANON.
Through these tables the Colorado runs, in an easterly and westerly
direction, in a deep gorge, known as the Grand Canon.
The varying depths of this canon, due to the varying altitudes of the
plateaus through which it runs, can only be seen from above. As we wind
about in the gloomy depths below, the difference between 4,000 and 6,000
feet is not discerned, but the characteristics of the canon — the scenic fea
tures — change abruptly with the change in the altitude of the walls, as the*
faults are passed. In running the channel, which divides the twin plateaus,
we pass around the first great southern bend. In the very depths of the
canon we have black granite, with a narrow cleft, through which a great
river plunges. This granite portion of the walls is carved with deep gulches
and embossed with pinnacles and towers. Above are broken, ragged,. non-
conformable rocks, in many places sloping back at a low angle. Clamber
ing over these, we reach rocks lying in horizontal beds. Some are soft;
many very hard; _the softer strata are washed out; the harder remain as
shelves. Everywhere there are side gulches and canons, so that these
gulches are set about ten thousand dark, gloomy alcoves. One might imag
ine that this was intended for the library of the gods; and it was. The
shelves are not for books, but form the stony leaves of one great book. He
who would read the language of the universe may dig out letters here and
23 COL
194 EXPLOITATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
there, and with them spell the words, and read, in a slow and imperfect
way, but still so as to understand a little, the story of creation.
These rust colored shelves have above them soft shales, of a lemon
color, and in ascending the wall we climb them by passing up a steep slope,
curiously carved by innumerable rainy-day rills. Above these we find
homogeneous limestone a thousand feet in thickness, standing in vertical
cliffs. On top of this great bed we find soft sandstones, so washed away
as to leave comparatively flat spaces of solid rock above — a bench on which
we can walk on the side of the Grand Canon, more than four thousand feet
above the river. In this part ot its course the channel is very tortuous.
Many streams he'ad in the Kaibab Plateau, to the north, and the Coanini
Plateau, to the south, and run down into the Grand Canon ; and these have
their lateral canons, and a third and fourth system of side gulches are seen,
all having winding ways. Now suppose that we start on this bench, where
the Grand Canon cuts through the second of the Eastern Kaibab Faults,
and follow it down the canon until we come to the Western Kaibab .Fault.
We start on the north side of the river, and the Kaibab Plateau is on our
right. At once we walk around a great amphitheater, the head of a side
gulch, and then another, and another, until we come to a lateral canon
coming down the Kaibab, which has its beginning many miles back. Now
•we must head this. In doing so we must walk around the brink of a great
amphitheater, the head of a side gulch, then another, and still another, until
we come to a side caiion lateral to the one we are attempting to head, and
around it we must go. In doing so, still following the bench on the sum
mit of the limestone, we pass around, in gentle curves, by many of these
amphitheaters, and so on we go, everywhere traveling in half circles, which
are arranged about side canons. At last we head the first side canon, and
return to the brink of the Grand Canon, at a point only a mile or two to the
west of where we started, and so head side caiions with side canons, all set
with amphitheaters, and travel day by day, and must walk hundreds of
miles to reach the western edge of the Kaibab Plateau, not more than thirty
miles in a direct line from where we started. So this great bed of rock, a
thousand feet in thickness, is elaborately carved into a series of amphi
theaters.
NAKED ROCK. 195
Above this bed of limestone we have beds of bright red sandstones,
weathered so as to form shelves on a scale even greater than in the rust
colored rocks' below, but in many places they break down in steep slopes.
Then above we have buff and gray sandstones, and limestones heavily bed
ded, and near the summit, where the limestone prevails, they are full of
nodules of chert. This cherty limestone weathers in columns, and towers,
and pinnacles; curious forms of standing rock are arranged all along the
brink of the canon wall.
So below we have granite buttresses, themselves set with pinnacles and
towers, then broken slopes, then somber recesses, set with ragged shelves,
then strangely carved and fretted slopes, and lemon colored shales, then
vast amphitheaters of marble, then red slopes and sandstone shelves, then
cliffs of ragged limestone, set with towers.
The wonderful elaboration and diversity with which this work has been
done is only equaled by the vast scale on which the plan was laid.
In many places the conditions of erosion have been such that great
blocks have been severed from the main plateau and stand as outliers, their
sides having all the elaborate sculpture of the walls of the canon. Lieu
tenant Ives, who explored the lower Colorado, made a land trip, from a point
below the Grand Canon around to the southwest, and climbed the San Fran
cisco Plateau, and from an elevated point he could look off to the northeast
and see the region of which we are now speaking. Of this country he says:
"The extent and magnitude of the system of canons in that direction is
astounding. The plateau is cut into shreds by these gigantic chasms, and
resembles a vast ruin. Belts of country, miles in width, have been swept
away, leaving only isolated mountains standing in the gap — fissures, so pro
found that the eye cannot penetrate their depths, are separated by walls
whose thickness one can almost span, and slender spires, that seem tottering
upon their base, shoot up a thousand feet from vaults below."
In other regions, the rocks, when not covered with soil, or more vigor
ous vegetation, are at least lichened, or stained, and the rocks themselves of
somber hue, but in this region they are naked, and many of them brightly
colored, as if painted by artist gods ; not stained and daubed with inharmo
nious hues, but beautiful as flowers, and gorgeous as the clouds. Such are
196 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
the walls of the Grand Canon of the Colorado, where it divides the twin
plateaus.
Having crossed the Western Kaibab Fault, the canon suddenly changes
in character. The throw of the rocks being more than one thousand five
hundred feet, we lose the granite, and the bed of the river is in the lemon
colored rocks, and now for many miles the canon is comparatively straight,
and the walls are much more regular. At the bottom we have the rusty
beds, and then the lemon colored beds, and then the marble cliffs, and when
we reach the summit of this limestone we find the same bench as above,
under the Kaibab Plateau, but here it is wider, ranging from two or three
hundred yards to two or three miles. Then comes a sloping, bright red
terrace, and back of it the cliffs of the cherty limestone, with standing rocks
on the brink.
You can stand on the southwestern corner of the Kaibab Plateau, and
look over this straight stretch of canon for sixty miles. There seems to be
a valley enclosed with walls one thousand five hundred or two thousand
feet high, five to ten miles in width, with a narrow, winding gorge down its
center.
A few lateral canons come in on either side; so the walls are broken
here and there, but the general outline is well preserved.
Just before the river wheels again to the south, in the second great
bend, it passes the To-ro'-weap Fault, which extends across the canon. The
rocks have dropped down about eight hundred feet, and let the homogeneous
limestone nearly down to the water. The fissure of this fault has been the
channel through which floods of lava have been forced from depths below
into the upper world.
Many volcanic cones are seen standing along the line of the fault, or
on the branches of the fissure. One of these volcanic cones stands on the
very brink of the canon, and is the one of which mention was made in the
account of the exploration.
Passing this, the course of the river is southward, and once more the
channel enters the granite. At the very apex of this bend, Diamond Creek
makes its contribution from the south, and it was here that Lieutenant Ives
and Doctor Newberry came down to the depths of the Grand Canon.
LATERAL CANONS. 197
Turning here again to the north, the river soon passes out of the granite,
and then, at last, out of the canon, where the Grand Wash comes down from
the north. Around this second great bend the walls of the canon have a
more simple structure than in the first, but there are many points where
views can be obtained of a simple gorge, much more impressive as such,
than in the complex region above.
LATERAL CANONS.
Many other streams, heading to the north and south, are tributaries of
the Colorado, and have canons which are lateral to the Grand Canon. The
Kanab heads away to the north, at the foot of the Pink Cliffs, and runs
south into the Grand Carton, passing through a series of gorges. Where it
cuts through the successive lines of cliffs, it presents another series of terrace
canons, in many respects like the series on Green River; but the lower
canon of the Kanab, which comes down to the Colorado River, is carved
through the harder limestones and sandstones of Carboniferous Age, and its
general characteristics are the same as those of Marble Canon.
The Little Colorado, heading away off to the southeast, enters the
Grand Canon by a profound gorge of its own.
From the south, the most important stream is Coanini Creek, which
heads near the San Francisco Mountain, and rapidly finds its way into great
depths.
Besides these streams, the plateaus are cut by the Rio Virgen, in its
upper course, which empties into the Colorado below the Grand Caiion, and
by the Paria, which heads in the Pink Cliffs, and enters the Colorado at the
head of Marble Canon.
All these streams, and many others of lesser importance, have cut
gorges of their own; and they all have wet- weather affluents, that run in
deep canons. It is a canon land.
THE CANONS CARVED BY RUNNING WATERS.
I have stated, and assumed, from time to time, in the above discussion,
that these canons have been cut by running waters. Professor Newberry,
198 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
who first studied tliis region, in his report on the geology of the country
which he visited, says: " Having this question constantly in mind, and
examining, with all possible care, the structure of the great canons which
we entered, I everywhere found evidence of the exclusive action of water
in their formation. The opposite sides of the deepest chasm showed perfect
correspondence of stratification, conforming to the general dip, and nowhere
displacement; and the bottom rock, so often dry and bare, was perhaps
deeply eroded, but continuous, from side to side, a portion of the yet
undivided series lying below."
Professor Newberry saw the great canon region which I have described
only on its southern border, but where the canon features are developed on
the grandest scale. My own observations overlap his, and extend to the
north many hundreds of miles; and during the last six years I have
explored many thousands of miles of canons, and everywhere the facts
observed confirm Professor Newberry's conclusions, as stated above.
Though the entire region has been folded and faulted on a grand scale,
these displacements have never determined the course of the streams. The
canons are seen to cut across them, either directly or obliquely, here and
there, and in a few instances, I have observed canons to follow the course
of faults for a short distance. They have also been observed to run back
and forth across a fault; but such instances are surprisingly rare. In all
the canons where the streams are not so large as to cover the bottom,
the continuity of the strata below has been apparent; and in the canons
traversed by the larger streams, the beds on either side have been found at
the same altitude; and if it is supposed that these water-ways were deter
mined by fissures, then such fissures were made without displacement, and
did not extend to the depths now reached by the streams. If it is possible
to conceive of such fissures, they must have been quite narrow; in fact, the
whole supposition is evidently absurd. All the facts concerning the relation
of the water-ways of this region to the mountains, hills, canons, and cliffs,
lead to the inevitable conclusion that the system of drainage was determined
antecedent to the faulting, and folding, and erosion, which are observed, and
antecedent, also, to the formation of the eruptive beds and cones.
LIEUTENANT IVES ON THE GliAND CANON. 199
THE U-IN-KA-EET MOUNTAINS.
The plateaus are yet modified in another way. Eruptive mountains,
beds of black basalt, and volcanic cones are found here and there, and scoria
and ashes are scattered over the land. There are three great, irregular
mountains standing on the bendh between the To-ro'-weap Fault and the
Hurricane Ledge Fault. These great, complex masses of rock, or irregular
mountains, are called by the Indians U-in-ka'-rets, (Pine Mountains.)
Lieutenant Whipple, on the first of January, 1854, while making a
reconnaissance for a railroad route to the Pacific Ocean, camped at a spring
about thirty miles to the southwest of the San Francisco Mountain, to which
he gave the name "New Year's Spring." From this elevated position on the
plateau he looked north, and over the chasm, in the distance, 200 miles
away, he saw these mountains. Perhaps he discovered but a single peak,
but on the map of the country over which the reconnaissance was made, he
has indicated these peaks, and called them "High Mountains." Probably
he intended this as a provisional name only.
In the winter of 1857— '58, when Lieutenant Ives explored the Lower
Colorado, he reached, with a boat, a point on the river about ten miles below
the Rio Virgen, and about eighty miles below the Grand Canon. Being
unable to proceed farther in his boat, a land expedition was organized, and
he explored the plateaus to the south, descending to the mouth of Diamond
Creek, as I have mentioned. His first view of the canon, and the great
plateaus through which it is carved, was obtained April 3, 1858, and is thus
described: "At the end of ten miles the ridge of the swell was attained, and
a splendid panorama burst suddenly into view. In the foreground were low
table hills, intersected by numberless ravines; beyond these a lofty line of
bluffs marked the edge of an immense canon; a wide gap was directly
ahead, and through it were beheld, to the extreme limit of vision, vast pla
teaus, towering one above the other, thousands of feet in the air, the long,
horizontal bands broken, at intervals, by wide and profound abysses, and
extending a hundred miles to the north-, till the deep azure blue faded into
a light cerulean tint, that blended with the dome of the heavens. The
famous Big Canon was before us, and for a long time we paused in wonder-
200 EXPLOEATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
ing delight, surveying the stupendous formation through which the Colo
rado and its tributaries break their way."
On the 12th of April he obtained another good view across the country
to the north, and, in his account of the day's journey, he makes this remark:
"On the north side of the Colorado appeared a short range of mountains,
close to the canon, which had been previously hidden by the intervening
plateaus."
On the map of the country embraced in this reconnaissance, a group of
mountains are indicated, and called, by him, "North Side Mountains" — a
name doubtless intended by him as provisional. They are the same as those
mentioned by Lieutenant Whipple, and the same that we have described as
standing on the bench between the To-ro'-weap Cliffs and the Hurricane
Ledge. The Indian name U-in-ka' -rets has been adopted by the people who
live in sight of the highest peaks, and so I have adopted the name which
will doubtless live among those who use it daily.
The most northern of these mountain masses I have called Mount
Trumbull, the next "Mount Logan, and the one standing nearest to the Grand
Canon Mount Emma.
The great mountain masses themselves are covered with volcanic cones,
and groups of volcanic cones are scattered over the benches. Let us see
how these mountains were formed.
We have seen that the Uinta Mountains were not thrust up as peaks,
but were carved from a vast, rounded block left by a retiring sea, or uplifted
from the depths of the ocean, and its present forms are due to erosion!
But these are volcanic cones. Have they, then, been built up as mount
ains? We shall see. The beds of sedimentary rocks, on which these
mountains stand, run under the Vermilion Cliffs, to the north, and the beds
seen in the Vermilion Cliffs at one time extended far away to the south, over
this country and beyond the Grand Canon. Shales, sandstones, and lime
stones, several thousand feet in thickness, have been washed away from the
summit of all these benches south of the cliffs.
When this denudation commenced, there were no faults and no benches,
and streams ran down from the north, heading in the Mar-ka'-gunt and
Pauns-a'-gunt Plateaus, and found their way into the Colorado, and probably
U-IN-KA-RET MOUNTAINS. 201
there were valleys along their courses. Other streams had their sources far
away to the south, and came down into the Colorado, and it is probable
that they also ran through valleys. Then these displacements began; they
were not formed suddenly; the rocks were not flung down during some
great convulsion, but settled slowly, so that this change in the contour of
the surface had no effect on the course of the streams. Thus the downfall
of the beds was not faster than the wearing away of the channels, for the
displacements by faults and folds has not determined nor modified the direc
tion of the principal streams. As the rocks fell, molten lava was thrust up,
not suddenly, nor all at once, but from time to time — now here, now there —
pouring out a sheet of molten rock in one eruption, and again in another,
and this commenced away back in that time before the shales and sand
stones seen in the Vermilion Cliffs had been carried away from the benches
and plateaus to the south. Doubtless these first floods of lava found their
ways into valleys — valleys in that elder time — and covered great beds of
these sandstones and shales. When the lavas cooled, the rocks which they
formed were much harder than the sandstones by which they were under
laid, and the beds which formed the surface of the country elsewhere; and
as the degradation of this region by rains and rivers continued, the surround
ing country was carried away, and the sandstones and shales, protected by
the harder beds of basalt, remained; and now mountains stand in such
places, doubtless marking the sites of ancient valleys. So the uncovered
sandstones wasted away, and the lava-capped beds remained, leaving at
first low tables,, covered with sheets of basalt. Still, from time to time, new
beds of lava were poured out — not over the old beds, usually, but on their
borders, increasing their protected area; and, as the surrounding sandstones
were still farther carried away, still, pari passu with erosion, came floods of
lava, and thus the mountains which remain have a strangely complex con
stitution. We may call them eruptive mountains, for, had no eruption
occurred, no mountains would have been left; all of the sandstones would
have been carried away. But yet the great mass of the material of which
the mountains are made is not eruptive matter; the mountains are great beds
of sandstone and shale, covered with blankets of basalt, and, in a general
way, the older beds of lava have the higher position on the mountains.
20 COL
202 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
Since these vermilion beds were stripped from the adjacent country,
the few showers of this arid region condense chiefly about the summits of
the mountains, and the waters, gathering into streams, and running down
into the lower region, have cut deep gulches through the sheets of basalt,
in many places revealing the structure of the mountains themselves. The
last puff in these . eruptive vents tossed high into the air scoria and ashes ;
the lighter materials were carried away by the winds, the heavier fragments
fell, and thus cinder-cones were piled up; and in many of these cinder-
cones the Outlines of the craters are still preserved.
The beds of lava are of various ages. The first were poured out in
that ancient time before the sandstones had been carried away. From time
to time new beds were formed, and the latest beds have been poured out in
a time so recent, that the very waves of the congealed floods are still pre
served, and there is no reason to suppose that this action is completed. In
time another vent may be opened, and another river of red hot rock gush
from the earth. Nor are all the cones of late origin ; each outflow of molten
matter seems to have ended in the formation of a cone. In the elder beds
the cones have been washed away, but their sites are marked by scattered
cinders. In the very latest cones the craters are still preserved, and their
cinders are angular fragments of slag, that show that many storms have not
fallen upon them since they broke in cooling.
So, even these eruptive mountains were hewn from the rock, and only
the cinder-cones, scattered here and there, small in comparison to the great
mountain masses, were piled up in their present forms.
It is probable that the cones have cores which extend to great depths,
and perhaps connect the sheets of basalt above with masses of like material
below, and thus the more enduring and protecting beds to which these
mountains owe their preservation are anchored to the heart of the earth.
METHODS OF EROSION.
In this and the foregoing chapter I have attempted to describe the agen
cies and conditions which have produced the more important topographic
features in the Valley of the Colorado. These features are mountains, hills,
hog-backs, bad-lands, alcove lands, cliffs, buttes, and canons. The primary
METHODS OF EROSION. 203
agency in the production of these features is upheaval, i. e., upheaval in
relation to the level of the sea, though it may possibly be down-throw in
relation to the center of the earth. This movement in portions of the crust
of the earth may be by great folds, with anticlinal or synclinal axes, and by
monoclinal folds and faults.
The second great agency is erosion, and the action of this agency is
conditioned on the character of the displacements above mentioned, the
texture and constitution of the rocks, and the amount and relative distribution
of the rains.
In a district of country, the different portions of which lie at different
altitudes above the sea, the higher the region the greater the amount of rain
fall, and hence the eroding agency increases in some well observed, but not
accurately defined, ratio, from the low to the high lands. The power of
running water, in corrading channels and transporting the products of
erosion, increases with the velocity of the stream in geometric ratio, and
hence the degradation of the rocks increases with the inclination of the
slopes. Thus altitude ,and inclination both are important elements in the
problem.
Let me state this in another way. We may consider the level of the
sea to be a grand base level, below which the dry lands cannot be eroded;
but we may also have, for local and temporary purposes, other base levels
of erosion, which are the levels of the beds of the principal streams which
carry away the products of erosion. (I take some liberty in using the term
level in this connection, as the action of a running stream in wearing its
channel ceases, for all practical purposes, before its bed has quite reached
the level of the lower end of the stream. What I have called the base level
would, in fact, be an imaginary surface, inclining slightly in all its parts
toward the lower end of the principal stream draining the area through
which the level is supposed to extend, or having the inclination of its parts
varied in direction as determined by tributary streams.) Where such a
stream crosses a series of rocks in its course, some of which are hard, and
others soft, the harder beds form a series of temporary dams, above which
the corrasion of the channel through the softer beds is checked, and thus
we may have a series of base levels of erosion, below which the rocks on
204 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
either side of the river, though exceedingly friable, cannot be degraded. In
these districts of country, the first work of rains and rivers is to cut chan
nels, and divide the country into hills, and, perhaps, mountains, by many
meandering grooves or water-courses, and when these have reached their
local base levels, under the existing conditions, the hills are washed down,
but not carried entirely away.
With this explanation I may combine the statements concerning eleva
tion and inclination into this single expression, that the more elevated any
district of country is, above its base level of denudation, the more rapidly
it is degraded by rains and rivers.
The second condition in the progress of erosion, is the character of the
beds to be eroded. Softer beds are acted upon more rapidly than the harder.
The districts which are composed of softer rocks are rapidly excavated, so
as to become valleys or plains, while the districts composed of harder rocks
remain longer as hills and mountains.
Where the beds are of stratified material, so that the change from harder
to softer materials is from bed to bed, rather than from district to district, and
in a vertical or inclined direction, rather than a horizontal, the topographic
features, which I have described as hog-backs and cliffs of erosion, are pro
duced. The difference between hog-backs and cliffs of erosion is chiefly
due to the amount of dip or inclination of the beds.
But there is another condition necessary to the production of cliffs and
hog-backs in their typical forms. The country must be arid, for where there
is a great amount of rain-fall, the water penetrates and permeates the rocks,
and breaks them up, or rots them, to use an expression which has been
employed with this meaning; and the difference between the durability of
the harder beds and that of the softer, is, to some extent, compensated for
by this agency, though doubtless ridges and cliffs may be produced in less
arid climates, as we find them in the Appalachian System, but not so well
marked. In a region of country where there is a greater amount of rain
fall, the tendency is to produce hills and mountains, rather than plateaus
and ridges, with escarpments.
Now let us examine the character of the channels which running
streams carve. Where the rocks to be carved are approximately horizontal,
METHODS OF EROSION, 'CLASSIFIED. 205
*•
and composed of stratified beds of varying thickness, the tendency is to cut
channels with escarpments or cliffs; but if the beds are greatly inclined, or
composed of unstratified material, the tendency is to cut channels with more
flaring and irregular walls. These tendencies are more clearly defined when
the ineteorologic conditions are favorable — that is, if a stream cuts through
stratified rocks, in an arid region, and carries the waters from a district more
plentifully supplied, the cliff character of the walls is increased; and where
a stream runs through unstratified rocks, in a district well supplied with
rains, the walls or banks of the stream are cut down in more gentle slopes.
For purposes of discussion, it will be convenient to call the deep chan
nels of streams through table-lands, in arid climates, canons; and the deep
channels of streams through heterogeneous beds, in a moist climate, water-
gaps, or narrows, and ravines.
Having in view the forms which are produced by erosion, it will be
convenient to classify the methods of erosion as follows: First, corrasion by
running streams, and, second, erosion by rains; the first producing channels
along well defined lines, the second producing the general surface features
of the landscape.
Of the first class we have twd varieties:
A. The corrasion of water-gaps.
B. The corrasion of canons.
. Of the second class we have three varieties:
A. Cliff erosion, where the beds are slightly inclined, and are of hete
rogeneous structure, some soft and others hard; and for the production
of the best marked forms, the climate should be arid. Here the progress
of erosion is chiefly by undermining.
B. Hog-back erosion, where the beds have a greater inclination, but
are still of heterogeneous structure. Here the progress of erosion is by
undermining and surface washing, and the typical forms would require an
arid climate.
C. Hill and mountain erosion, where the beds may lie in any shape,
and be composed of any material not included in the other classes, and the
progress of erosion is chiefly by surface washing. The typical forms are
found in a moist climate.
206 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
There i,s still another agency in the production of topographic features,
viz, the eruption of molten matter from below the general surface. The
beds formed are soon modified by erosion, and then the forms produced are
due to that agency, and fall under the general series. But there is a time,
immediately after the eruption, when these beds lie in forms due to igneous
dynamics, and the most important features produced are cones. These
cones are very conspicuous features of the landscape over much of the
region drained by the Colorado River.
The district of country drained by the Colorado and its tributaries is
divided into two parts, by a well marked line of displacements. The lower
third of the valley, which lies southward from this line, is but little above
the level of the sea, except that here and there ranges of mountains are found.
From this region, there is usually a bold step to a higher.
The upper two-thirds of the area drained by the Colorado is from four
to eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, with mountain ranges on
-the east, north, and west, of greater altitude. The bold step from the lower
country to the table lands is usually an escarpment in rocks of Carboniferous
Age, marked, here and there, by beds of lava, and along its margin stand
many volcanic cones. San Francisco Mountain is made up of a group of
these beds of eruptive matter, covering stratified rocks. This higher region
is the one to which we have given especial attention in the previous dis
cussion.
The principal condensation of moisture occurs on and about the mount
ains standing on the rim of the basin, the region within being arid.
Bad-lands, alcove lands, plains of naked rock, plains of drifting sands,
mesas, plateaus, buttes, hog-backs, cliffs, volcanic cones, volcanic mountains,
canons, canon valleys, and valleys are all found in this region and make
up its topographic features. Mountains, hills, and small elevated valleys
are the features of the irregular boundary belt.
No valley is found along the course of the Colorado, from the Grand
Wash toward the sources of the river, until we reach the head of Labyrinth
Canon. For this entire distance the base level of erosion is below -the
general surface level of the country adjacent to the river, but at Gunnison's
Valley we have a local base level of erosion which has resulted in the pro-
BASE LEVELS OF EEOSION. 207
duction of low plains and hills for a number of miles back from the stream.
North of the Caiion of Desolation and south of the Uinta Mountains, another
local base level of erosion is found, so near to the general surface of the
country that we find a district of valleys and low hills stretching back from
Green River, up the Uinta to the west, and White River to the east, for many
miles. North of the Uinta Mountains a third local base level of erosion is seen,
but its influence on the topographic features is confined to a small area of
two or three hundred square miles. Going up the chief lateral streams of
the Colorado, we find one or more of these local base levels of erosion, where
the streams course through valleys.
Where these local base levels of erosion exist, forming valley and hill
regions, the streams no longer cut their channels deeper, and the waters of
the streams, running at a low angle, course slowly along and are not able to
carry away the products of surface wash, and these are deposited along the
flood-plains, in part, and in the valleys, among hills, and on the gentler slopes.
This results in a redistribution of the material in irregular beds and aggre
gations.
In this region, there are occasional local storms of great violence.
Such storms may occur in any particular district only at intervals of many
years, possibly centuries. When such a one does occur, it reopens great
numbers of channels that have been filled by the ordinary wash of rains,
and often cuts a new channel through beds which have accumulated in the
manner above described. The structure of these beds is weU exposed, and
we find beds of clay, beds of sand, and beds of gravel occurring in a very
irregular way, due to the vicissitudes of local wash, and, where the progress
of erosion has been more or less by undermining, larger fragments or boul
ders are found, and these boulders are sometimes mixed with clay, and some
times with sand and gravel, and where thin sheets of eruptive rocks have
been torn to pieces, more or less by undermining, (for such is the usual way
in this country,) the beds appear to contain erratics, and in fact some of the
rocks are erratics, for in the various changes in the levels produced they have
often been transported many miles, not by sudden and rapid excursions, but
moved a little from time to time.
Again, the beds from which they were derived, doubtless, in many cases
208 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
have been broken up or lost, and these fragments only remain to attest to
the existence of such beds in some former time, and all stages may be ob
served, from the beds the edges only of which have been broken up, to those
that have only fragments remaining or have entirely disappeared. Another
interesting fact has been observed, that these erratics or boulders are often
found distributed somewhat in lines due to the undermining of lines of cliffs.
Often where we have cliffs capped with a bed of lava, former and more ad
vanced positions of these lines of cliffs can be recognized by the position of
lines of lava fragments which are seen in the valley or plains in front of
the cliffs. It will be seen that these local accumulations of material, due to
the excess of erosion over that of transportation, greatly resemble the accu
mulations of "the Drift." Especially is this true where I have studied the
latter in the valley of the Mississippi, and I have been led to query whether
it may not be possible to refer the origin of the Drift of the Valley of the
Mississippi, in part at least, to some such action as this ; not that I question
the evidence of extended glacial action in that region, but may it not be
that this glacial action has only resulted in somewhat modifying a vast ac
cumulation of irregularly bedded material, originally due to the fact that
the grand base level of erosion had been reached by the running streams of
that region, and hills and mountains had been degraded by having the ma
terial of which they were composed scattered over lower lands, without being
carried away by streams to the sea?
All the mountain forms of this region are due to erosion ; all the canons,
channels of living rivers and intermittent streams, were carved by the run
ning waters, and they represent an amount of corrasion difficult to compre
hend. But the carving of the canons and mountains is insignificant, when
compared with the denudation of the whole area, as evidenced in the cliffs
of erosion. Beds hundreds of feet in thickness and hundreds of thousands
of square miles in extent, beds of granite and beds of schist, beds of marble
and beds of sandstone, crumbling shales and adamantine lavas have slowly
yielded to the silent and unseen powers of the air, and crumbled into dust
and been washed away by the rains and carried into the sea by the rivers.
The story we have told is a history of the war of the elements to beat
back the march of the lands from ocean depths.
NOT A REGION OF MOST EAPID EROSION. 209
And yet the conditions necessary to great erosion in the Valley of the
Colorado are not found to exceed those of many other regions. In fact, the
aridity of the climate is such that this may be considered a region of lesser,
rather than greater, erosion. We may suppose that, had this country been
favored with an amount of rain-fall similar to that of the Appalachian coun
try, and many other districts on the surface of the earth, that the base level
of erosion of the entire area would have been the level of the sea ; and,
under such circumstances, though the erosion would have been much greater
than we now find, the evidences of erosion would have been more or less
obliterated. . As it is, we are able to study erosion in this country, and find
evidences of its progress and its great magnitude, from the very fact that
the conditions of erosion have been imperfect.
It is proper to remark here that erosion does not increase in ratio to
the increase of the precipitation of moisture, cceteris paribus, as might be
supposed ; . for, with the increase of rains there will be an increase of vege
tation, which serves as a protection to the rocks, and distributes erosion
more evenly, and it may be that a great increase of rains in this region
would only produce a different series of topographic outlines, without greatly
increasing the general degradation of the Valley of the Colorado.
To a more thorough discussion of this subject I hope to return at some
future time.
From the considerations heretofore presented, it is not thought neces
sary to refer the exhibition of erosion shown in the canons and cliffs to a
more vigorous action of aqueous dynamics than now exists, for, as I have
stated, a greater precipitation of moisture would have resulted in a very
different class of topographic features. Instead of canons, we should have
had water-gaps and ravines ; instead of valleys with cliff like walls, we
should have had valleys bounded by hills and slopes ; and if the conclusions
to which we have arrived are true, the arid conditions now existing must
have extended back for a period of time of sufficient length to produce the
present canons and cliffs. But there are facts which seem to warrant the
conclusion that this condition has existed for a much longer period than that
necessary for the production of the present features ; that is, the character
istics of the present topography have existed for a long time. There are
27 COL
210 EXPLORATION OP THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
evidences that the lines of cliffs themselves have been carried back for great
distances as cliffs by undermining, which is a process carried on only in an
arid region.
The evidence is of this character. I have stated that the drainage of
the inclined plateaus is usually from the brink of the cliffs backward; i. e.,
the water falling on the plateau does not find its way immediately over the
cliffs, but runs from the very brink or edge of the plateau back toward the
middle or farther side, which is usually found against the foot of another line
of cliffs, and here the waters are turned toward some greater channel, which
runs against the dip and cuts through the cliffs. Now the water-ways at the
heads of these streams that have their sources near the brink of the cliffs
would always be small, shallow, and ramifying into many minute branches
if the line of cliffs were a fixed or immovable line, but we often find that the
cliffs have been carried back by the undermining process until all these mi
nute ramifications have been cut off; and we find canons opening on the
faces of the cliffs, the waters of which run backward as above described.
Let us suppose that we have a line of cliffs with an escarpment facing
the south. The rain, falling on the escarpment and in the region south of
the cliffs, would run toward the south or along the foot of the cliffs until it
reached some more important water channel ; the rain falling on the plateau,
from the brink of the cliffs backward, would run toward the north, and the
waters falling on this upper region would excavate channels for themselves,
and, under proper conditions, canons would be cut. As the cliffs are under
mined and this line carried back into^the plateau, the area with a southern
drainage would be increased, the area with a northern drainage correspond
ingly diminished, and, when the process had continued for a sufficient length
of time, we would find the southern edge of the plateau carried away by this
undermining process, until all the heads of the streams were cut off and until
the line had reached the canons.
Gradually, during the progress of erosion, the excavation of the bottom
of the canons would cease, as the supply of water running through them
would be cut off, and such caiions would have to be considered as compara
tively ancient. Such facts are frequently observed in this caiion and cliff
country.
From such considerations, it seems that we may safely conclude that
GILBERT ON THE GLACIAL EPOCH IN THE "GREAT BASIN." 211
the cliff topography has prevailed in that region for a long time. There are
evidences also that there were canons here before the present canons were
carved. The* facts in relation to this matter can be better stated when we
come to discuss the geology of the region.
Mr. G. K. Gilbert, a geologist of Lieutenant Wheeler's corps, in a paper
communicated to the Philosophical Society of Washington, in 1873, deduced
a similar conclusion from an independent series of facts observed in Western
Utah. The basin of Great Salt Lake, a portion of what Fremont designated
the " Great Basin," has now so dry a climate that its waters gather in its
lowest parts and evaporate and have no outlet to the sea. In a former
period, however, there was more rain, the valley was filled with water to its
brim, and in place of the Salt Lake Desert, there was a broad and deep
fresh lake, discharging its surplus into the Columbia River. The epoch of
this lake Mr. Gilbert finds reason to consider identical with the Glacial
Epoch, and it was of limited duration. Among its vestiges are deposits of
fossiliferous marl, which are conspicuously contrasted with the gravels and
sand that now slowly accumulate in the. same region, borne by the intermit
tent streams that descend from the mountains. Where the beds are super
posed, the marls testify to a moist climate and the gravels to a climate so
dry that the basin was never filled with water. But above the marls are
found only scattered and thin deposits of gravel, while below them the
gravel beds are omnipresent and of great depth, and hence it was reasoned
that the arid period that preceded the Glacial Epoch was many times longer
than that which has followed it.
Even during the Glacial Epoch, Mr. Gilbert considers that "the Atlantic
slope", and the region of the Great Basin, were contrasted in climate, just as
now. The general causes that covered the humid east with a mantle of ice,
sufficed, in the arid west, only to flood the valleys with fresh water, and send
a few ice streams down the highest mountain gorges."*
RECORDS OF MORE ANCIENT LANDS.
The summit of the Kaibab Plateau is more than six thousand feet above
the river, and I have already mentioned that the summit of the plateau is
also the summit of rocks of Carboniferous Age. These beds are about three
* Bulletin Phil. Soc.. Washington, 46th meeting, April 26, 1873.
212 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
thousand five hundred feet in thickness, and beneath them we have a thou
sand feet of conformable rocks of undetermined age. This gives us 4,500
feet, from the summit of the plateau down to the non- conformable beds.
Still beneath these we have 1,500 feet, so that we have more than one thou
sand five hundred feet of other rocks exposed in the depths of the Grand
Gallon. Standing on some rock, which has fallen from the wall into the
river — a rock so large that its top lies above the water — and looking over
head, we see a thousand feet of crystalline schists, with dikes of greenstone,
and dikes and beds of granite. Heretofore we have given the general name
granite to this group of rocks; still, above them we oan see beds of hard,
vitreous sandstone of many colors, but chiefly dark red. This group of
rocks adds but little more than five hundred feet to the height of the walls,
and yet the beds are 10,000 feet in thickness. How can this be? The beds
themselves are non-conformable with the overlying Carboniferous rocks ; that
is, the Carboniferous rocks are spread over their upturned edges.
In Illustration 79 we have a section of the rocks of the Grand Canon.
A, A represents the granite; a, a, dikes and eruptive beds; B, B, these non-
conformable rocks. It will be seen that the beds incline to the right. The
horizontal beds above, (7, C are rocks of Carboniferous Age, with under
lying conformable beds. The distance along the wall marked by the line
x, y, is the only part of its height represented by these rocks, but the beds
are inclined, and their thickness must be measured by determining the thick
ness of each bed. This is done by measuring the several beds along lines
normal to the planes of stratification; and, in this manner, we find them to
be 10,000 feet in thickness.
Doubtless, at some time before the Carboniferous rocks C, C were formed,
the beds B, B extended off to the left, but between the periods of depo
sition of the two series, B, B and (7, C there was a period of erosion. The
beds, themselves, are records of the invasion of the sea; the line of separa
tion, the record of a long time when the region was dry land. The events
in the history of this intervening time, the period of dry land, one might
suppose were all lost. What plants lived here, we cannot learn ; what ani
mals roamed over the hills, we know not; and yet there is a history which
is not lost, for we find that after these beds were formed as sediments beneath
the sea, and still after they had been folded, and the sea had left them, and
Figure 79. — Section of wall in tbe Grand Cafion.
EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE PERIOD OF DRY LAND. 213
the rains had fallen on the country long enough to carry out ten thousand feet
of rocks, the extension of these beds to the south, which were cut away, and
yet before the. overlying Carboniferous rocks were formed as sediments of
sand and triturated coral reefs, and ground shells and pulverized bones,
some interesting events occurred, the records of which are well preserved.
This region of country was fissured, and the rocks" displaced so as to form
faults, and through the fissures floods of lava were poured, which, on cool
ing, formed beds of trap, or greenstone. This greenstone was doubtless
poured out on the dry land, for it bears evidence of being eroded by rains
and streams prior to the deposition of the overlying rocks.
Let us go down again, and examine the junction between these red
rocks, with their intrusive dikes and overlying beds of greenstone, and the
crystalline schists below.
We find these lower rocks to be composed chiefly of metamorphosed
sandstones and shales, which have been folded so many times, squeezed, and
heated, that their original structure, as sandstones and shales, is greatly
obscured, or entirely destroyed, so that they are called metamorphic crys
talline schists.
Dame Nature kneaded this batch of dough very thoroughly. After
these beds were deposited, after they were folded, and still after they were
deeply eroded, they were fractured, and through the fissures came floods of
molten granite, which now stands in dikes, or lies in beds, and the metamor
phosed sandstones and shales, and the beds of granite, present evidences of
erosion subsequent to the periods just mentioned, yet antecedent to the
deposition of the non-conformable sandstones.
Here, then, we have evidences of another and more ancient period of
erosion, or dry land. Three times has this great region been left high and
dry by the ever shifting sea; three times have the rocks been fractured and
faulted; three tunes have floods of lava been poured up through the crevices,
and three times have the clouds gathered over the rocks, and carved out
valleys with their storms. The first time was after the deposition of the
schists; the second was after the deposition of the red sandstones; the third
time is the present time. The plateaus and mountains of the first and
second periods have been destroyed or buried; their eventful history is lost;
the rivers that ran into the sea are dead, and their waters are now rolling as
214 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
tides, or coursing in other channels. Were there canons then? I think not.
The conditions necessary to the formation of canons are exceptional in the
world's history.
We have looked back unnumbered centuries into the past, and seen the
time when the schists in the depths of the Grand Caiion were first formed as
sedimentary beds beneath the sea; we have seen this long period followed
by another of dry land — so long that even hundreds, or perhaps thousands,
of feet of beds were washed away by the rains; and, in turn, followed by
another period of ocean triumph, so long, that at least ten thousand feet of
sandstones were accumulated as sediments, when the sea yielded dominion
to the powers of the air, and the region was again dry land. But aerial
forces • carried away the ten thousand feet of rocks, by a process slow yet
unrelenting, until the sea again rolled over the land, and more than ten
thousand feet of rocky beds were built over the bottom of the sea; and then
again the restless sea retired, and the golden, purple, and black hosts of
heaven made missiles of their own misty bodies — balls of hail, flakes of
snow, and drops of rain — and when the storm of war came, the new rocks
fled to the sea. Now we have canon gorges and deeply eroded valleys, and
still the hills are disappearing, the mountains themselves are wasting away,
the plateaus are dissolving, and the geologist, in the light of the past history
of the earth, makes prophecy of a time when this desolate land of Titanic
rocks shall become a valley of many valleys, and yet again the sea will
invade the land, and the coral animals build their reefs in the infinitesimal
laboratories of life, and lowly beings shall weave nacre-lined shrouds for
themselves, and ttie shrouds shall remain entombed in the bottom of the sea,
when the people shall be changed, by the chemistry of life, into new forms;
monsters of the deep shall live and die, and their bones be buried in the
coral sands. Then other mountains and other hills shall be washed into the
Colorado Sea, and coral reefs, and shales, and bones', and disintegrated
mountains, shall be made into beds of rock, for a new land, where new
rivers shall flow.
Thus ever the land and sea are changing; old lands are buried, and
new lands are born, and with advancing periods new complexities of rock
are found; new complexities of life evolved.
THIRD.
z: o o L o& Y
BY ELLIOTT COUES.
CHAPTER XIII.
ABSTRACT OF RESULTS OF A STUDY OF THE GENERA
GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS*
BY DK. ELLIOTT COUES, U. S. A.
These two genera are closely allied ; the principal difference being in
the character of the sulcation of the superior incisors. In Geomys, the upper
front teeth have a deep groove along the front face, at or near the middle,
with or without a fine groove along the inner margin. In Thomomys, the
latter groove exists, but there is no other. The fore feet of Geomys are more
decidedly fossorial than those of Thomomys, owing to greater development
of the claws. In Geomys, the external ears are a mere rim surrounding the
auditory orifice ; in Thomomys, there is a decided, though small, auricle. The
two genera constitute a perfectly natural group, of the grade of a family,
which may be called' Geomyida, equivalent to the subfamily Geomyiruz of
Baird, or the Sciuro-spalacoides of Brandt. Their closest affinities are 'with
the SaccomyicUe (Dipodomys, Perognathus, &c.), under which they have been
placed as subfamilies by Waterhouse and Baird. These authors are certainly
right in differing from those who, like Brandt and others, widely dissociate the
two groups ; for, as Baird has insisted, they are very closely allied in all essen
tial respects, notwithstanding their remarkable dissimilarity in contour and
other superficial points. Still, I do not go to the length of the authors named
in associating Geomys and Thomomys with Dipodomys, Perogtmthus, &c., in
one ; preferring to follow Gill in considering them as a distinct, though the
'Based on tho material contained in the National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washing
ton, D. C.
28 COL
218 EXPLORATION OF TOE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
most nearly allied, family. The Saccoinyidce are extremely lithe, agile, graceful
animals ; jerboa-like, with long saltatorial hind limbs, elongated and often
tufted tail, large ears, and full eyes, and are not specially nocturnal or subter
ranean in. habits. The Geom.yidce, on the other hand, are hamster-like, or
rather an exaggeration of that kind of structure ; they are among the heaviest
for their inches of any animals of this country, of squat, bunchy shape, with
short, thick limbs, a short tail, very small or rudimentary ears, small eyes, no
appreciable neck, and thick, blunt head ; and they are as completely subter
ranean as the mole itself. They are rarely and only momentarily seen above
ground ; they excavate endless galleries in the earth in their search for food,
frequently coining to the surface to throw out the earth in heaps, but plug
ging up these orifices as soon as they have served their purpose.
Both families agree in possessing enormous cheek-pouches, overlying
the whole side of the head, in some species even reaching over the neck and
shoulders. The nature and construction of these sacs was long misunder
stood. They were supposed for many years to be external pendulous bags
opening into the mouth, and thus to differ only in degree of development from
the ordinary "cheek-pouches" of many other rodents — an enlargement of the
mucous membrane of the mouth and skin of the cheeks. But, as now well
known, they have no connection with the mouth ; at least, no more than the
abdominal pocket of an opossum has with the genitalia. Their chief purpose
is not even related to the food of the species ; they are sacs that the animals
use chiefly in carrying out dirt from their burrows to deposit it on the surface
of the ground. They are fully described beyond.
Several circumstances have conspired to obscure the history of the
Geomyidce, and to involve the determination of the species in doubt. In the
first place, the animals are l-argely withdrawn from ordinary observation, and
the acquisition of specimens is difficult. Their geographical distribution is
limited to a portion of America. Very few specimens, comparatively, have
ever reached Europe, and very few foreign naturalists have written about
them from anything like sufficient means of observation. In fact, they are
among the rarest sets of specimens in any museums ; and I think it probable
that there are before me, as I write, more prepared specimens than have
before been examined by all naturalists put together. This shows the
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS. 219
difficulty of getting material to work upon on this family, though the animals
fairly swarm in certain regions, becoming a serious hinderance to agriculture.
There is another point to be considered here : the shapelessness of the species,
so to speak, with the looseness and distensibility of the skin, renders them
peculiarly susceptible of atrocious taxidermy, with the result of scarcely
leaving a hint of their actual appearance and true dimensions. One result
of all this is that a mass of pointless, if not erroneous, descriptions and con
flicting accounts forms a large part of the written history of the species.
There appears to have been an unusually large amount of compilation done
in this group; more than half of everything extant upon the subject is of this
character.* The ' systematic'' accounts given by Fischer, Schinz, Wagner,
Giebel, and some others that might be named, are simply worthless for any
practical purpose. The special papers upon the subject are so few that it
was hot thought necessary to enumerate them. Aside from the descriptions
of "new species" which it is necessary to examine, the authorities which
need be consulted are very few. Waterhouse's and Brandt's articles ; espe
cially Richardson's, in the Fauna Boreali- Americana ; LeConte's monographic
sketch of the family ; and Baird's later, more elaborate, memoir, with Audu-
bon's and Bachman's figures, represent the gist of the matter. The synonymy
collated in this paper is believed to represent very nearly all the literature
of the subject.
It is not within the scope of the present article to treat fully of the
characters of the family. I confine myself here almost entirely to the deter
mination of the species and their full description, with the necessary biblio
graphical matter. The number of species I find to have been, much as usual,
largely overstated. This is particularly the case in the genus Thomomys,
where the three recognizable races of the single known species have been
described as a dozen distinct species, and been referred to half as many
different genera. Most late authors recognize at least six or eight species
of the genus. Gcomys makes out a better case ; out of the seven species
admitted by Baird, five are unquestionably valid. It is very curious and
interesting to note how differently Geomys and Thomomys have become differ
entiated into species. The former genus has developed into at least five
* Cf. the synonymy of Thomomys talpoides et off. in tbe following pages.
220 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
perfectly well-discriminated species, the early links between which have
entirely disappeared, leaving the forms as stable as possible. Thomomys is
still in a transition-stage at present. Setting aside the peculiar T. clusius,
described .as new beyond, all the known forms of that genus arc still only
incompletely separated, and the links binding them are plainly before our
eyes. The genus appears to be making into a number of species, but the
process is still far from completion. In talking over this singular difference
in the natural history of these two closely-allied genera with Professor Baird,
he threw out a suggestion, which, perhaps, may account for the facts. While
we have no means of knowing which is the older of the two genera, so as to
compare the rates of progress they respectively made in developing their
species, yet we may fairly infer, upon geographical considerations, that Geo-
mys has been longer about it than Thomomys. Geottiys, though found to a
certain longitude westward, is essentially a form of Eastern North America,
extended thence to Central America, and it is presumably upon older ground
than the late deposits in the West, where Thomomys occurs. In the cases
of many mammals and birds of this continent, it will be recollected there is
a perfectly stable eastern species of a genus which in the West is represented
by a number of "varieties.'' Junco, Melospiza, Passerella, Picus, are good
illustrations. But be the explanation what it may, there is no doubt about
the fact that Geomys has made itself into five or six firm species before
Thomomys has succeeded in turning out more than one or two.
With these few observations by way of introducing the species, I shall
proceed at once to give an account of them, reserving many details which
contributed to the result of my investigation, as well as all general considera
tions respecting the family, for publication in a different connection.
GENUS GEOMYS. (emend, ex Raf.)
Mua, sp. SHAW, et al., I. c. infra.
Crlcetus, sp. DESM., et a?., 7. c. infra.
Geomys, RAF., Am. Month. Mag. ii, 1817, 45.
Diplostoma, RAF., op. et loc. cit. (char, plerumq : inept.), ncc RICH.
Saccophorus, KUIIL, Beitr. 1820, 65.
Pscudostoma, SAY, Loug'a Exp. R. Mts. i, 1823, 406.
Ascomys, LIGHT., Abhand. Berl. Acad. 1822-'3, 1825, 20.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. BUKSAEIUS. 221
GEOMYS BURSARIUS, (Shaw) Rich.
Mua bursarius, SHAW, Liuu. Traus. v, 1800, 227, fig. 8; Gen. Zool. ii, 1801, 100, pi. 138 (the plate clearly
shows the grooved incisors ; the pouches are everted). — MITC., Am. Journ. Sci. iv, 1822, 183.
Cricetits bursarius, DKSM., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xiv, , 177 ; Ency. M6th. Suppl. pi. 10, f. 4 ; Mumm. ii,
1822, p. 312 (bursareus). — F. Cuv., Diet. Sc. Nat. xx, , 257.— DESMOUL., Diet. Class, viii,
— , 37.— GRIFF., Anim. Kiugd.lti, 1827, 138, pi. — ; v, 1827, 235, No. 612.
Saccophorus bursarius, KUIIL, Beitriige, 1820, 65.— Fiscu., Syuop. 1827, 304.
Pseudostoma bursarius, SAY, Long's Exp. R. Mts. i, 1823, 406 (Ziwraaria).— HARLAX, Fu. Amer. 1825, 153. —
LESS., Man. 1827, 259.— GODMAX, Ani. Nat. Hist, ii, 1831, 90 (bursarium).— DEKAY, N. Y. Fn.
i, 1842, 92.— Aun. & BACH., Q. N. A. i, 1849, 332, pi. 44.
Gcomys! bursarius, RICH., F. B. A. i, 1829, 203 ; Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1836, v, 1837, 156 (nee Gray).
Ascomys bursarius, EYD. & GERV., Voy. Favorite, v, 1839, 23. — SCHINZ, Syn. ii, 1845, 132.— GIEB., Odon-
tpg. 53, pi. 23, f. 8.
Geomys bursarius, Woomi., Zu!ii and Col. R. 1853, 50.— PARVIX, Anu. Rep. Smiths. Inst. for 1854, 1855,
293 (habits).— KEXX., Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. for 1853-'4, 1855, 580.— BD., M. N. A. 1857,
372, pi. 22, fig. 1 a-h, and pi. 50, fig. 2 a-g.— MAXIM./ Arch. Naturg. 1861, ; Verz. Reise
N.-Am. Sang. 1862, 147.— GERR., Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 223.— LEIDY, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Phila. 1867, 97 (sknll from loess of Missouri). — AMES, Bull. Acad. Minnesota, i, 1874, 70.
Geomys (Saccophorus) bursarius, GIEBEL, Siing. 1855, 529.
" 1 Mus ludovicianus, ORI>, Gnthrie's Geog. 2d Am. ed. ii, 1815, 292. (Not determinable.)"
? Diplostoma fusca, RAF., Am. Month. Mag. ii, 1817, 44.— DESM., Mamm. ii, 1822, 315. — LESS., Man. 1827, 261.
? Diplostoma alba, RAF., Am. Month. Mag. ii, 1817, 44 ( albino). — DESM., Mamm. ii, 1822, 315. — LESS., Man.
1827, 261.
Saccophorus! albus, Fiscn., Synop. 1827, 305.
? Geomys cinereus, RAF., Am. Month. Mag. ii, 1817, 45.
Mus saccatus, MITCH., N. Y. Med. Rcpos. xxi, 1821, 249.
Ascomys can&densis, LIGHT., Abh. Acad. Wiss. Berl. 1823, 13, fig. — BKANTS, Muizen, 1827, 24. — WAGX.,
Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 383; Abh. K. Baier. Akad. Munch, xxii, 1846, 327, fig. (skeleton).
Geomys canadensis, LEC., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1852, 158.
Geomys oregonensis, LEC., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1852, 160 (no probability that the assigned local
ity is correct).
Geomys breviccps, BD., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1855, 334 ; M. N. A. 1857, 378, pi. 52, f . 2 a-g.— GERR.
Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 223.
Canada Eat, SHAW, IL cc.
Canada Pouched Eat, RICHARDSOX, I. c.— AUD. & BACH., I. c.
Hamster du Canada, DESM., I. c.
Pseudostome a bourse, LESS., I. c.
Diplostome brun, D. blanche, DESM., LESS., II. cc.
Canadian Hamster, GRIFFITH, I. c.
Gofftr, Taschenmaus, SCHIXZ, I. c.
Pouched Eat, Sand Eat, Camas Eat, Pocket Goplier, Salamander, Valg.
Gaufre, French (whence English "gopher," and German "goffer").
Quid Geomys drummondii, RICH., Rep. Brit. Assoc. v, 1837, 157 (Ascomys drummondii apud Wagn., Suppl.
Schreb.), species indet. dentibus prim, bisulcatis ?
DIAGNOSIS. — Superior incisors bisulcate, with a fine sharp groove along
the inner margin, and another much larger bisecting the remaining plane sur
face. Cheek-pouches ample, extending to the shoulders. Hands (including
claws) longer than feet. Tail and feet hairy. Pelage soft, sleek, mole-like.
Color dull reddish-brown, muddy-gray or hoary beneath, the basal portion
222 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
of the fur plumbeous throughout ; or blackish-gray ; feet and tail, for the
most part, white or colorless. Average dimensions of adult, 7 to 8 inches ;
tail, 2 or 3 inches ; fore foot, about 1| inches ; hind foot, about \\ inches ;
longest fore claw, about 0.75 inch.
HABITAT. — Valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries in a broad sense,
and somewhat beyond to the northward. "Canada." " Oregon " (111).
DESCRIPTION. — I shall draw up my account of this species from the large
amount of material, both dry and alcoholic, before me. The specimens are
from the whole immediate valley of the Mississippi, from the State of that
name to Minnesota ; also, from Texas ; from the Platte, Washita, and Nio-
brara Rivers, &c.; but not from west of the Rocky Mountains, where the
genus has yet to be satisfactorily determined to occur. Descriptions of form
and proportions are taken from alcoholic specimens in the flesh ; of color,
from dried specimens. The present being taken as the standard of compari
son for other species, succeeding descriptions of the rest may consequently
be abridged to present in stronger light their own peculiar characters. The
present account, besides being descriptive of the particular species, is ren
dered supplementary to the characters of the genus. •
The "pocket-gopher" is about the size of a house-rat (Mus decumanus\
but less in linear dimensions and much more stoutly built, with a heavy,
lumpy body, on which the skin slips loosely ; no appreciable neck ; a rapidly
narrowed blunt head ; small eyes ; no obvious external ears ; short limbs ;
strong fore feet, somewhat like those of a mole, with enormous claws ; and a
short, thick, stumpy tail, issuing from a conical prolongation of the rump.
The side of the body, before the shoulder, is occupied by an enormous sac,
opening by a wide slit along the side of the jaws, but not directly communi
cating with the mouth. These sacs, fully distended, represent the greatest
crosswise dimension of the animal. To sum the generalities, the gopher is a
mole-like rat, plus these great bags. The general habits bear out the simile :
of all rodents, the gopher is probably the most completely fossorial and sub
terranean; and its underground operations are conducted with the aid of
theSe sacs.
The head is short, wide, deep, and blunt ; not separated from the body
by any appreciable constriction of the neck. The frontal region is broad and
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. BURSAEIUS. 223
flat ; the sides rapidly converge ; the under side and mouth parts are anom
alous in their peculiar configuration. The muffle is entirely hairy, excepting
a small, definitely naked nose-pad, somewhat T-shaped, with long arms and a
short leg ; the nostrils opening obliquely between these. There is a consid
erable hairy interval between this pad and the incisors, and a fringe of long
hairs hangs down over these teeth. The upper incisors appear to be situ
ated remote from the mouth ; for beneath them is a long strip of finely furry
skin, longitudinally vaulted, with sides sloping upward to a median line, like
the roof of a house with its ridge. This great space, near an inch long,
bounded on either side by the swollen furry ridges which constitute the
external lips, leads to the contracted orifice of the mouth proper, or that part
of the buccal cavity lined by mucous membrane, to which the parts just
described are merely the vestibule. The mucous membrane only comes to
the border of the thick external lips in a small patch on each side. The lip
laps loosely around the base of the under incisors, and the opposite sides meet
behind the teeth. In fact, the curious conformation is such that the mouth
actually shuts sideways by approach and meeting of the thick lips from either
side ; further closure of the jaws resulting in merely a folding back of the thus
apposed lips. When the mouth is closed, the incisor teeth are entirely shut
out of the buccal cavity, and surrounded behind, as well as elsewhere, by
furry integument ; in a large specimen, with the tips of the incisors in appo
sition, the end of one's finger may be passed behind them, yet not into the
mouth at all. On wrenching open the jaws, the fleshy tongue is seen largely
filling the remarkably contracted true orifice of the mouth ; but so constricted
is the opening that the molar dentition can scarcely be brought into this
view. This particular condition of the parts is probably not met with outside
the present family.
The pouches of this species — at first supposed to be pendulous bags
hanging from the mouth, then with some correction found to be not pendu
lous, yet believed to open into the mouth -from within — are wholly external,
and have^p more connection with the buccal cavity than the belly-pouch of
a kangaroo or opossum has to do with the genital organs. These sacs are
simply a purse-shaped duplicature of the loose skin of the side of the head
and neck. The free margin of the pouch arises from the side of the upper
224 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
jaw, about half-way from nose to eye, just underneath the whisker-patch, and
curves loosely around the side of the head to the angle of the jaw. The
general outline of the orifice is semicircular (or rather semipyriform, since the
broadest part sags down a little) ; the inner border being the proper integu
ment of the side of the head. The lining of the sac is ordinary integument,
of rather more delicate texture ; it is clothed with fine fur. On the side next
the head, the ordinary fur of the parts makes directly into the pouch ; on the
outside, the fine fur continues to the brim, where it is met by the ordinary
external pelage. Between the two layers of skin rests a thin bed of muscu
lar fibers (perhaps a modified platysma myoides), serving for such contractile
movements as the receptacle may be susceptible of. But the connection
between the folds of skin is so slight and loose that the pouch may, with little
force, be turned completely inside out, though it does not appear that this
ever occurs in life. A full-sized pouch will admit three fingers as far as the
first joint.
The small eyes are situated midway between the nose and ears, below the
line between these two ; and, if anything, they are rather nearer the latter than
the former. The ears have been described in varying terms, leaving a doubt
whether there was an auricle or not ; but it is proper to say that the auricle
is obsolete. The large circular orifice of the meatus externus is surrounded
by a raised brim, rather thicker, if not higher, behind than before, and, as
such, constituting a rudimentary pinna; but there is nothing to be called a
flap (which is something that may be turned over).
The large, strong, and eminently fossorial fore feet recall those of the
mole in some respects, though they occupy the usual position with reference
to the axis of the limb — sole downward instead of tilted over. The hand
itself is shorter than the hind foot ; but the immense claws reverse the pro
portion of the two as a whole. The palm is broader than the sole, and
perfectly naked. At the juncture with the wrist, it presents two great movable
callous tubercles, which probably have a bearing upon the great force of flex
ion of the member ; otherwise the palm is flat, devoid of special pads or cal
losities, and may be thrown into indeterminate rugse or sulci, according to the
movements of the parts. There are five digits, whose relative lengths are
nearly the same as those of the claws they respectively bear. All the claws,
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. BDKSAKIUS. 225
excepting the first one, are longer than their respective digits ; they are much
compressed, single-edged underneath, curved, and acute. Their tips are reg
ularly graduated, in position with decreasing disparity from 3d to 1st ; 3d-4th—
2d-5th-lst; the 3d being much the largest, the 1st a mere stump. The
back of the hand is clothed with rather bristly hairs, which fall as a fringe
over the sides of the hand, and of Ihe individual digits as well.
As usual in cases of excessive growths of any kind, these great claws
oi the hand vary a good deal in size and shape, according to the age and vigor
of the animal — in other words, according to the degree of use to which they
are put. The hind foot is not remarkable, having an ordinary murine charac
ter. The sole is perfectly naked, like the palm, and devoid of special pads or
tubercles ; the skin being everywhere smooth. The toes are short ; the claws
still shorter, weak, excavated underneath (like a badger's), little curved, and
rather acute. The 3d is longest; then come 2d-4th-lst-5th ; the digit
of the latter being a mere stump, and that of the 1st too short to carry the
tip of its claw opposite the base of the 4th.
The tail has an unfinished, or rather neglected, appearance, as if it were
of no particular use. It is remarkable, however, for appearing to spring from
a peculiar conical backward prolongation of rump, so that it is difficult to
determine its true base. This enlarged basal portion is clothed like the rest
of the body. From its apex, the tail continues with a shorter and more scanty
furring. The tail is rather thick (in comparison with allied rodents) and
somewhat quadrangular, the flattening of the under side being especially
noticeable ; it tapers gradually to an obtuse tip. It is perhaps rather unu
sually variable in length, averaging in its scant-haired portion about one-third
of the length of head and body.
The conical prolongation of the body above mentioned is that portion
which protrudes beyond the ischia, which may be plainly felt on either side ;
and on its under side appear the orifices of the digestive and genito-urinary
systems, in close juxtaposition, and both directly at the base of the tail
proper. In the rutting-season, however, the topography of the parts is
changed, owing to the great distention of the perineum from the turgid
organs within. In the female, there are three pairs of teats — two inguinal,
near together along the inside of the thighs ; and another pair, pectoral, at a
29 COL
226 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
considerable distance. I have not been able to discover any more ; and as
the same number and position have been found to hold in G. tuza, mexi-
canus, and hispidus, such is probably the normal case in this genus ; though
in species of Thomomys I have distinctly recognized six pairs.
The character of the incisor dentition remains for special notice, as a
diagnostic feature of the species among all its congeners. Two grooves upon
each upper incisor always persist distinctly. One of these is a sharp, fine line
of impression, running along the inner margin of the tooth, about the distance
of its own width ^from the edge. The other is a much larger, more profound,
and wider sulcus, which fairly bisects the remaining surface, leaving an equal
plane area on either side, exclusive of the small portion cut off by the fine
marginal groove. This main groove varies a good deal in depth and width in
different specimens, and, moreover, is itself sometimes sulcate ; that is to
say, this excavation sometimes presents, on the outer side, a fine ridge, which
marks off a secondary groove within the first. The same thing occurs in the
single-grooved species — castanops, mexicanus, and hispidus. But this supple
mentary carination of the main groove is not always perceptible, and is gen
erally liable to be overlooked, it is so fine. When most strongly marked, it
is just like the inner marginal groove itself; and each tooth seems to consist
of two similar halves.
Coloration. — Throughout this family, the coloration is general and diffused;
there are no strong special areas of parti-coloration. Most of the species (if
not all) of both Geomys and Thomomys occur under two states of pelage, which
we may call the chestnut and the plumbago. The difference is much like
that between the gray or cinereous states of young Hesperomys, Neotoma, &c.,
and the brighter-colored adults of the same. But, in the present case, it does
not appear to be a matter of age, since full-sized, if not mature, specimens
are plumbago-colored. If the dark style of pelage be not wholly fortuitous —
i. e., pure melanism — it is, at any rate, as yet unexplained. To these gener
alities of coloration, it is to be added, that there is a tendency to indefinite
albinism of the tail, feet, and parts about the mouth. Whatever the phase
of coloration may be, the character of the pelage is constant. As in all the
other species, excepting G. hispidus, the fur is remarkably soft, fine, and lus
trous, reminding one of that of the mole ; yet not of the short, close, velvety-
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. BUBSARIUS. 227
pilous character seen in that animal, but long and fluffy. The coat appears
to be shed from before backward by a steadily progressing process, as wit
nessed by the definite lines of demarcation frequently observed.
The plumbeous basal portions of the hairs, uniform to the very roots all
over the body, are of such extent, and the colored terminal parts so short to
correspond, that more or less of tmVcolor appears on all but the most daintily
prepared specimens, and plumbeous is the prevailing tone of the under parts.
The normal coloration is a dull reddish-brown, or impure chestnut, of varying
intensity, frequently with a still duller muddy-brown superficial cast difficult
to describe. This is the character of the upper parts, where a dusky dorsal
area may or may not be appreciable. It gives way. on the sides to the plum
beous of the under parts, which is overlaid with a hoary-brown or muddy-
gray. The lips, chin, feet, and even legs, and the tail, are usually more or
less white, the extent and purity of this white being wholly indeterminate ;
it is sometimes wanting; sometimes the tail is variegated with white and
brown. There are also liable to be irregular white patches on the belly.
The soles and palms, when not soiled by adventitious substances, are nearly
colorless. The incisors, as usual, are orange-faced in the adult state. The
claws are of an indefinite pale-brown color, often variegated with extravasated
blood.
The plumbago state, in which some specimens as large as any others are
found, is entirely different, and does not appear to shade into the normal
phase. Here the color is exactly that of a lead-pencil mark on white paper ;
but such is the gloss of the fur that violet, purplish, or even brassy reflections
are shown with different lights. It is an intensification of the ordinary plum
beous basal portion of the hairs, and its extent over the whole fur. In this
condition, white paws and tail, and other irregular patches of albinism, also
occur. The plumbeous is seen in its purity only above ; below, the fur is
pointed with muddy-brown or gray.
HISTORY. — Although its written history does not date so far back as the
early notices of the uTucan" (G. mexicanus], this species was the first to be
introduced to notice under a scientific name, and with a (supposed) scientific
description. Dr. George Shaw was the physician who attended at the birth
of the species, which he called Mus bursar ius, giving a recognizable descrip-
228 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
tion indeed, but accompanying it with a grotesque figure from a drawing by
Major Davies, representing an amorphous creature with a pair of great skinny,
veiny bags hanging loosely from the mouth; the pouches of his specimen hav
ing everted, and this being their supposed natural state. The original figure
in the Linnsean Transactions is somewhat improved upon in the General Zool
ogy, but is still a very ludicrous object. The animal is said to have come from
"Canada," where it was taken by some Indians in 1798, and afterward pre
sented to Governor Prescott's wife. According to the description, the animal
was in the plumbago state of pelage. There is no doubt whatever about the
species (though some writers have refused to recognize it) ; even the wretched-
figure in the General Zoology shows the grooved incisors clearly. Moreover,
this identical specimen, which once formed part of the Bullock collection in
London, and subsequently passed into the hands of Temminck, seems to have
been examined both by Kuhl and Lichtenstein ; and, at about the same time,
each of these naturalists made a new genus for its special benefit, Kuhl call
ing it Saccophorus bursarius, after Shaw, and Lichtenstein renaming it Ascomys
canadensis. This title prevailed with most German authors. Contemporary
French authorities considered it a Hamster, and referred it to Cricetus. Say
established, in 1823, the genus Pscudostoma, generally accepted by American
writers.
The original mistake (arising from faulty taxidermy, that prolific source
of error with the dermatomaniacs) of supposing the pouches were pendulous
sacs opening into the mouth was scotched several times before it was finally
killed. Meanwhile, before Kuhl, Lichtenstein, and Say had severally made
their new genera, species of the genus had already entered the peculiar field
of vision, or supposed vision, of M. Rafinesque, who furnished two new
names. The Diplostoma of this writer is diagnosticated by an expression
few terms of which are founded in fact ; for he denies the animal tail, ears, and
open eyes, and only credits it with four toes to each foot, whereas it has a
tail, ears, open eyes, and five digits before and behind. In the same place,
Rafinesque establishes another genus, Geomys, which is based upon fair char
acters, though there is nothing in them to prove whether he had a Thomomys
or a true Geomys in view. The primary reference is, however, to Mitchell's
"Hamster of Georgia'' (G. pinetis), which fixes the matter. Rafinesque
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. BURSARIUS. 229
gives a number of species of each of his two genera. Twelve years subse
quently, in 1829, Dr. Richardson discussed Rafinesque's names, coming to
the erroneous conclusion that they both represented good genera, in one of
which the cheek-pouches opened into the mouth, these being wholly external
in the other. He describes several new species of Thomomys under the
name of Geomys, supposing them te all have pendulous pouches ; gives the
present as Geomys^ bursarius; and refers one Thomomys to Diplostoma, hav
ing satisfied himself of the true state of the case in this instance.
The Mus ludovicianus of Ord (1815) is a name which may be supposed
to refer to this species, but it is probably not determinable, and in any event
is antedated. Dr. Mitchill named the species Mus saccatus in 1821. The
only late synonyms I have met with are oregonensis of LeConte and breviceps
of Baird. LeConte, indeed, in his excellent sketch of the family, which placed
the group upon a far more satisfactory footing than that it had previously occu
pied, calls it Geomys canadensis; but this is merely the restoration of Rafi
nesque's generic name, coupled with Lichten stein's specific one, upon the pre
sumption that the faulty Mus bursarius of Shaw ought not to be recognized.
Dr. LeConte's oregonensis is founded upon an animal said to be from Oregon ;
but this locality is doubtless erroneous, for, as now well known, Townsend
collected all the way from the Missouri westward, though his specimens fell
in the way of being marked "Columbia River," or "Oregon," with little regard
for actual localities where procured. The name oregonensis, besides being
geographically erroneous in all probability (no Geomys is known to occur west
of the Rocky Mountains), rests upon characters' not in the least incompatible
with the now known G. bursarius. The types of G. breviceps now before
me are all smaller than average bursarius, but within the range of variation
of that species ; and I fail to substantiate any tangible characters by which
this supposed species may be held to be distinct.
The English name of " gopher,'' applied to this and other species of the
family, is evidently a corruption of the French term "gaufre,5' given by Cana
dian voyageurs. It re-appears in German as Goffer. In the West, where
the SpermophUi are universally called gophers by hunters and settlers, the
species of this family are distinguished as " pocket-gophers." The application
230
EXPLOKATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
of the word "salamander'' is not so obvious. The German equivalent of
li pouched rat" is Taschenmaus.
Measurements.
h
O
From tip of nose to —
tt
I
Length of—
(i
q
ft
"8
« 8
o
Nature of
a
1
Locality.
Sex.
B
o -2
o
£
O
&
4>
to
0
specimen.
E
3
<s
CS
I
'3
• rH
C3
2
o
|
to
B
O
O
H
w
O
H
H
W
Niobrara River . .....
g
0.85
1.40
1.90
6.75
2.50
1.50
1.25
0.70
Alcoholic.
7327
Kansas ....... ....
$
0.95
1.65
2.00
6.50
3.00
1.50
1.35
0.70
Alcoholic.
1384
Iowa . ... . ........
1.12
1.70
2.15
1.55
1.30
0.68
Alcoholic.
357
Saint Louis Mo
*
8.00
3.00
1.60
1.35
0.55
Fresh.
2635
Saint Louis, Mo
1.05
1.75
2.20
7.00
2. 75
1.50
1.35
0.65
Alcoholic.
2636
Saint Louis, Mo -
1.20
1.85
2.60
7.50
3.35
1.55
1.35
0.70
Alcoholic.
2633
Illinois.
1.00
1.45
1.90
5.75
2.65
1.50
1.15
0.65
Alcoholic.
2539
Iowa . .... .. .
1.25
2.10
2.33
8.90
3.30
1.45
0.80
Fresh.
1775
Vermilion River ....
0.75
1. 75
2.25
8.00
1.75
1.25
0.75
Fresh.
2630*
Louisiana
0.90
1.45
1.75
1.20
1. 05
0.55
Alcoholic.
*A type of breviceps.
G-EOMYS TUZA, (Ord.) Coues.
Hamster of Georgia, MITCHILL, N. Y. Med. Repos. v, 1802, 89 ; Bewick's Quad. 1st Am. ed. 1804, 525 (men
tioned also by Anderson, Meare, Say, Barton, &c.)
Mus tnza, ORD, Gnthrie's Geog. 2d Am. ed. ii, 1815, 292. (Based on MitchilFs animal.)
Gcomys pinelis, RAF., Am. Month. Mag. ii, 1817, 45 (Georgia).— BRANTS, Muizcn, 1827, 173. — DKSM., Mamm.
ii, 1822, 314 (note).— LESS., Man. 1827, 260.— BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 380, pi. 22, fig. 3 a-c.—
GESNER, Ann. Rep. Smiths. Inst. for 1860, 1861, 431 (habits).
Saccophorusl pineti, FISCHER, Syu. 1829, 305.
Geomyspineti, LEC., Froc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1852, 159. — ALLKN, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. ii, 1871, 178.
fseudostoma floridana, AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1853, 242, pi. 150, f. 1.
Southern Pouched Bat, AUD. & BACH.
Geomys des pins, DESM., LESS., II. cc.
Gopher ; Salamander, VCLG.
DIAGNOSIS. — Superior incisors with a main groove dividing the tooth into
two unequal portions; the outer obviously the smaller; the inner, larger
inoiety marked by an extremely fine marginal groove, faint, obscure, or per
haps sometimes obsolete. Tail and hind feet in adult life naked, or nearly
so.. Otherwise like G. bursarius.
HABITAT. — Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.
Description (numerous specimens from the above localities, including
some mentioned by Audubon, those described by Baird, and various others,
COCJES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. TUZA. 231
dry and alcoholic). — This species, apparently distinct, nevertheless resembles
G. bursarius so closely, that no general points of difference in size, shape, or
color can be adduced for their separation. There are, however, certain tan
gible characters, not necessarily the same as those given by authors. For
instance, Audubon and Bachman dwell upon certain supposed differences in
the structure of the pouch ; but their observations rest upon bad taxidermy,
and have no foundation in nature, the pouches in the. two species being iden
tical. These authors and some others speak of the upper incisors as single-
grooved. This, if so, would be a strong feature : but it, unfortunately, is not
the case ; for, in all the numerous specimens I have examined, the upper
incisors are double-grooved, as in G. bursarius, the fine second groove being
perceptible as a delicate line of impression running along the inner margin of
the tooth. It is perfectly distint, as a rule ; and in no case have I failed to
recognize clearly at least a trace of it, though in some instances it is faint, and
liable to be overlooked" if not closely examined. Baird says that this groove
is obsolete in old age, implying that such is the rule : but, while not doubting
that such may occur, I must consider it as the exception ; for, as just said, I
have never yet failed to recognize at least a trace of it. G. tuza, therefore,
has double-grooved incisors, like G. bursarius ; the point of dental discrep
ancy lies elsewhere. In bursarius, the main groove bisects what is left of the
face of the tooth, after subtracting the portion cut off by the inner groove ;
and this latter is always distinct. In G. tuza, the main groove divides what
is left of the face of the tooth, after subtracting the portion cut off by the
inner groove, into two unequal portions, whereof the exterior is the smaller ;
and the inner groove, always slight, may be faint, obscure, or perhaps some
times obsolete. This is the whole case, as far as the incisors are concerned.
The only other character of G. tuza I can appreciate is the nakedness
of the tail and feet — especially the former. It is true that in G. bursarius
the nakedness of these parts is sometimes noticeable ; but it seems to be not
carried, except perhaps in extreme cases, to the extent witnessed, as a rule, in
G. tuza. The latter thus corresponds with G. kispidus in this respect,
though very different in other features. In the best-marked cases, the tail is,
perfectly naked beyond the enlarged hairy base ; the skin may be stuffed out
to the caliber of a stout goose-quill, and has then a peculiar bladdery appear-
282 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
ance; if the vertebrae be left in, it shrinks tightly around them in drying,
displaying not only the joints, but also the shape of the individual bones. The
hind feet share this nakedness, but not to the same extent ; the instep is
nearly bare, but the toes are sparsely pilous with short colorless bristles. The
back of the fore feet is in much the same condition. The depilation of the
members is not always as complete as here described ; but such is the unmis
takable tendency in all cases, and such the accomplished result in the majority
of examples in adult life. Younger specimens, in the plumbago state of
pelage, show as hairy tail and feet as an average sample of G. bursarius, and
before the incisors have attained maturity, so as to afford fair characters,
might readily be supposed to be G. bursarius, were locality not taken into
account. Of such character is No. 1500, Museum of the Smithsonian Insti
tution, particularly mentioned by Baird, op. cit., p. 382.
My material is abundant for a table of measurements of this species ;
but it seems unnecessary to prepare one, since it would be simply an amplifi
cation of the statement that the animal does not differ at all from G. bursarius
in size or shape. For the same reason, it is unnecessary to enter into
further description after presenting the two characters (particular style of
sulcation of incisors and nakedness of tail and feet) in which solely does the
species stand apart from G. bursarius.
Under these circumstances, it might be held by some that the present is
merely a localized race of G. bursarius ; and I should be the last one to dis
pute such statement of an abstract fact. This Geomys is, of course, an off
shoot of the bursarius stock ; and, for that matter, so are all the rest of the
"species" modified descendants of some one stock. It would be only shifting
the question a peg to require that the fact should affect the nomenclature. A
"permanent variety" is a contradiction in terms. This is the case: Here is
a set of individuals differing thus-and-thus (as above described) from another
set. The difference is slight, but constant; there is no intergradation, for
the simple reason that the two sets of animals now occupy different geograph
ical areas, are completely isolated from each other, and thus cut off from
interbreeding ; or, in other words, from reproducing offspring in which the
characters of both parents are blended. It is quite possible that, in their
blind movements under the ground, the two may come together and interbreed ;
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. CASTANOPS. 283
but we must wait for this to occur, and be attested by Intergrading specimens,
before we need hesitate to describe G. tuza as a "distinct species."
The earliest notice specially referable here appears to be the unmistak
able description by S. L. Mitchill of the "Hamster of Georgia," and various
allusions are made by other writers to the same animal The Mus tuza * of
Ord unquestionably belongs here^ being based upon Mitchill's animal A
short though expressive diagnosis is given by Rafinesque, with unwonted
accuracy, of Geomys pinetis. This name, or its emended form G. pineti,
has been generally applied, excepting by Audubon and Bachman, who, ignor
ing Rafinesque, rename the animal Jloridana, and refer it to Say's genus
Pseudostoma. The species puts in the customary second-hand appearance
under the supervision of several systematic compilers, few, if any, of
whom appear to have had much knowledge of their own upon the subject.
The geographical distribution of the species is remarkably limited. I
have no knowledge of its occurrence anywhere excepting in Georgia,
Florida, and Alabama. The Savannah River is said to form a complete bar
rier to its northward extension. Its westward limit is not so precisely defined ;
but it does not appear to reach to the Mississippi, where the other species is
found.
Audubon and Bachman have nothing particular to say of the habits of
this species in comparison with G. bursarius, beyond the statement that it
does not become dormant in winter. The best account of its habits, ancj
particularly of its mode of constructing its underground galleries, is Dr.
Gesner's article above quoted.
GEOMYS CASTANOPS, (Bd.) Lee.
Psfudostoma castanops, BAIRD, Stansbury's Rep. Great Salt Lake, 1852, 313.— AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A.
Hi, 1854, 304.
Geomys casianopa, LEG., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1852, 163.— BAIRD, M. N. & 1857, 381.— BAIRD, P. R. R.
Rep. x, 1859, Gunnisou and Beckwith'a Route, Mamm. 8, pi. 10, f. 2.
Geomys clarkii, BAIRD, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1855, 332.— BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 383, pi. 50, figs, la-g.—
KENNERLY, P. R. R. Rep. x, 1859, Whipple's Route, Mamm. 13. — BAIRD, U. S. Mex. Bound.
Survey, ii, pt. ii, 1859, Mamm. p. — , — .— GERE., Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 222.
Chestnut-faced, and Pecos Gopher, BAIRD, II. oc.
DIAGNOSIS. — Superior incisors with a single median groove bisecting the
face exactly. Fore feet shorter, or not 'longer than hind feet ; these and the
* Evidently the same word as tuya, iuza, tucatt, &c.
30 COL
234 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
tail sparsely pilous. Color pale yellowish-brown above, inclining more or
less to dull chestnut about the head ; whitish below. Size of G. bursarius, or
rather less. Fur soft, as usual in the genus.
HABITAT. — Texas and New Mexico.
Description (from Baird's types of G. castanops and G. clarkii, and other
specimens). — This remarkable species is immediately distinguished from all
others known to me by the combination of a single median groove of the
incisors, pale light color, and small size. In the first-named particular alone,
it agrees with G. mexicanus ; in both these species, the single groove is cen
tral, bisecting the surface, so that, viewed from the front, there appear to be
four incisors. This at once and permanently separates it from G. bursarius,
with which it is to be compared in other respects. In size, the five speci
mens before me average about the same as G. bursarius, though none are as
large as the largest of the latter I have seen. The length of the full-grown
animal may be about 8 inches, rather less than more ; and some are not much
over 6 inches. The tail, as well as can be judged, is 2J to 3 inches. A nota
ble peculiarity of form, in comparison with G. bursarius, lies in the relative
proportions of the fore and hind feet, which are much as in GG. mexicanus and
hispidus ; the palm, with the length of claws included, being shorter, or, at
most no longer, than the sole and claws ; the latter measuring about 1 J inches,
the former only about 1 J inches. The fore claws are, however, well developed
proportionally, no difference in this respect from G. bursarius being readily
appreciable. The external ears may fairly be called obsolete ; in neither of the
specimens can I make out anything more than a thickened rim surrounding
the orifice of the meatus. The hairiness of the tail and hind feet is pretty
much as in an average specimen* of G. bursarius or G. mexicanus; they are thinly
clothed indeed, but noticeably more so than is ever the case with G. tuza
or G. hispidus. The pouches are somewhat less ample, apparently, than in
G. bursarius — a character coordinated in this genus with weaker fore feet,
and seen also in G. mexicanus and G. hispidus.
The coloration merits particular attention, not only as it is the next to
the strongest character of the species, but because a casual phase of it was
the basis of the original Pseudostoma castanops. It might seem surprising, and
certainly it would be contrary to analogy, that a single species of this uni-
COtJES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. CASTANOPS. 235
formly-colored family should exhibit "sharply-defined" or "symmetrically-
subcircular" areas of color ; and such proves not to be the case. The type
of Pseudostoma .castanops, now before me, in a good state of preservation,
notwithstanding the vicissitudes of thirty years of museum existence, though
bleached by long exposure to the light, still shows the curious chestnut head-
patches, sharply defined against^pale tawny-white surroundings, just as
described at length by Professor Baird. But the animal was shedding its coat
when killed ; hence the appearance. The new fur is brightly colored, con
trasting with the old faded and worn pelage.* One of the types of "clarkii"
has the same color of the head, but this is also diffused with somewhat dimin
ished intensity over the whole upper parts. Other specimens are entirely
similar, with various shading of the main color. This may be described as
a dull, pale chestnut, or almost fawn-color, more or less shaded with the plum
beous basal portions of the fur, which usually show more or less in this genus,
be the fur never so smoothly laid. This tawny or fulvous tone of color is
highly characteristic in comparison with the deeper and warmer chocolate or
muddy browns which G. bursarius shows. On the under parts, though the
plumbeous basal portion of the fur shows considerably, the general tint is
whitish — quite white in comparison with the muddy gray of the same parts
of G. bursarius. The whiskers are mostly colorless ; they are fine and
numerous, the longest about equaling the head. The claws are pale horn-
color ; the naked palms and soles show various discoloration, perhaps accord
ing to the quality of the soil worked in. The incisors are orange, as usual.
The few specimens of this species known to naturalists were procured
in Texas and New Mexico. The animal would appear to be comparatively
rare, as very few individuals, additional to those described by Professor Baird,
have ever been collected, though we have plenty of the Thomomys (unibrinus)
of the same region. The written history of the species is brief and precise ;
determination of the identity of clarkii with castanops leaves nothing to be
said on the score of synonymy. Castanops is to be retained as the prior name,
and is unobjectionable, though it has proven not particularly pertinent.
* Various specimens of Geomys and Thomomys, changing pelage, show curious sharp wandering
lines where the old and new fur fail to meet and fit exactly ; and such lines are often observed when the
pelage appears to be all of an age.
236 EXPLOEATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
GEOMYS MEXICANUS, (Licht.) Lee.
Aecomys mexicanus, LIGHT., Abhand. K. Acad. Wiss. Berl. 1827, 113. — BRANTS, Muizen, 1827, 27.— WAGN.,
Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 384 ; iv, pi. 206 A.— CHARLESW., P. Z. S. ix, 1841, 60.— SCHINZ,
Synop. ii, 1845, 133.
Saccophorua mexicanuq, FISCH., Synop. 1829, 305.— EYD. & GERV., Gue"riu Mag. vi, 1836, 23, pi. 21, f. 5, 6 ;
Voy. Favorite, v, 1839, 23, pi. 8, f. 5, 6.— RICH., Rep. Brit. Assoc. vi, 1836, 156.— GRAY, List
Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 150.— GERR., Cat. Bones Br. MUB. 1862, 223.
Pscudosioma (Geomys) mexicana, AtJD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1854, 309.
Geomys mexicanus, LEG., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila. 1852, 160. — BAIRD.M. N. A. 1857, 387.
Geomys (Saccophorus) mexicanus, GIEB., Saug. 1855, 529.
Tucan of HERNANDEZ. — Tuca or Tuza, MEXICAN. — Tugan apnd GERR., L c.
MexicaniscJie Taschenmaus, GERMAN.
DIAGNOSIS. — Superior incisors bisected by a single median furrow (as in
G. casfanops, which is very different in color). Coloration and general appear
ance of G. bursarius (which has two distinct grooves on the upper incisors).
Fur soft, sleek, as in other species of the genus (excepting G. hispidus, where
it is extremely coarse and harsh). Averaging much larger than any United
States species (nearly equaling G. hispidus), with proportionally smaller
pouches and hands, and weaker claws (these parts being as in G. hispidus}.
Tail and feet clothed (as usual in the genus), not naked as in G. hispidus
and G. tuza.
HABITAT. — Mexico.
Description (No. 3523, Xalapa, De Oca, skin). — The general appearance
of this animal is so exactly that of an overgrown or overstuffed specimen of
ordinary bursarius, that I shoujd be at a loss for terms referring to color to
precisely characterize it. It is, nevertheless, entirely distinct from this or
any other species. It shares, with G. castanops, the single median* furrow of
the upper incisors, and some other points of form ; but it is much larger, and
altogether of a different color. The excellently well-prepared and not over
stuffed specimen here described is only equaled in a large series of G. bur
sarius by a single much overstuffed example. The dimensions cannot be
given with entire accuracy ; but the species probably averages, when full-
*G. hispidus has been described as baving a single median furrow ; tbe emphasis here, however, ia
upon " single," in antithesis to the double furrow of G. bursarius, without reference to exact position. G.
tuza is said to have a "siugle" furrow; but the proper implication is merely obsoleteness of the fine
inner second furrow usually seen. In G. mexicanus, as in G. castanops, the furrow is truly single and
median; in G. hispidus, single and internal ; in G. tuza, apparently single and external.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. MEXICANUS. 237
grown, about 10 inches from nose to root of tail. Tail about 3 inches from
its apparent base (LeConte gives its length as 5 inches); sole, somewhat
cramped, apparently 1.50 ; hand, much cramped, estimated to be about the
same, or rather less. Nose to eye about 1.35. Girth of body 8 or 9 inches.
The pouches, as well as can be judged from the skin, are smaller proportion
ally than those of the United States species ; in this respect, being like those
of G. hispidus. These two Mexican species further agree in the relative
smallness of the hands and less enormous development of the claws ; the fore
member being shorter, or, at most, not longer, than the hinder one. The
vesture of the feet and tail is much the same in extent as in bursarius, and
thus in striking contrast to those parts in either G. tuza or G. hispidus. The
orifice of the external ear presents, in the dried state, a mere rim, around
which no flap can be fairly recognized.
It seems preferable thus to describe this species in comparative terms to
bring out the curious interrelations of the animal — a species with the size
and single incisor-furrow of G. hispidus, yet the furrow different in position,
and the pelage altogether different. Agreeing in the points of character of
pelage, its color, and amount of hairiness of tail and feet with G. bursarius,
yet at once distinguished by its superior size and single median furrow of the
upper front teeth ; exactly like G. castanops in this last respect, and in most
others, yet entirely of a different color ; disagreeing with all the United States
species in its smaller pouches and weaker hands, and in these points agreeing
with its very distinct Mexican congener.
As regards color: LeConte's animal, "which agrees with Lichtenstein's
and Wagner's descriptions," and is called '''saturate cinereus, supra nigro-tinctus,
naso brunneo" was evidently an example of the "plumbago"-colored variation,
which may occur in any species of this genus as well as in Thomomys. The
specimen before me is of the normal coloration ; and this cannot readily be
characterized as anything decidedly different from ordinary bursarius, tiiough
there is a purity of the chestnut-brown which contrasts with the muddy brown
(in some cases almost a glaucous shade or "bloom") commonly seen in bur
sarius. All the fur is deep plumbeous basally, pointed with the warm brown
on the upper parts, and only partially hidden below by muddy gray and hoary
ends of the hairs. There is a darkness about the auricular region. The hind
238 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
feet and tail are mostly whitish (as is always liable to be the case in Geomys).
There is some whitishness about the lower jaw, and a small white abdominal
and anal patch; these last being of the irregular indeterminate character often
seen in and out of this genus. This specimen corresponds exactly with
Brants's diagnosis of his var. ft. of mexicanus — " castaneus, infra canescens,
maculis auricularibus duabus nigro-fuscis." The same author's var. y. suggests
hispidus; but it is as well not to strain a point here; for injudicious scrutiny
of "some of the printed matter extant upon the subject of mexicanus might
raise synonymatic difficulty with hispidus,
Owing to insufficiency of material, I am not prepared to pursue the sub
ject of the characters of mexicanus into the details of variation in size and
color; but I have no doubt that it corresponds with G. bursarius in these
respects.
The specimen shows three pairs of mammae — two of which are inguinal
and close together along the inside of the thigh, the third being pectoral, at
a considerable distance ; I can find none between.
This animal is supposed to be the Tucan of Hernandez, with much prob
ability; and, if so, it was the first of the genus to appear in print. It does not
appear, however, to have received a scientific designation, or to have prop
erly entered upon record until many years after liMus bursarius" had become
known, when, in 1827, it was called Ascomys mexicanus by Lichtenstein. I
have met with no specific synonyms, though it has been referred to various
genera. As the Tuza or Tuca of the Mexicans, it is treated at some length
in the inedited MSS. of Dr. Berlandier, who, after a good description, says
that it was supposed by Mocinno and Sesse* (ined.) to be the Mus citillus of
Linnaeus, and that it is the Taupe mexicaine of which Clavigero speaks. "It
is destructive in the fields by riddling the ground .... it brings up earth in
its pouches, and empties them with its fore feet;" and he adds that it inhabits
the cold and temperate regions of New Spain, and that he never saw the
Tuza in places where there were squirrels. It is not to be inferred that its
habits are in any wise different from those of G. bursarius.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. H1SPIDUS. 239
GEOMYS HISPIDUS, Lee.
Saccophorus quachil, GRAY, P. Z. S. xi, 1843, 79, ex Coban, VeraPaz, descr. nulla! — GERE., Cat. Bones Br.
Mus. 1862, 223.
Geomys hispidus, LEC., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila, 1852, 158.— BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 386, pi. 22, f. 4 a-d.
Pseudostoma (Geomys) hispidum, AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1854, 306.
DIAGNOSIS. — Superior incisors with a single strong deep furrow, lying
wholly in the inner half of the tooth. Tail and hind feet naked, or nearly so;
fore feet sparsely hirsute. Fore feet, including claws, decidedly shorter than
the hind feet. Pouches moderate, scarcely or not reaching beyond the head.
Pelage stiff, hispid, and almost lusterless. Color uniform dull chocolate-
brown, merely paler, grayer, or smoky brown below. Of large size ; upward
of a foot long; tail short, about 3 inches; sole, 1§, &c.
HABITAT. — Mexico and Central America.
Description (from various dried specimens). — The animal indicated in
the foregoing paragraph, and about to be described in further detail, agrees
perfectly with the accounts. given by LeConte and Baird from the same spec
imen collected some years ago by Mr. Charles Pease, somewhere between
Vera Cruz and Mexico City. The type remained unique until recently, when
several well-prepared skins reached the Smithsonian. These are from Xalapa,
Mexico (De Oca}, and Necostla, Mexico (Sumichrasf] ; Costa Rica (Zeledon
and Canmof) ; and Guatemala City ( Van Patten). Most of these specimens
are labeled "mexicanus," as might have been expected under the circum
stances. They agree perfectly with each other, as well as with the above-
quoted descriptions, and are unquestionably distinct from the true mexicanus.
In the original notices, the character of the upper incisors was not fully
indicated, owing to defect of the specimens. My specimens show that these
teeth are unisulcate, as in mexicanus, but that the position of the groove is
sufficiently different to constitute by itself a perfect specific character. In
mexicanus, as has been already said, a single profound groove bisects the
tooth; in hispidus, there is a similar single groove, but it lies on the inner half
of the tooth. In some specimens, indeed, where the groove is widest, it may
encroach slightly upon the median line; but it usually lies altogether to one
side, the outer plane surface of the tooth being alone as wide as the groove
plus the inner plane surface. This character is unique among the species
240 EXPLOEATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
described in this paper. The teeth of old animals are also of immense size,
suggesting a beaver or porcupine; the under incisors sometimes protrude
nearly an inch, while the upper ones are exposed for over half an inch.
The next most notable feature is the nakedness of the tail and feet. The
tail, in extreme cases, is absolutely bare — not a hair or bristle can be discerned,
even on holding the specimen up to the light, except upon the enlarged base
In these cases, the hind feet, from the tarso-metatarsal joint outward, are
nearly bare, though a few bristly hairs may be observed, especially on the toes.
The hands share the same nakedness, but in less degree ; their backs are
sparsely clothed with bristly hairs, indeed, but not in sufficient quantity to
conceal the skin; a slight stiff fringe of hairs overhangs the inner border.
Specimens vary in these respects; in some, delicate bristles, scarcely visible
except when held up to a light, are scattered over the tail, and more evident
ones clothe the instep. But the parts are never fairly hairy, as in mexicanus,
always presenting a peculiar skinny appearance.
There are additional characters, aside from, size and color. The very
short tail is less than one-fourth as long as the head and body. Owing, in
part, to a less development of the fore claws, the hands are not as long as the
feet. The longest third claw before me is only exserted three-fourths of an
inch, and it is usually shorter than this. The second and fourth claws are sub-
equal to each other. The whole hand is smaller and weaker than in the G. bur-
sarius group, indicating less fossorial nature; and coincidently with this — per-*
haps in correspondence with it — the cheek-pouches are not so highly developed.
As well as can be judged from prepared skins, the sacs do not reach beyond the
head — certainly not to the shoulder; their capacity, in an individual nearly a
foot long, seems no greater than that of specimens of G. bursarius eight
inches long, and not more than half as bulky.
The hispid pelage is a remarkable feature; this is so strong a character
that the species may readily be diagnosticated in the dark by the "feel" of the
fur, and it is instantly noted in comparison with any of the other species, in
which the pelage is sleek and soft, much like a mole's. Besides being so
coarse and harsh, and almost entirely lusterless, it is longer than usual, and
interspersed with still longer and almost bristly hairs. There is no percept
ible under-fur different from the general pelage ; and the color is uniform to
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— G. HISPIDUS. 241
the roots of the hairs. The whiskers are numerous, but short ; the longest
not equaling the head. There are other lengthened bristles over the eyes,
on the cheeks, and elsewhere; but they are not readily discovered amidst the
coarse hispid hair of the parts.
There is no occasion to enlarge upon general characters of the muffle,
feet, &c., shared by other species.-^ In the best-prepared specimens, the large
orifice of the external ear is p seen to be nearly surrounded by a small but
unmistakable flap.
It is characteristic of all the other species of Geomys I know of, those
with soft hair, to have plumbeous-colored fur at base, pointed with the par
ticular brown, fulvous, or other shade which determines their appearance to
the eye. The case is different with G. hispidus, in which the pelage is uni-
color from base to tip ; and the color, too, is peculiar. It is a dark mahog-
any'-brown, or rather a chocolate, or cafe sans lait color, a little lighter or
darker according to age or season, or fortuitously, but in any event uniform
over all the upper parts and sides. Underneath the color is the same, but
paler and dilute — like cafe au lait; sometimes quite smoky gray, or muddy
brown. The under parts, however, frequently show patches of white here
and there; these are altogether indeterminate, being as irregular in size,
shape, number, and position as the similar white patches on the under side of
a mink (Putorius vison). It is probable, also, that plumbago-colored individ
uals occur, as happens to the other species; but I have seen none such. The
naked parts appear to have been reddish or flesh-colored; the claws are an
indefinite horn-color; the incisors are faced with the usual rodent-red; color
of eyes not stated on labels, but probably black.
The size of the species can only be approximately estimated from the
dried skins ; but it is evidently the largest species of those here treated, some
what exceeding G. mexicanus. Well-prepared skins average about 11 inches
in length, with a girth of some 9 inches. The tail, from the extreme base, is
less than 3 inches; its naked part hardly over 2. Sole of foot about If; palm,
including longest claw, less than this. Nose to eye, nearly 1J. A ruler
inserted in the pouch measures off about 2J inches from the bottom of the
sac to the snout. The opening of the sac is about 1J inches long.
In a female, killed during lactation apparently, I find, after diligent search,
31 COL
242 EXPLOBATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOBADO.
only three pairs of teats — two pairs inguinal, and one pair, longo intervallo, pec
toral. These are very conspicuous, on naked scabrous spaces, and the thin
coarse fur would hardly, I think, -hide others if they were present. In some
species of this family I have distinctly recognized six pairs. I observe no
sexual peculiarities in size' or color.
The geographical distribution of the species has been already indicated
as far as my present materials go. I am in .possession of no information
respecting its habits, which, however, may be presumed to be the same as
those of its congeners ; though the weaker feet and proportionally smaller
pouches may indicate that the fossorial character is not pushed to such an
extreme as is the case with G. bursarius.
The written history of the species is brief and precise; the name having
been only introduced in 1852. Audubon and Bach man's account is from Le
Conte, and Baird redescribes LeConte's type. It is quite possible, and,
indeed, probable, that this second Mexican species has figured at times under
the name of mexicanus, but it would only tend to obscure a matter now clear
to drag any such point to light. Now that we know of two perfectly good
species in Mexico, the less said about the Tucan of Hernandez, or any simi
lar subsequent uncertainties, the better.
A Saccophorus quachil, from Guatemala, was named by Dr. Gray in 1843,
though I cannot find that the species was ever described. But through the
kind offices of Mr. R. B. Sharpe, who, with the assistance of Mr. Gerrard,
examined the type still in the British Museum, at my request, I am informed
that it is the animal first described, though subsequently named, by Dr.
LeConte.
The foregoing pages include all the species of Geomys with which I am
acquainted, and account probably for all the names which have been intro
duced excepting one, G. heterodus, recently described, from Central America,
by Professor Peters, of which I know nothing. ("Uber neue Arten der
Saugthier-Gattungen Geomys, Haplodon und Dasypus." < Monatsberichte
Acad. Wissensch. Berlin, 1864, Mar. 17, pp. 177-180.)
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS. 243
Genus THOMOMYS, Maxim.
Oryctomys, pt. EYD. & GERV., Mag. Zool. vi, 1836, 23.
Thomomys, MAXIM., N. Act. Acacl. CSRS. Leop. xix, 1839, 383.
(In addition to the foregoing, all the synonyms of Geomys, q. v., have been applied to this genus.)
The readiness with which the species of Geomys may be recognized and
defined, is a measure of the difficulties encountered in the genus Thomomys,
where, with the exception of T. clusius, the several forms into which the
genus has become differentiated are not yet sufficiently stable to permit
of positive, precise determination. After bringing to bear upon the subject
an unusually protracted study, in the course of which I have critically exam
ined a hundred or more specimens, I am forced to the conclusion that not a
single one of the six or eight currently recognized species is susceptible
of satisfactory diagnosis. No descriptive formula can be devised to mark off
the characters of any one set of specimens, so completely is the whole series
linked together. Nevertheless, it is easy to recognize three extremes of
variation (i. e., of differentiation), selected specimens of which would not be
confounded by the most careless observer; and it would be as unscientific to
ignore these various phases of the genus, as to force them unnaturally apart
in an attempt to ignore the still extant links by which they are bound
together. There is an unmistakable average of characters, which serves for
the recognition of three climatic or geographical races, conspecies or sub
species, which may be described in terms perhaps covering 75 per cent,
of existing individuals ; but the remainder cannot be thus disposed of. In
other words, the causes which have been operative in modifying an original
Thomomys stock have been only incompletely effectual in the formation
of species. We clearly observe the tendency of those modifying influences
to which the genus has been subjected ; but we note with equal clearness the
incompleteness, up to the present time, of the result. Nor is this by any
means an exceptional case ; on the contrary, positive diagnosis of forms, or
specific distinctions in the proper sense, become impossible, in perhaps a
majority of cases, when sufficient series of specimens are examined. As I
have frequently remarked before under different modes of expression, the
244 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
ability to define species satisfactorily is a very good gauge of our ignorance
of the whole truth.
But naturalists practically work, for the most part, upon the surface
of the subjects presented to their examination, not necessarily concerning
themselves at all times with what lies hidden underneath. There are occa
sions to speculate and theorize, and there are other times when a naturalist
may legitimately ignore underlying principles, and properly content himself
with statement of certain observed facts. Working on this plane, as I am
in the present instance, it is my business to render an exact account of what
I find the case of Thomomys to be, without reference to abstract questions
involved ; and to sum the statement in such nomenclatural terms as I may
judge most suitable to express the relationships believed to subsist between
the several differentiations which the genus has undergone. In describing
the several forms of Thomomys, I waive the question of species ; no harvest
would be garnered if the laborers waited till they learned how the grain
grew. In studying my specimens, I find that one of them differs from all
the rest to such a degree that its characters are totally irreconcilable with
those of any others. My description of it is merely an amplification of this
statement. I give it a name, and call it a species, conventionally, simply in
recognition of this fact, and for the usual purpose of readily indexing the
items of information the specimen affords. I find, furthermore, that all the
other specimens collectively present a varying sum of characters, according
to difference in the emphasis of each one of these characters common to all ;
and that their interrelation or intergradation is so intimate and complete that
no lines of precise distinction can be drawn ; but that, nevertheless, an average
difference in three directions may be readily perceived and described intel
ligibly. It is an undoubted fact, furthermore, that these three differentiations
are related in some way to certain geographical areas, for the simple reason
that all the specimens of one style are produced in certain portions of the
country, and all of the rest in certain other regions ; and that the Thdinomys
existing on the confines of the several areas share each others' peculiarities.
It is, once again, within the experience of those who have studied such
subjects in their general bearings, that the aspects of the case presented by
Thomomys tally exactly with those determined in a great many other cases.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS. 245
Not to pursue this subject to the extent of further allusion to laws fairly
deducible from such premises, it is a logical inference from what has been
said that there is but one "species" among all these specimens. This "species"
is modified by some unknown means, evidently related in some way to the
climate, soil, vegetable productions, or other peculiarities of certain geo
graphical areas, yet not to the extent of severing the links which bind all its
individuals together. This species, in the course of time, by the continued
operation of the same influences, may or may not be resolved into three or
more species in the current acceptation of the term ; but at present such is
not the case. It is my intention, in the following pages, to describe these
variations in detail. In so doing, I consider it advisable, for convenience'
sake, to give them each a name ; and, in so doing, I shall adopt a formula
of nomenclature which I consider best suited to suggest the intergradation
which I find to exist, without reference to Linnaeus or to the British Asso
ciation.
It may tend to take the edge off the imputation implied in the remark
made above, that six or eight species admitted by naturalists of high repute
must be reduced to one, to briefly review the written history of Thomomys.
The literature of the subject is unusually brief, and it is somewhat surprising
how much of it is pure compilation, which has no actual bearing upon the
case. Eydoux and Gervais, and Maximilian, each described a species, and
Waterhouse and Brandt have both handled the general aspects of the case ;
but, with these exceptions, almost no original work appears from foreign
authorities. Fischer, Schinz (whose one new species was a self-confessed
synonym), Wagner, Giebel, and doubtless other systernatists, have treated
of a number of species of Thomomys, but entirely at second hand. Such
authorities may be passed over in respectful silence, having no weight
whatever. The very slight knowledge from abroad will seem the less
remarkable when we find how little has been done by the naturalists of this
country. Rafinesque's animals appear to have been all Geomys. Godman
had nothing to say upon the subject. Bachman's descriptions of two species,
in 1839, were upon Richardson's MSS. DeKay enumerated some species
at second hand. Audubon and Bachman's accounts of several species add
positively nothing to what was already extant upon the subject. When
LeConte monographed the family in 1852, he knew but a single species,
246 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
giving compiled indications only of several others. Woodhouse 'described a
new species in 1853. Various naturalists of the Pacific Railroad Surveys
furnished field -notes of observation, but their determinations, to state a well-
known fact, were not upon their own authority. In fact, the -literature of the
whole subject, so far as original work in determination of species is concerned,
focuses only in two authors — Richardson, 1829, and Baird, 1857.
No species of Thomomys having apparently been described before 1829,
the history of the genus may be considered to begin at that date. The emi
nent author of the Fauna Boreali- Americana gave five species of "Geomys"
and "Diplostoma." One of these is a true Geomys; the four remaining ones
(douglasii, bulbivorum, talpoides, and umbrinus), to which a fifth (borealis)
was subsequently added, are all Thomomys. These accounts of Richardson's
remained for many years the principal, and, in some cases, the whole, source
of what has been written upon the determination of species ; and they include
every form of the genus known up to this date (every subsequent name pro
posed having proven a synonym). I hardly know where to look for the
parallel of this curious case. Two points strike one in reviewing Richardson's
work : First, he had a wholly erroneous idea that there were two distinct
genera, "Geomys" and "Diplostoma," in one of which the pouches, opening
into the mouth, dangled naturally as sacks on each side, and in the other
of which the pouches were as we know them to be. This radically wrong
premise vitiated all his work, and led him to the length of describing one
and the same species as "Geomys douglasii" and "Diplostoma bulbivorum."
Secondly, the minute descriptions consist mainly of the repetition, under
varying forms of expression, of generic characters, common^ of course, to all
the species. When sifted of their generalities, there is very little left ; though,
fortunately, such was this author's habitual accuracy, the residuum suffices,
when coupled with the indications of locality, for the identification of all his
species.
As already stated, there was little real change in the state of the case
from 1829 to 1857, when Professor Baird reviewed the subject, with consid
erably more material and much more other information than Richardson
appears to have possessed. " Diplostoma" had meanwhile been effectually
disposed of; but to this author is due the credit of having first actually iden
tified with specimens several of Richardson's species, which, though often
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS. 247
re-appearing by name, remained names only, with copied or compiled accounts
attached. Professor Baird's only compilation was in the case of Thomomys
" talpoides," which he did not claim to recognize. He examined the Phila
delphia types of "borealis" and "townsendii," which Dr. LeConte had already
satisfactorily located. He referred "Diplostoma bulbivorum" to the Californian
form, remarking upon its close afriBity to T. "douglasii," and established the
identity of "umbrinus" with the New Mexican form. He adopted as distinct
species the T. rufescens of Maximilian and T. fulvus of Woodhouse, and added
a new one, T. laticeps. His descriptions are like those of Richardson's in
their minuteness and accuracy, which leave no doubt of his meaning, and the
continual recurrence of comparative expression favors recognition of the dis
criminations made ; but, as in the former case, they include much repetition
of generic characters. It is a significant fact, however, that in this article
the author omits the admirable antithetical tables he usually gives, and
throughout seems to have rather undertaken the identification and descrip
tion of the species currently recognized at the time, than a critical revision
of the subject. Alluding to his lack of adequate material, he frankly charac
terizes the article as "a very unsatisfactory account." I have only to add to
this, that, as is well known, the tendency at the time Professor Baird's article
was written was to push specific discriminations beyond a point now usual.
Under such circumstances as this sketch of the history of the genus
shows to have existed, it would be singular if some combination of currently-
recognized species were not required. The reduction I find necessary, and
propose to make, is after all not a violent one. Holding for the moment the
three forms 1 shall describe as geographical races to be species — and they
would be so regarded by any one working upon a moderate number of speci
mens — the following are the only combinations required :
BAIRD, 1857. COUES, 1875.
1. Thomomys bulbicorus .. ~\ f
2. Thomomys laticeps > Pacific coast region < BULBIVORCS..
3. Thomomys douglassii ..] \_
4. Thomomys f borealis. ..} f
5. Thomomys rufescens ... > Northern Interior < TAZPOIDES .i ~ b •»
6. Thomomys "talpoides".) ' [
7. Thomomys umbrinus ... 1
> Southern Interior and Lower California < UMBRINCS -.—.—.—
8. Thomomys fulvus J J ^ g. -g
248 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLOEADO.
Of these eight species which Professor Baird gave, one, "talpoides," is
not really indentified by him, "as he only copies Richardson's account; and
another, borealis, he says himself he failed to recognize satisfactorily. This
leaves only six which he actually indorsed "Borealis" had already been iden
tified by LeConte with rufescens ; and the animal I describe as "talpoides"
is the same as his under another name, resulting from the identification with
it of Richardson's species. Another name is thus diposed of. That Wood-
house's "fulvus" is an absolute synonym of what Baird called umbrinus, I
have satisfied myself by inspection of his type-specimen. Respecting the
Pacific-coast form, it is perfectly easy to trace the complete intergradation
between the northern (douglasi) and southern (bulbivorus) extreme. Of
"laticeps," no second specimen is known ; some of the ^external characters
are altered, apparently, by skinning and drying after immersion in alcohol.
In accounts of the species of this genus, much stress has been laid upon
size and shape as distinguishing marks, even by those who are fully aware,
not only of the high normal variability in these respects, but also of the pecul
iar susceptibility to overstuffing, and to various distortions of parts. Nowhere
else, perhaps, has bad taxidermy made such a break ; it is responsible for dif
ferent genera, to say nothing of various species. The skin of the whole body,
•
like that of the pouch, is extremely distensible, and several inches may be
added to the stature of any individual by overstuffing, without leaving any
very obvious trace. The peculiar configuration of the body at the base of the
tail renders nice measurement of that member very difficult. The feet, par
ticularly the fore feet, shrink and cramp in drying, so that neither their size
nor their shape can be appreciated. Upon removal of the skull, the mouth-
parts infallibly lose all semblance of nature in drying. In Geomys, it is the
same ; but there the species are so well marked that the worst taxidermy can
hardly obscure them. After careful examination of many specimens, fresh,
alcoholic, and dried, the following is the full extent of the discriminations I
have been able to make :
Size. — The Northern Interior form and the Pacific-coast form are of the
game size ; the Southern Interior form averages an inch or two less in total
length than the other ; but large specimens of the latter, and small examples
of the two former, overlap each other in stature.
Form. — The Northern Interior race and the Northern styles of the Pacific-
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS. 249
coast race have larger fore claws than the Southern style of the Pacific-coast
race or than the Southern Interior race. The difference is sufficient to make
the whole hand of the former about equal to the foot, while, in the latter, the
hand is usually shorter than the foot. But this is only true as a rule; there
are many exceptions. In all three of the forms, the tail, measured from its
true base, ranges from one-third ta one-half the total length of head and body,
though only rarely reaching either of these extremes. Nothing can be pred
icated on this score.
Color. — The .Northern Interior race is a rat-colored animal, hoary-gray
underneath, with white tail and feet, much white about the mouth, and no
sooty-blackish there. The Pacific-coast race is a rich dark-brown animal,
muddy-bellied, with dusky tail and feet, wholly or in part, and sooty about the
mouth. The Southern Interior race is usually a rich tawriy or fulvous animal,
with partly dark tail or feet, or both, sooty mouth-parts, and white pouches.
This race is particularly variable in color ; and, in every respect of color, all
the races show much variation, and, moreover, intergrade completely.
The various forms under which the genus Thomomys is exhibited may
be discriminated, as far as it is possible to do so, by the following characters :
A. Large. Hind foot an inch or more long. Tail at least
one-third as long as head and body. Above brown,
reddish, &c. Below gray, brown, reddish, &c. (not
white). Ears in a blackish area well developed 1. TALPOIDES.
a. Six to eight inches long ; fore claws highly devel
oped (0.45 to 0.55 long), making the hand about
as long as the foot. Color of the house-rat,
with white tail and feet, and usually white about
the mouth and throat ; no contrasts of dark
color about the mouth. Northern Interior a. talpoides.
b. Seven to nine inches long ; fore claws less devel
oped, usually under 0.50, leaving the hand
shorter than the foot. Reddish-brown, the belly
muddy-brownish, feet and tail usually not en
tirely white ; mouth-parts dark, contrasting with
white of the pouch-lining. Pacific coast b. bulbivorus.
32 COL
250 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
c. Smaller on an average ; usually six to seven inches
long. Fore claws about 0.40 or less, leaving
the hand decidedly shorter than the foot. Rich
fulvous, or even fawn-color, the same below but
paler, variously obscured on the back with
dusky ; tail and feet usually dark ; face and
mouth-parts sooty-blackish, sharply contrasting
with white pouch-lining. Southern Interior
and Lower California , c. umbrinus.
B. Small ; decidedly less than six inches long. Hind foot
about 0.75 ; fore foot still less. Tail scarcely one-
fourth as long as the head and body. Above, pallid
yellowish-gray, with a shade of light-brown ; below,
entirely white ; feet and tail white. Ears minute, not
in a blackish area. Nose blackish. Bridger's Pass,
Rocky Mountains 2. CLUSIUS, n. s.
THOMOMYS TALPOIDES, (Rich.) Baird.
Cricctus talpoides, RICH., Zool. Journ. iii, App. 1828, 518. (Plumbago-colored.)
Geomys talpoides, RICH.. F. B. A. i, 1829, 204 ; Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1836, v, 1837, 157. (Same as the pro-
ceding, but "Florida" assigned wrongly as a locality.) — DEKAY, N. Y. Fn. 1842, 92. (Com
piled from Richardson.) — SCHINZ, Synop. Mamm. ii, 1845, 137. (Compiled from Rich
ardson.) — LECONTE, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1852, 162. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Saccoplwrus talpoides, FISCH., Synop. Mamm. 1829, 588 (marked " 388"). (Compiled from Richardson.)
Ascomys talpoides, WAGN., Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 390. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Pscudostorna talpoides, AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1853, 43, pi. 110. (Compiled from Richardson ; figure
from the type-specimen.)
Geomys (Thomomys) talpoides, GIKBEL, Siiug. 1855, 530. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Thomomys talpoides, BAIRD, M. If. A. 1857, 403. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Geomys borealis, RICH., Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1836, v, 1837, 156. (Named, not described. " Saskatchewan.") —
BACHM., Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1839, 103. (Originally described from Richardson's
type, "Columbia R.," marked "Pseudostoma borealis, Rich.")— DEKAY, N. Y. Fn. 1842,
92. (Compiled from Bachmau.) — SCHINZ, Synop. Mamm. ii, 1845, 136. (Compiled from
Bachman.)
Ascomys borealis, WAGN., Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 391. (Compiled.)
Saccophorus borealis, GRAY, List Br. Mus. 1843, 149 ("Canada;" mere mention, with some wrong syno-
. nyms).— MURIE, P. Z. S. 1870, 80 (as host of (Estrus).
Pseudostoma borealis, " RICH. MSS."— AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1853, 198, pi. 142. (Description and fig
ure apparently from the original specimens.)
Thomomys borealis, BAIRD, Mamm. N. A. 1857, 396, pi. 22, figs. 2a-e. (Account from types of " borealis" and
" townseudii," in Mus. Phila. Acad., with which a Californian specimen, is considered prob
ably identical.)— NEWB., P. R. R. Rep. vi, 1857, 59 (rests on the Californian specimen just
mentioned).
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. TALPOIDES. 251
Geomya townsvidii, "RiCH. MSS."— BACHM., Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila. 1831), 105. ("Columbia R."
Described as distinct from "borealis," with mucb hesitation, entirely in deference to Rich-
ardson.)— RICH., Zool. Voy. Blossom, 1839, p. 12'.— DEKAY, N. Y. Fn. 1842, 92. (Compiled
from Bachman.)— SCHINZ, Synop^Mamm. ii, 1845, 137. (Compiled.)
Ascomys townsendii, WAGN., Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 391.
" Geomys unisulcatus, GRAY, Br. Mus." — GRAY, L c.
Thomomys rufescens, MAXIM., Nov. Act. Acad. Cses.-Leop. xix, pt. i, 1839, 3S3 ; Arcb. f. Naturg. 1841, pt. ii,
42 ; ibid. 1861, — ; Verz. Siiug. N.-Am. Reise, 1862, 149, pi. 4, f. 5 (penis-bone). (In tbe last
quotation, tbe generic name^is spelled "Tomomys.") (Missouri region.) — SCIIINZ, Synop.
Mamm. ii, 1845, 134 (exclusive of tbe synonym Oryctomys bottce, Eyd. & Gerv.). (Com
piled from Maximilian ; California erroneously assigned as tbe locality.) — BAIRD, Proc. Acad.
Nat. Sci. Phila. vii, 1855, 335; M. N. A. 1857, 397. (Redescription of specimens from
"Nebraska," i. c., Dakota ; Forts Pierre, Randall, and Union.)— BAIRD, P. R. R. Rep. x, 1859,
Gnuuison's and Beckwith's Routes, Manmi. p. 8, pi. 10, f. 1 (tbe same). — STEVENSON, U. S.
Geol. Surv. Terr, for 1870, 1871, 462 (Wyoming).— AMES, Bull. Minn. Acad. i, 1874, 70 (cata
logued upon presumption of its occurrence in Minnesota). — ALLEN, Proc. Boat. Soc. xvij,
• 1874, 43 (Yellowstone River) ; Bull. Ess. Inst. vi, 1874, 56, 61, 65 (rather supposed tban
known to be tbis species).
Geomys rufcsccns, LECONTE, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila. vi, 1852, 161. (Redescribed from types of " bore
alis" and " townseiidii," in Philadelphia Academy, marked " Columbia River.")
Ascomys rufe-scens, WAGN., Snppl. Scbreb. iii, 1843, 387.
Geomys (Thomomys) rufcscens, GIEBEL, Sang. 1855, 530.
Thomomys "fulmts", MERR., U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr, for 1872, 1873, 665. (Nee Woodb.— Err. test, specim.
ipsis.)
DIAGNOSIS. — Coloration almost exactly that of the house- rat (Mus clecu-
manus) — sometimes assuming a more reddish phase, occasionally blackish-
plumbeous ; tail and feet white, and much of the chin, throat, and breast
white in irregular patches, where the fur is white to the base. No sooty-
blackish about the mouth-parts ; no obvious distinction in color between the
pouch and its surroundings ; no strongly-pronounced reddish-brown on the
under parts ; general tone of coloration never decidedly tawny. Ears set in
a small blackish area. Length 6 to 8 inches ; tail 3 inches or less, decidedly
less than half the length of head and body ; fore and hind feet (claws included)
approximately equal to each other, about 1.25; longest fore claw little less
than the length of the rest of the hand, about 0.50.
HABITAT. — Supposed to occur in the Interior of North America, from
"Hudson's Bay" to the "Columbia River", and to occupy about the northern
half of the United States west of the Mississippi, exclusive of the Pacific-
coast region ; being replaced, to the west, by T. bulbivorus, and, to the south,
by T. umbrinus. Undoubted specimens seen from Selkirk Settlement, British
America ; from Minnesota westward along the parallel of 49° N. to the Rocky
Mountains, and from Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.
Description (from a series of skins taken by myself along the northern
252 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
border of Dakota — the details of external form checked from alcoholic speci
mens from Fort Bridger ; in the latter respects, the account represents an
amplification of the generic characters, and serves as a standard of compari
son for the other species, in the account of which these full details need not
be repeated). — So close is the general resemblance of this animal to'Geomys
bursarius that, when the incisors are not examined, a second glance is required
to distinguish them. The most obvious points of difference are the much
smaller and weaker fore claws, altogether less mole-like (spade-like) hands,
and the decided though small external ears. The cheek-pouches are ample —
if anything, more capacious than in Geomys bursarius or tuza. and very
decidedly larger than in other species of that genus. They extend fairly past
(over) the shoulders to a point about opposite the elbow, when the fore limb
is in a usual position. In comparison with species of its own genus, there are,
in T. talpoides, absolutely no decided points of difference in form. With very
little modification in some details, one description is equally applicable to them
all, excepting T. clusius, in which there are tangible distinctions.
The general arrangement of the mouth-parts is as in Geomys bursarius.
Beneath the whisker-patch, on each side of the muzzle, about half-way from
nose to eye, the fold of skin arises and curves loosely around, to subside again in
the common integument over the posterior angle of the under jaw. In a full-
grown animal, the slit is an inch and a half long ; the " slack " of the edge of the
pouch may be pushed an inch or more away from the cheek ; the amplification
of the sac is here at a maximum — it reaches past the shoulder, as already said,
and, in a full-grown animal, two fingers may be inserted to the second joint.
The arrangement of the immediate mouth-parts is such that, as in. Geomys, the
mouth appears to be a vertical fissure instead of a horizontal one, bounded on
either side by thick, fleshy, and hairy lips. This, however, is only the vesti
bule of the mouth ; the buccal orifice proper being small, closing horizontally
of course, as usual, remote from the upper incisors, which are shut out com
pletely by a long, vaulted, hairy interval. The mucous membrane of the cheeks
only fairly reaches the edge of the lips in a small patch on either side, and '
iust in advance of the under incisors. Besides the general hairiness of the
buccal vestibule, there are longer and more bristly hairs, depending like a
fringe around the roots of the incisors, and margining the false lips for some
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. TALPOIDES. 253
distance.* The upper incisors are smoothly convex on their front face, with a
very fine line of impression running immediately along their inner margin.
This groove, always delicate and liable to be overlooked, is sometimes obsolete,
or, at any rate, fails to run the whole length of the tooth. The inferior inci
sors are similar, but longer, narrower, and with no sign of a groove. The
blunt, tumid snout is entirely hairy, excepting a small nasal pad, strictly con
fined between the nostrils. The whiskers are very numerous, very fine and
soft bristles (mostly colorless), and the longest of them do not equal the head
in length. A few slight straggling bristles grow over the eyes and elsewhere
about the head. The eyes are situated about midway between the nose and
ears; they are small, only about an eighth of an inch in diameter, with rather
tumid lids. A notable peculiarity of the species of Tho?nomys, in comparison
with Geomys, is the presence of external ears, about which there is no ques
tion. In Geomys, the mere rim of integument warrants use of the terms
"rudimentary" or "obsolete." In Thomomys, there is a very evident auricle,
which rises behind, something like a quarter of an inch above the head; nor
is it a mere rim even of this decided dimension ; it tapers to quite a point
behind, and the lower border of the conch shows a slight folding, which rep
resents a rudimentary lobule. The cavity of the auricle admits the end of
my pen-holder; the external meatus itself would admit a pigeon-quill.
In the general shape of the body, there is nothing but what is shared by
all the species of the family. The amplitude of the pouches is such that
the width across them is much the greatest diameter of the body. The next
greatest girth is around the belly ; the chest-measure is a little less than this.
The fore and hind feet are as nearly as may be of the same length ; either
may slightly exceed the other, the difference being mainly due to varying
development of the fore claws. These, though decidedly fossorial (a family-
character), are not so enormously developed as in Geomys bursarius, being
decidedly less than half the total length of the hand. The digits have the
same relative lengths, taken either with or without their claws : the 3d is
longest, with the largest claw; the 2d is next; the 4th next, being about as
'much shorter than the 2d as this is less than the 3d ; the 5th is abruptly
much shorter, the tip of its claw scarcely or not reaching the base of the 4th
claw ; the 1st is shorter still, a mere stump, with a little knob for a claw.
* No idea whatever of the true configuration of the mouth-parts in this family can be gained from
dried specimens from which the skull and teeth have been removed.
254 EXPLORATION OP THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
The longer claws are much compressed, moderately curved, acute, falcate, or
sharp-edged underneath, except at the end, where the sides separate with a
slight excavation. The back of the hand is moderately pilous, with short,
soft hairs; the toes being fringed with rather longer and more bristly ones.
The perfectly smooth and naked palm ends behind in an immense protuber
ance (as elsewhere in the family), which consists, in effect, of an exterior and
an interior callosity, united by a slightly-constricted isthmus. This wrist-bulb
is overhung by a special tuft of short, bristly hairs. The sole is naked like
the palm, but much narrower and longer (the equality in total length of hand
and foot being brought about by the length of the fore claws) ; it contracts
regularly from before behind, ending in a prominent but narrow calcaneum.
The upper surface of the foot is hairy like the back of the hand. The 3d
digit is longest ; the 2cl and ^th are subequal to each other, and the tips of
their claws reach about to the base of the middle claw. The 1st and 5th are
again about equal to each other, but abruptly much shorter than the others ;
the tips of their claws hardly or not attaining the base of the 2d and 4th
digits. The hind claws are of the same character as those of the hand, but
very much shorter.
The tail, as in other species of the family, is surrounded at base by a
conical enlargement — a prolongation of the body, haired like the rest of the
frame, which, in the rutting-season, becomes highly tumid underneath, render
ing it still more difficult to say where the tail actually begins. Measured from
its true base, as well as this can be ascertained without dissection (from the
true base as far as external form is concerned), the tail is more than one-third,
but decidedly less than one-half, of the length of head and body together —
say about two-fifths. In an average specimen, 7 incjies long, the tail may be
about 2.75. Measured from where the long hair of the body ceases, or from
its apparent base, the tail is about one-third of the length of head and body.
This member is somewhat quadrangular, the flattening being especially notice
able underneath ; it gradually tapers to an obtuse tip, and is pilous throughout,
being clothed with short, soft hairs like those covering the hands and feet.
In the male as well as in the female, the genital aperture is immediately
in front of the anus. In the rutting-season, the enlargement of the parts is
chiefly post-anal; there being a great swelling behind the anus, which carries
the anus away from the apparent base of the tail. The os penis is a slender,
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. TALPOIDES. 255
sharp spicule, clubbed at base, tapering and slightly curved, nearly three-
quarters of an inch long. In a female, I have distinctly made out twelve
mammae, of which two pairs are inside the thigh, two pairs on the chest, and
two pairs axillary.
Few, however, if any, of the foregoing points are diagnostic of the spe
cies ; nor will the ensemble serve-to distinguish it infallibly from its congeners,
excepting T. dusius. As to form, the single character I notice is the greater
average development of the fore claws, bringing the length of the hands up
to about that of the feet. Some points of color about to be noticed are the
most reliable distinctions. The animal is as nearly as possible like the house-
rat (Mus decumanus}. The whole upper parts are of a uniform grayish-brown,
generally quite pure, though occasionally warming into a more reddish-brown.
But, in the most reddish specimens, the tint is uniform, without the peculiar
mottling or lining of a dark-brown with a reddish-brown which constitutes
the richer color of the Pacific-coast bulbivorus. The only departure from the
uniformity of the upper parts is a small blackish patch, usually very evident,
in which the ears are set. On the sides of the body, the color gives way
gradually to the lighter tint of the under parts : here we find the plumbeous
of the roots of the hairs as a background to a hoary-grayish, resulting from
the tips of the hairs. This hoary is usually quite pure, but it sometimes
takes on an appreciably muddy-brown tinge, still never equaling, as far as
known, the richer fulvous-brown which tones the under parts in the coast
form. The tail and feet are white in every specimen I have seen ; and, besides
this, there are usually patches about the mouth, cheeks, throat, and breast,
where the fur is pure white to the roots. But these white markings are
wholly indeterminate in extent, as well as inconstant in appearing at all; in
many cases, the parts are concolor with the rest of the under surface. Per
haps the strongest color-mark of the species is the absence from any part of
the head of sooty-blackish or even dusky areas, there being no noticeable con
tracts of color between the mouth-parts and pouches ; whereas, in T. bulbi
vorus, and, still more so, in umbrinus, these parts are dusky, or even coal-black,
contrasting sharply with the pure-white linings of the pouches. The whiskers
are mostly colorless; the claws are colorless, though usually stained with
extravasated blood.
Northern Dakotan and Minnesota!! specimens may be taken to represent
256
EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
the extreme of this race as above described, characterized by the purity, of
the gray and brown shades, absence of any decided reddish cast, and pure-
white feet, tail, and throat. Specimens from Selkirk Settlement and the
Assiniboine region are identical. Others, from Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, arc
too nearly similar to admit of any intelligible noting of differences;' though,
as might be expected, there is a slight tendency to the characters of bulbi-
vorus.
A few specimens before me from Southern and Western Dakota, being
those that Baird referred to " rufescens," with one from California, which he
placed under "borealis," and one lately received from Fort Benton, Montana,
are more decidedly reddish-brown than any of the above. They are unques
tionably exactly what Maximilian called "rufescens." They are all consider
ably smaller than average talpoides ; and, if I could satisfy myself that they
were full-grown, something more would have to be said upon the subject. As
it is, however, I can make out no satisfactory distinctions from ordinary
talpoides. There are only five or six of these small rufous specimens before
me ; fuller series may indicate some tangible distinctions.
The following measurements indicate the average dimensions, and, to
some extent, the variation, of this species :
Current number.
Locality.
Sex.
From tip of nose to —
Tail to end of ver
tebrae.
Length of —
Lougest fore claw.
Nature of
specimen.
6
>>
W
ti
a
W
Occiput.
'rt
H
•u
O
£
o
t-l
o
Pn
•Ip
O
1
fv3
i
11515
11517
11518
11520
11522
Souris River, Dakota
Peinbiua, Dakota . .
X
9
$
$'
$
1.00
0. 75
0.90
0.90
0.95
l.GO
1.40
l.GO
1.50
l.CO
1.75
1.60
1.70
1.90
1.80
7.00
6.25
7.50
7.25
7.00
2.50
2.75
2.50
2.75
2.60
1.25
1.15
1.20
1.25
1.25
1.25
1.25
1.20
1.20
1.20
0.55
0.55
0. 50
0.45
0.55
Fresh.
Fresh.
Fresh.
Fresh.
Fresh.
Pembina. Dakota .
Pe uibina, Dakota.
Pembina, Dakota .
NOTE. — The foregoiug specimens, all adult, taken the same season ( Juue to September, 1873), were
carefully measured in the flesh by myself. Other specimens, from the same region, not measured in the
flesh, carry the limits of total length from about 6 to a.bout 8 inches, with a corresponding range of vari
ation in other parts. The tail is taken from its true base — it appears about half an inch shorter in the
dried state. The weight of these specimens ranges from 6 to 7 ounces. The girth of the chest is about
5 inches ; of the belly, 6.50. No. 11517, 9 , has 12 teats — 2 pairs axillary, 2 pairs pectoral, 2 pairs inguinal
When fully distended, m the fresh state, the width across the check-pouches is the greatest diameter of
the body.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. TALPOIDES. 257
Distribution. — The most northern specimen I have seen is from the
Assiniboine River; the species is supposed to range from Hudson's Bay to
the Rocky Mountains in British America (northern limit unknown). In the
United States, I have specimens from Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho,
Nebraska, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah. The southern limit is likewise
unknown, but inferred to be somewhere along the middle of the United
States. Its range, probably, does not inosculate with that of T. umbrinus; at
any rate, I have seen nothing intermediate in character from anywhere in the
Interior. The approach to umbrinus seems to be only made in the Pacific
province, through bulbivorus. Talpoides exists fairly westward of the main
chains of the Rocky Mountains; but no Tliomomys of this style is known from
immediate Pacific slopes. It meets and inosculates with the Northern style
of bulbivorus ("douglasi") in the Columbia River region.
Synonymy. — The name "talpoides,'' coupled with various generic terms,
is of frequent appearance in works on natural history; but, so far as I know,
everything relating to it is pure compilation, the species never having been
hitherto actually identified. The sole advance upon Richardson's original
accounts is Audubon's figure of the type-specimen. A difficulty in the way
of identifying Richardson's animal seems to have been an expression he used
with regard to the number of digits. But it is morally certain that no such
difference exists in the genus Thomomys. In some other cases, as in Muridce
and Sciuridce, strict interpretation of Richardson's remarks in this regard
would throw his species out of the question ; for he speaks more than once
of four perfect digits, and a rudimentary one, as in this very case. The
diagnosis in the Fn. Bor.-Am. is: "grayish-black, with white chin, throat, and
tail, and only four perfect toes on the hind feet." The expression "cinera-
scenti-niger'' is no obstacle; for here, as in the genus Geomys, there is a
plumbago-state of pelage. The "white chin, throat, and tail" are diagnostic,
in fact, of the animal I here describe, and inapplicable to any other. These
facts, especially when coupled with the locality assigned (Hudson's Bay),
leave no doubt in my mind that this is the species indicated by Richardson.
Furthermore, Audubon's figure from Richardson's type is an unusually faith
ful representation. I consider this point established.
The. next names in point of date are ''borealis" and "townsendii," both
33 COL
258 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
described, in 1839, by Dr. Bachman, from Richardson's MSS., upon speci
mens in the Philadelphia Academy, said to be from the "Columbia River.''
These two names may be treated together, as they are unquestionably the
same. These specimens, apparently, were figured by Audubon; the plate is
too highly colored, the richness of the tint there represented being only
matched in strong cases ofumbrinus; but exactly the same wrong tawny col
oration is on the same author's plate of "douglasii," and need not stand in
the least in the way of the identification which I make. The same original
specimens were taken by Dr. LeConte as the basis of his Geomys rufescens,
and were examined by Professor Baird, who failed to see any decided differ
ence from " douglasi." I have not taken occasion to handle these specimens
myself; but Dr. Bachman's original description gives nothing incompatible
with the characters of the present species, and the balance of his account
inclines here. From the locality, it is most likely that these specimens are
more or less intermediate between pure talpoides and " douglasi." It becomes,
in fact, a matter of indifference whether we allocate the quotations of
''borealis" here or under the next head.
Respecting the T. rufescens of Maximilian, I have nothing to add to
what has been already said. "Geomys unisulcatus" of Gray, apparently only
a museum-name, is here assigned by the author himself. The specimens col
lected by the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, catalogued
by Mr. Merriam as "fulvus,'' belong here, as I ascertain by inspection.
THOMOMYS TALPOIDES BULBIVORUS, (Rich.) Coues.
Diplostomal lulbivorum, RICH., F. B. A. i, 1829, 206, pi. 18 B (lettered douglasii by mistake). — EICII., Zool.
Voy. Blossom, 1839, pp. 9 and 13.*
Ascomys bulbivorus, WAGN., Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 387. (Compiled.)
Geomys bulbivorus, DEKAY, N. Y. Fu. 1842, 92. (Compiled from Bichardson.) — SCHINZ, Syn. Mamm. ii,
1845, 135. (Compiled; quotes D. " bulbiferum " ; gives wrong locality). — LECOXTK, Proc.
Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1852, 162. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Pseudostoma bulbivorum, AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1854, 337. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Geomys (Thomomys) bulbivorus, GIEB., Siiug. 1855, 530. (Compiled from Richardson )
Thomomys bulbivorus, BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 389, pi. 50, f. 3 a-g, and pi. 52, f. I a-y. (Identifies the
common Californian animal with this species of Richardson's, and minutely describes it.) —
BAIRD, P. R. R. Rep. x, 1859, Williamson's Route, Mamm. 82. (Tejou, Cal.)— KENNERLY,
P. R. R. Rep. x, 1859, Whipple's Route, Mamm. 13, pi. 11. (California.)— GERR., Cat. Bones
Brit. Mus. 1862, 223. (California.)
Oryctomys (Saccophorus) bottce, EYD. & GERV., Mag. de Zool. vi, 1836, 23, pi. 21, f. 4 (teeth); Voy.
Favorite, v, 1839, 23, pi. 8, f. 4 (same).
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. BULBIVOEUS. 259
Thomomt/s J»)Ha; LKSS., Nouv. Man. R. Aniiii. 1842, 119. (Compiled.) — BAIRD, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.
1855, 335. (Subsequently identified the same with bulbivorua.)
(icomys fttliginosus, Scuixz, Syn. Manim. ii, 1845, 136. (Based on douglasi; name altered for no good
reason.)
Thomomys laticeps, BAIRD, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1855, 335; M. N. A. 1857, 392. (Huiuboldt Bay.)—
KENN., P. R. R. Rep. x, 1859, Whipple's Route. Mamm. 13, pi. 12, f. 1 (by error marked
"2" in text). (Same as the foregoing.)
Geomys douglasii, RICH., F. B. A. i, 1829, 200, pi. 18 C, ff. 1-6 (skull) ; Zool. Voy. Blossom, 1839, 9.
(Near mouth of Columbia; Fort Vancouver.) — LECOXTE, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1852,
162. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Geomys douglasi, DsKAY, N. Y. Fn. 1842, 92. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Ascomys dougiasii, WAGX., Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 392. (Compiled.)
Pseudostoma dougiasii, AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1853, 24, pi. 105 (altogether too brightly colored).
(Mainly compiled from Richardson.)
Gcotnys (Tliomomys) douglasi, GIEBEL, Siiug. 1855, 531. (Compiled.)
TlwiHomys douglassii, BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 394. (Minute description of specimens from Washington and
Oregon Territories.)— SUCKL., P. R. R. Rep. xii, 1860, pt. ii, pp. 100, 126.
DIAGNOSIS. — ^Coloration heavier than in the foregoing ; general cast
reddish-brown, lined with dusky on the back; the head usually darker than
the rest of the upper parts ; on the sides, the color giving way to a clearer
tawny-brown, which occupies the belly also, there overlying the plumbeous
roots of the fur as. a strong wash. Face and mouth-parts dusky, or even
sooty-blackish, contrasting with the white lining of the pouches. No pure
white on the under parts. Tail and feet usually incompletely whitish, or
quite dusky. If anything averaging rather larger than true talpoides. Hand
rather shorter than the foot, owing to less development of the claws, which
are only about 0.40 long.
HABITAT. — Pacific coast and slopes of the United States, from Washing
ton Territory to Southern California.
Description (from San Francisco specimens). — Having already sufficiently
insisted upon the fact that there is no decided difference in size or shape-
between this form and the last, beyond an average less development of the
fore claws, there is little to be said by way of description, except to amplify
the foregoing points of coloration. The extreme of the bulbivorus branch
of this species is readily recognized by a warmth and intensity of coloration
not known to occur in specimens from the Northern Interior. The color
varies a great deal in different specimens, but is never like the clear mouse-
gray seen in talpoides. It is in reality an intimate mixture of yellowish-brown
and dark-brown or blackish. Above, the pointing of the fur conceals the
plumbeous bases of the hairs; below, this plumbeous shows, overlaid with a
260 EXPLOITATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
strong wash of tawny or muddy-brown, quite unlike the hoary-gray of the
same parts of talpoides. The under surface is not known to be varied with
patches of white, nor is there any white about the mouth, excepting the
immediate border of the lips. On the contrary, the mouth-parts are sooty
or dusky, contrasting with the white which lines the cheek-pouches. This
is very much as in umbrinus, and quite different from talpoides. The hands
and feet are sometimes white, as in talpoides, but oftener merely whitish, and
not seldom dusky. I have not seen the tail pure white ; it is generally dark-
colored for the most part, often wholly so. The fore claws average about
0.40 — rather less than more.
Such is the typical manifestation of this form, which I have only seen
from California. We have next to trace the change by insensible degrees
into both talpoides and umbrinus. Proceeding up the Pacific coast, we find
an animal still like bulbivorus in the general tone of coloration (warm-brown
above and muddy-bellied), but in which the mouth-parts have nearly or
entirely lost their sootiness. Here, also, the fore claws enlarge somewhat,
and from this state it is but a step to the grayer true talpoides, which joins
with douglasi in the interior of Oregon and Washington. In the interior
of California, the opposite modification begins, tending toward umbrinus,
which becomes fully established in Arizona and New Mexico. Here the
dark mouth-parts are preserved and even intensified, but the color grows
richer till a decidedly tawny or fulvous cast is the result. Various specimens
from Fort Crook and Fort Tejon, and from Provo, Utah, are of this ambig
uous sort, and exhibit among themselves such variations that their labeling
becomes a matter of indifference. Some of the browner ones are not
separable at all from bulbivorus, while the ruddiness of others matches that
of true fulvus. The gradation of the two forms in this region is demonstrable
complete. Some other specimens from Fort Crook are absolutely identical
with Steilacoom ones in respect of color; the only difference I can note being
the somewhat weaker claws. To the southward, on the coast, the same
gradation occurs, becoming established about San Diego, In Lower Cali
fornia, pure umbrinus prevails.
A San Franciscan specimen lately received at the Smithsonian is a
perfect albino — snow-white all over.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. UMBRINUS. 261
Little further discussion of the synonymy of this form is required than
is implied in what has already been said. Professor Baird appears to have
first satisfactorily identified the Diplostojna bulbivorum of Richardson with
the animal subsequently described as Oryctomys bottce by Eydoux and Gervais.
Preceding authors' use of the name had been altogether compilation. Schinz's
name is a synonym upon its face^being a mere renaming of the same animal.
The T. laticeps was based upon the individual peculiarities of a single speci
men, the characters of which are more or less obscured by drying after
immersion in alcohol.
THOMOMYS TALPOIDES UMBRINUS, (Rich.) Coues.
Gcomys umbrinus, RICH., F. B. A. i, 1829, 202; Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1836, v, 1837, 157. " Cadadaguios,
Southwestern Louisiana"— more likely Texas.* — WATERH., Charlesw. Mag. N. H. iii, 1839,
596, f. 71 (skull).— DEKAY, N. Y. Fn. 1842, 92. (Compiled from Richardson.)— SCHENZ,
Syn. Mamm. ii, 1845, 137. (Compiled from Richardson.) — LEG., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.
1852, 162. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Ascomys umbrinus, WAGN., Suppl. Schreb. iii, 1843, 389. (Compiled.)
Pseudostoma umbrinus, AUD. & BACH., iii, 1854, 307. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Geomys (Thomomys) umbrinus, GIEB., Sang. 1855, 530. (Compiled from Richardson.)
Thomomt/8 umbrinus, BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 399 (redescribed from numerous New Mexican specimens). —
BAIRD, U. S. Mex. B. Survey, ii, pt. ii, 1859, Mamm. p. — . — GERR., Cat. Bones Br. Mus.
1862, 228.
Geomys fulvus, WOODH., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1852, 201 (San Francisco Mountains, Arizona) ; Rep.
Expl. Zufii and Colorado R. 1853, 51, pi. 5 (the same).
P.teudostoma (Geomys) fulvus, AUD. & BACH., Q. N. A. iii, 1854, 300. (Copied from Woodhouse.)
TJiomomys fulvus, BAIRD, M. N. A. 1857, 402. (Describes Woodhouse's type, and other specimens, from
California.) — BAIRD, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. ii, pt. ii, 1859, Mamm. p. — . — KENN., P. R. R.
Rep. x, 1859, Whipple's Route, Maniin. 14, pi. 12, f. 2.— COUES, Am. Nat. i, 1867, 394
(habits).— COUES, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1867, 135 (Fort Whipple, Arizona).
DIAGNOSIS. — Averaging decidedly smaller than either of the foregoing.
•
Length of head and body about six inches, rarely seven. Fore feet averaging
decidedly less than the hind feet ; longest claw oftener under than over 0.40.
Color variable, from a nearly uniform rich fawn-color all over, or even intense
reddish-chestnut, to various tawny-brown shades, with or without a blackish
dorsal area. Belly merely a paler shade of the color of the upper parts, or
much as described under bulbivorus. Occasionally quite gray, much as in
typical talpoides. (Variety : lustrous coal-black all over.) Mouth-parts, and
often whole face, blackish, except sometimes immediately around the lips,
* The probability is heightened by the Spanish appearance of the name, as if a corruption of
Ciudad dc Aguas, "City of the Waters." The locality is now unknown. "Louisiana" was formerly a
vague term.
262 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
strongly contrasting with the white lining of the pouch. Tail usually more
or less like the body.
HABITAT. — South Colorado, Southern Utah and Southern Nevada, West
ern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Lower California to Cape Saint Lucas.
Southward extension into Mexico undetermined. "Louisiana.''
Description (from extensive series from the above localities). — No other
form of the genus varies so much in color as this one. With the increase in
intensity and richness of coloration of the genus to the southward, there is
'a corresponding ratio of variation to or from what may be held the normal
mean. Selecting average samples, as, for instance, some I collected at Fort
Whipple, Arizona, in 1864-'65, we observe a very rich tawny or fulvous
pelage, more or less obscured on the back by a blackish area. The under
parts are of the same color, paler or of about equal intensity, with the deep
plumbeous bases of the hairs showing. The ears are set in a small blackish
area ; the face, and, to a less extent, the top of the head, are blackish, with
or without white spots on the lips or chin, contrasting strongly with the
white lining of the pouches. The feet are indifferently whitish or dusky ;
and more or less of the tail is usually colored.
Other specimens, by the extinction of the blackish dorsal area, become
nearly concolor all over, and of so rich" a hue as to almost bear the term
golden-brown. There is a great similarity in many cases to the coloration
of Jaculus hudsonius or Arv'icola aureola. The best-marked samples of this
style before me are from Southern Arizona and Cape Saint Lucas, where this
appears to prevail. Dr. Woodhouse's type of " fulvus" is entirely of this color
above, with nearly white belly. Specimens from the Colorado Valley exhibit
another style of coloration in their extreme pallor, from the bleaching of
fulvous into a pale brownish-yellow, and with whitish belly. A specimen
from "Sonora" (rather Southern Arizona, as now bounded) is dark-cinnamon
or chestnut-red, with blackish dorsal area. More northerly specimens tend
to grayer tints ; but this grayishness has a plumbeous cast, and is suffused on
the sides with tawny. The belly in these cases is as purely hoary-gray as in
typical talpoides] and one specimen, from Fort Massachusetts, is exactly rat-
colored, and indistinguishable from pure talpoidcs, except in being smaller,
though it is apparently very old. In this specimen, too, the characteristic
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. CLUSIUS. 263
markings of the mouth-parts and pouches are much obscured, and the fore
claws are fully as long as in some northern examples of talpoides. Half-
grown specimens, as elsewhere in the family, are lead-colored, merely paler
below.
A melanistic specimen from Cantonment Burgwyn, New Mexico, is a
uniform, intense, lustrous plumbago color (almott like anthracite coal), with
white lips and pouches.
In this form, which exhibits such variation as well as intensity of color,
we observe more clearly than elsewhere the changes produced in the shed
ding and renewal of the pelage. It seems to be the rule in this genus, as
in Geomys, that the hair is cast from before backward by a regular progression.
As already hinted, the animals appear to grow gray with age ; but, besides
this, each annual or seasonal coat seems to lose its richness of coloration
toward the time that it is to fall off, and the fresh coat comes out more
heavily tinted. It results from this, in connection with the peculiar mode
of shedding, that patchy specimens are of frequent occurrence, with a sharp
line of demarkation between differently-colored areas (Geomys castanops is
a notable case of this). Some examples before me are, in fact, strong
"umbrinus" in front and very fair "bulbivorus" behind. Season, as well as
age, doubtless influences the color of the pelage, but exactly to what extent
I am unable to say, owing to the usual oversight of collectors in neglecting
to date their labels.
The geographical distribution of the species, as far as now known, is
indicated in a preceding paragraph. The original locality given for umbrinus
has not been checked by subsequent accounts, and is probably somewhat out
of the way ; Texas or New Mexico being more likely the source of the type-
specimen described by Richardson. I see no occasion to question Baird's
identification of the species, with which the Geomys fulvus of Woodhouse is
indisputably identical.
THOMOMYS CLUSIUS, Coues, nov. sp.
SP. CHAR. — Smallest known species of the genus. Length (9, adult)
about 5 inches. Feet remarkably small ; sole of hind foot 0.75 ; palm of
hand, including longest claw, 0.65. Fore claws small, weak, little curved, the
264 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
longest under 0.30. Incisors as usual in the genus. Muzzle almost entirely
hairy, with a very small naked pad confined between the nostrils. Pouches
ample, about 1.75 deep (measured from the beginning of the fold of skin at
the side of the snout). Tail extremely short; under 1.50 in length from the
true base, and little over 1.00 from the end of the conical enlargement at
base ; the thinly-haired portion being thus less than one-fourth the total length
of head and body. Ears minute. Color above pale yellowish-gray, with a
slight light-brown shade ; the fur plumbeous at base, as usual. Below, nearly
pure white, the fur being mostly of this color to the very base. No dark
auricular area. Feet and tail white. Extremity of snout blackish. Claws
and whiskers colorless. Incisors faced with orange.
HABITAT. — The single specimen of the species at present known, No.
3051, Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, was taken at Bridgcr's Pass,
Rocky .Mountains, July 28, 1857, by Dr. W. A. Hammond.
With only one specimen to go upon, there is little to be added to the
foregoing diagnosis. That the small size is not due to immaturity is evi
denced by the fact that the specimen is a female, with functionally-developed
teats, which had been in use. As well as I can determine from the dried
skin, there are twelve mammae,* situated as in T. talpoides. In its present
state, somewhat stretched, the skin measures about 5J inches from nose to
root of tail. The general dimensions, as well* as the relative and absolute
length of tail and the proportions of the feet, are all quite beyond the utmost
limit of variation determined for any other form of Thomomys. It may give
an idea of the smallness of the feet to say that the hind ones are no larger
than those of the white-footed mouse (Hesperomys leucopus); they are a
trifle broader, but not quite so long. The fore feet are decidedly shorter than
the hinder ones, owing to the slight development of the slender weak claws.
The ears are minute — scarcely larger, comparatively, than in a Geomys, though
the tiny auricle has the recognizable shape of Thomomys, instead of being a
mere tumid rim. The tail, as well as can be guessed from the present dried
state, is less than a fourth as long as the head and body, measured from its
apparent base. All these characters are utterly incompatible with any variety
* This appears to be the normal number in this genus ; but, in an alcoholic specimen of talpoides,
with the fur all gone from the belly, completely exposing the parts, I can find but eight ; the two axillary
pairs being wanting.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— T. CLUSIDS. 265
of talpoides and its conspecies I know of. The color is equally diagnostic.
We miss the peculiar blackish area in which the ears of all other Thomomys
are set, and we find instead a blackish snout. The pallid yellowish-gray of
the upper parts is as different from any of the interminable variations of color
of other Thomomys as that of Geomys castanops in comparison with G. bursa-
rius. The whiteness of the fur_to the very roots, on the under parts, is a
striking character.
The specimen was procured in a region where the true talpoides is also
found in abundance.
It seems to be the fortune of monographers who have found it necessary
to reduce various species previously established to geographical races or mere
synonyms, that they should have at the same time new ones of their own to
propose. But I see no help for this. New species are not, to me, the alto
gether desirable things they seem to some ; and my growing dislike to find
them out keeps pace with my increasing knowledge of our ignorance respect
ing old species ; nevertheless, there is no escape from them at present, at fre
quent intervals, and of course the sooner they are all indexed binomially the
better. Having no material for the further elucidation of the characters of
Thomomys clusius, I may close with the remark that, if the unique specimen
is not a pure "sport," it is a perfectly good species.
The name chosen for this species commemorates a peculiar trait of the
whole family Geomyidce — their remarkable and not generally known habit of
plugging up the numerous openings of their extensive subterranean tunnels.
This name, in connection with several others, completes a sort of epitome of
the history of the family. They are underground animals (Geomys) that
throw up heaps of earth (,9-oyuo?, a pile — Thomomys} and close the entrances
of their excavations (clusius) ; they are mole-like in many respects (talpoides) ;
they are peculiarly provided with pouches (bursarius) ; and they feed on roots
(bullrivorus]
34 COL,
ADDENDUM A.
THE CRANIAL AND DENTAL CHARACTERS OF GEOMYHXaS.
[Reprinted, with some modification, from the Bulletin of the United States
Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, 2d series, No. 2,
pp. 81-90, published May 11, 1875.]
1-10-04-4. _5-5__10_2
L "f JL'---2
In its massiveness and angularity, the skull of the Geomyidce differs alto
gether from that of the Saccomyidce, in which the cranium is singularly papery
and bullous, with few angles; and it quite closely resembles an' arvicoline
type. The jaws are remarkably strong ; the incisors immense ; the zygomata
flaring ; the occipital region is extensive ; the palate proper is contracted and
at the same time prolonged downward ; there is a long arched interval between
molars and incisors. On a plane surface, the skull without the lower jaw rests
level upon the molars and incisors^ no other points touching the support.
The molars are all rootless and perennial. The inferior incisors traverse the
whole jaw. The superior incisors are semicircular. No anteorbital foramen
occupies a usual site. The complex temporal bone is inordinately enlarged
in all its elements, but especially the squamosal, which represents most of
the cerebral roofing at expense of the reduced parietals. The malar is merely
a short splint; there is an osseous tubular meatus auditorius. There are no
orbital processes ; the interorbital constriction is narrower than the rostrum ;
the latter is more than a third of the length of the whole skull. Such are
some of the general features, from which we may proceed to details — first
of configuration of the whole, afterward of characters of individual bones.
Viewed from above, rather less than the posterior two-thirds of the skull
presents a subquadrilateral figure, from which the rostrum protrudes in front.
The greatest width is opposite the fore part of the zygomata in most cases ;
268 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
though specimens differ in this respect, owing to a variable curve of these
parts. In adult Geomys, the case is as stated, the zygomata converging a
little backward in a nearly straight line, so that posteriorly their width apart
is little if any greater than the intermastoid diameter of the skull. In Tho-
momys, there is a more decided outward convexity of these arches, and their
greatest width apart is nearly at their middle — if anything, posterior to this,
and at any rate the width here decidedly surpasses the intermastoid diameter.
In front, the zygomatic plates of the maxillaries start out at nearly a right
angle with the long axis of the skull ; behind, the zygomata curve rather
abruptly into the squamosal. There is a deep abrupt emargination behind
the posterior root of the zygomata, between this and the postero-lateral corner
of the skull ; in the recess, the tubular bony meatus auditorius appears pro
truding in this view. The lambdoidal crest, forming the posterior boundary
of the skull, is a slight curve, more or less irregular ; most of it is squamo
sal, for the occipital bone rises to this crest for only a short distance. The
narrowest part of the skull is between the orbits, where the width is less
than the diameter of the rostrum. The irregularly pyriform figures, circum
scribed by the zygomata and walls of the cranium, are of large size ; no
orbits proper are defined in the general orbital space, owing to deficiency of
both pre- and post-orbital processes. The dome of the cerebral cavity is but
little inflated ; its sides seem somewhat pinched, there being a decided though
shallow concavity just above the zygomatic spur of the squamosal ; and a
slight bulging anteriorly on each side at the usual site of post-orbital pro
cesses. The median line of the cerebral roof, in an old Geomys skull, is a
ridge ; this ridge bifurcates anteriorly to send a curved leg forward and out
ward to the orbital margins ; and behind enlarges a little to receive a small
interparietal. In various . Thomomys skulls of different ages, the squarnosals
leave a rectangular interval occupied by small, narrowly linear parietals ; and,
instead of a single median ridge, there are two parallel ridges, with a depressed
interval. The sides of the rostrum are straight and parallel, the edge being
the swollen track of the superior incisors. The end is vertically truncate;
the tips of the nasals and interma'xillaries and the faces of the incisors being
all about in one perpendicular plane. The width of the rostrum is rather
more than half its length.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— OSTEOLOGY. 269
Viewed in profile, the skull shows an almost perfectly straight dorsal
outline from the occipital protuberance to a point just in advance of the orbits.
Here is the highest point of the skull, whence the profile of the rostrum
slopes gently downward, ending abruptly by vertical truncation. Likewise,
the posterior or occipital outline is straight, or nearly so, and at a right angle
with the superior surface. Likewise, again, the inferior surface of the skull,
in all that part lying behind the pterygoids, presents a nearly straight and
horizontal profile, at right angles with the occipital plane. Neither bulla
ossea nor paroccipital nor condyle is sufficiently developed to interfere with
the straightness of outline and rectangularity which all the back part of the
skull presents to the side view. The rest of the under outline of the skull
consists of the palatal profile as a whole. This consists anteriorly of a deep
(semi-oval) concavity ; there is an abrupt rise from the incisive alveolus, and
then a long gradual curve sloping far backward and downward to the molar
alveolus ; while the strong obliquity of set of the anterior molars protracts
this same curve to the tips of the teeth. The molar alveolar border is very
short, and rather oblique, being lowest behind. The enormous arched inter
val between the incisors and molars is highly characteristic, as is also the low
position of the molars — the teeth dip below a line drawn from the tips of the
incisors to the foramen magnum. Behind the palate, flange-like pterygoids
slope up to the basi-occipital plane. In this view, the zygomata are seen to
dip but slightly downward. Their point of greatest deflection lies high above
a line drawn from the incisive alveolus to the occipital condyle — in fact, even
above a line from the end of the nasal bones to the same point ; at their low
est point, they are still on a level with the meatus, and they scarcely dip more
than half-way from the top of the skull to the level of the molar crowns.
For the rest, notable points of the profile view of the skull are the small size
and peculiar position of the "anteorbital'' foramen, here situate low down and
far forward in the maxillary, near its antero-inferior angle ; a deep pit, but not
perforation, behind the zygomatic plate of the maxillary ; extensive lacerate
foramina of exit of nerves entering the orbit from the brain ; similar fissured
vacuities between the bulla ossea and the squamosal. The foreshortened
tubular meatus is seen in the deep recess between the posterior root of the
zygoma and the postero-inferior angle of the squamosal.
270 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
Viewed from behind, the occipital surface is seen to be nearly plane and
vertical, with some beveling of the lateral (mastoid) portions. The most
remarkable feature is the extent of this surface which is formed by the mas
toid. In Geomys, at any rate, the mastoids take as much part in the occipital
surface as the occipital bone itself. The upper border of this surface is a
nearly regular arch from one squarnosal angle to the other. The lower out
line is likewise a curve, with its convexity downward, but its regularity is
broken by the nick of the foramen magnum in the middle, the protuberance
of the condyles next, similar parOccipital processes next, and after a little
interval the mastoid processes. Barring these irregularities of detail, the
general occipital surface is elliptical in shape. In the middle, and nicking the
lower limb of the ellipse, is the foramen magnum, nearly all of which is ver
tical, and consequently not foreshortened in this view.
Viewed from below, the general contour is substantially like that pre
sented from the opposite inspection, and we need only attend to details.
The first feature is the incisive foramina — very smail slits lying wholly in
the intermaxillary bones, yet nearer to the molars than to the incisors, so
great is the production of the rostrum. The palate proper,* i. e., the inter-
molar portion, is extremely contracted, its width anteriorly being no greater
than that of one of the molars. It widens a little backward. It is deeply
twice furrowed, having a strong median ridge separating the furrows, and
strong alveolar ridges on either hand. Posteriorly, there is a pair of deep
pits extending to opposite the penultimate molars, and divided by a strong
ridge. The palatal, plate upon which these pits are constructed reaches con
siderably back of the molars in Geomys ; less so in Thomomys. The general
resemblance of the parts to some Arvicolince, is strong. The pterygoids are
thin, vertical, and somewhat circular plates, divaricating a little posteriorly,
and abutting against the tips of the bulla ossea They appear like a bifurca
tion of the median palatal ridge just mentioned. The post-palatal parts
being contracted, like the palate itself, and compressed into small space, it is
not easy to fully appreciate the conformation of the parts, and still less so to
describe it. Moreover, the lamellar pterygoids are often broken off in care-
* The long upward-sloping anterior part of palate is not "palate" at all. In life, it is altogether
outside the mouth, like the superior incisors, and covered with furry skin.
COUES (Xtf GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— OSTEOLOGY. 271
less preparation of the skull, and in such a way that scarcely a suggestion
of their former presence is left. Behind the pterygoids, the conspicuous
bullee ossae appear convergent anteriorly to touch the former, prolonged into
a tube exteriorly. Between them, the basi-occipital space is cuneiform
(especially in Thomomys — more nearly quadrangular in Geomys), with a
median ridge and lateral depressions, nicked behind by a small portion of the
foramen magnum. The skull finishes behind by an irregular curve, substan
tially the same as that described in speaking of the occipital plane.
In all but the oldest animals, the following sutures, or, at any rate, traces
of them, persist: internasal, naso-intermaxillary, maxillo-intermaxillary, fronto-
nasal, fronto-intermaxillary, and fronto- maxillary ; maxillo-malar, squamo-
parietal, squamo-malar, squamo-mastoid, occipito-mastoid, occipito-petrosal ;
basi-occipito-sphenoid ; and there is fissured separation of the petrosal and
tympanic from the squamosal. The various intricate relations of the palatals,
and of the ''sphenoid" as a whole, are inappreciable in the adult skull.
Detailed relations of such of the individual bones as can be made out from
the material before me here follow :
The nasals reach back to a point opposite the anterior root of the
zygoma, but extend little, if any, in the other direction, beyond the inter-
maxillaries. For two-thirds their extent they are -narrow and approximately
parallel in the examples of Geomys before me, and then rapidly expand. In
all the Thomomys I have seen, they widen regularly from the base to tip.
They are flat at first, but toward the end become somewhat volute or scroll-
like. They remain permanently distinct from the intermaxillaries, and have
failed in no case to show me separation from each other.
The intermaxillaries run up on the forehead farther than the nasals — to
or beyond the back instead of front border of the zygomata, being received
in a deep emargination of the frontal. Below, similarly, they run far down
on the false palate, ending opposite the back end of the incisive foramina.
Their course around the side of the rostrum (maxillo-intermaxillary suture)
may usually be traced as a strongly convex curve between the upper and
lower points just mentioned, the most forward portion of the curve lying
nearly midway between zygoma and incisors. The lateral surface is thrown
into-a curved elevation, denoting the track of the incisor within. A strong
272 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
alveolar plate dips down between the front teeth. The maxillary ends ante
riorly in the curve just described ; its other boundaries are obscured in adult
life. The side is flat ; it suddenly rises in a broad, thin, zygomatic plate, flush
above with the general level of the top of the skull, there abutting (as shown
by a long persistent suture) both with frontal and intermaxillary. This plate
stands away nearly at a right angle with the axis of the skull, but very oblique
to the other two planes. It circumscribes the orbit anteriorly; is excavated
in the lachrymal region ; its upper border is widened to a sharp-edged
surface, and slopes gently outward, downward, and backward ; its thin under
margin rises to nearly meet the Dipper, finishing the laminar portion, and con
tinuing to the malar bone as an angular process. A lachrymal bone is plainly
indicated at the upper back part of the plate, but its extent and relations are
not appreciable.
The frontal is much contracted, especially across the middle, having a
somewhat hourglass-like superior outline, though both ends are angular. In
front, it sends a rectangular median process abutting against the nasals, and
inclosed between the intermaxillaries, and an acute lateral process on each
side, entering a recess between intermaxillary and maxillary. These sutures
seem persistent. Behind, the fronto-parietal and frouto-squamosal sutures
are commonly obliterated ;. when appreciable, the bone is seen to unite with
the extremely narrow parietals by a directly transverse straight line, and
with the squamosals by an oblique line on each side. These sutures persist
longer on top of the head than in the orbital region.
The malar bone is a mere splint, reduced corncidently with the great
extension of the zygomatic spurs of both squamosal and maxillary. It is
somewhat clubbed anteriorly and overrides its support ; behind, it is itself
overlapped.*
The parietals, as already hinted, are singularly reduced in this family.
In the skull of an old Geomys, the squamo-parietal suture is obscure or
inappreciable, and the squamosals appear to meet each other at the above-
described ridge on the median line; careful inspection, however, usually
reveals a very irregular and much overlapping squamo-parietal suture, defining
* Although the zygoma iu this family is a good, stout arch, this reduction of the malar prepares
us for the delicate thread-like condition of the parts in the next family, Saccom$idce.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— OSTEOLOGY. 273
the parietals externally. These are of indeterminate shape, but tend to be
narrowly rectangular ; • and, in Thomomys, a pair of pretty regular linear
parietals is usually evident. There is constantly an interparietal — squarish
or pentagonal in Thomomysi rather triangular in Geomys,
With such state of the parietals, there is a corresponding overdevelop
ment of the temporal bone, especially of its squamosal element, though not
to the extraordinary extent witnessed in Saccomyidce, where the whole bone
is blown up like a bladder. The squamosal roofs over most of the cranial
cavity, and alone forms (with the exception of a little place occupied by the
interparietal) the whole occipital or lambdoidal crest. The mastoid, which
persists distinct from both squamosal and occipital, though usually fusing
with the petrosal, is immensely developed, its superficies lying mostly in, and
representing about half of each side of, the occipital surface. It develops a
moderate "mastoid process'', lying against the postero-external corner of the
squamosal, and looking like a duplicate of the paroccipital process that lies
against its opposite extremity. The petrosal does not share this unusual
development, the bullae ossese being, in fact, smaller than they are in Arvicola,
for instance; they swell but little below the baso-occipital plane. The
tympanic develops into a tubular meatus, set quite free from its surroundings
in a deep recess of the squamosal. The petrosal likewise is fissured away
from the squamosal, but, in adult life, the tympanic, petrosal, and mastoid are
consolidated.
The upper and lower parts of the occipital bone are at right angles with
each other; the basi-occipital is horizontal upon the floor of the skull, while
the superior and lateral elements are perpendicular behind. The supra-
occipital is squarish, with rounded corners ; the ex-occipitals develop into
moderate obtuse processes. Nearly all of the foramen magnum is vertical ;
the condyles are rather small, and widely divergent superiorly.
The suture with the basi-occipital, which persists for some time, is ordi
narily the most conspicuous of the sphenoidal relations which may be appre
ciated in examination of adult skulls. Close inspection, however, shows the
squamo-sphenoid suture just inside the glenoid fossa; the alisphenoid barely
misses taking a part in the mandibular articulation (as in some marsupials) ;
35 COL
274 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
the orbito-sphenoicl, lining the orbit behind, rises nearly to the top of the
skull. •
The mandible remains for consideration. This is eminently character
ized by its massiveness and the emphasis of its various ridges and angles.
Nevertheless, the symphysis, though extensive, is incomplete. Instead of an
edge below, the bone presents a broad, smooth, flattened area, bounded on
the sides by a ridge indicating the limit of masseteric muscular attachment.
The angle of the jaw -is strongly exflected in a peculiar way. An oblique
plate (the "descending process" in many rodents) arises' from the inner side
of the body of the bone, and curves strongly backward and outward, ending
far exterior to the main part of the bone as a strong laminar process. Just
inside of this, between it and the condyle, there is a strongly-marked, smooth,
upright protuberance. This is where the root of the incisor pushes up from
the inside. To the inner side of this knob, again, rises a third protuberance;
it is the condyle, rather small, and of no noteworthy features. (It appears
particularly small when compared with the glenoid cavity, which, as I should
have remarked before, is of unusual width.) Thus the mandibles, viewed
from behind, present the curious appearance of three prongs — condyle, inci
sor-knob, and exterior process. The appearance of trifurcation is best marked
in Thomomys, where the tooth-knob is most prominent, and separated by
deepest notches from the processes between which it stands. In addition to
all these prominences, a slender, falcate, acute coronoid rises in front, and
overtops the rest, being separated from the condylar ramus by a deep notch.
There is a deep excavation between the thin laminar basis of the coronoid
and the molar alveolus The foramen of the inferior maxillary nerve appears
on the inner side of the root of the condylar ramus
The dental formula has been already given. The molar dentition appears
weak and slight in comparison with the enormous incisors. The under inci
sors, as already said in effect, run the whole length of the jaw, and push up a
knob of bone behind. They are of the ordinary scalpriform construction,
quite flat-faced, with converging sides, and beveled to an edge behind. The
superior incisors describe nearly a semicircle through the inter maxillaries,
and far into the maxillaries, to below the root of the zygoma. They are
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— OSTEOLOGY. 275
of distinct character in the two genera, furnishing the most ready means
of diagnosis, not only of the genera, but of the species of Geomys, as already
fully given in' -the body of this^paper.
The molars are perennial rootless prisms, as in Arvicolince and many
other hard gnawers, but are small and of a very simple structure — at least
in comparison with the compfteate character which obtains in many rodents.
The whole mojar series is scarcely one-seventh of the length of the skull.
They are implanted very obliquely to suit the peculiar conformation of the
parts. The axis of the anterior upper molar slopes backward at an angle of
about 45°, and the rest succeed with regularly-diminishing obliquity. The
relation is reversed in the lower jaw, where the Tjack molar slopes forward,
the rest becoming successively more nearly perpendicular. There is the
same number of teeth in both jaws, and they are quite similar in construction.
The anterior molar in each jaw is a double prism ; the others are single and
simple, elliptical in cross-section, the first being a pair of ellipses laid together
like a short broad figure-of-eight, and the last approaching a cylindrical figure.
The relation of the molars to each other is somewhat singular. Their roots
are all widely diverging, but their crowns come into close contact. This is
effected by the curve in -their axis. Thus the front upper molar is curved
with the convexity posterior ; the rest are curved successively more and more,
with the convexity anterior. Similar characters mark the under molars,
though less strongly; and there is seen in these teeth, especially in the anterior
ones, a lateral as well as fore-and-aft curve. This shape appears to be forced
upon the teeth by the peculiar conformation of the alveoli. The molars are
quite similar in the two genera, and scarcely afford diagnostic characters,
especially since there is some change in the details of the molar crowns with
age and wear of the teeth. On the whole, however, it may be observed that
in Geomys the molars — the immediate ones, at any rate — are more perfectly
elliptical than they are in Thomomys, where a pinching-together of the exte
rior portion of the ellipses tends to result in a pyriform contour.
The principal cranial and dental characters of the two genera which com
pose the Geomyidte may be shortly contrasted, as follows :
276
EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
GEOMYS.
Superior incisors deeply channeled
along the middle, with or without
a fine marginal groove.
Crowns of intermediate molars truly
elliptical.
Root of inferior incisor but little pro
tuberant on outside of base of con-
dylarramus; end of mandible thus
only two-pronged, with a knob
between.
Zygomata widest across anteriorly,
thence contracting ; the width be
hind little, if any, greater than the
intermastoid diameter of the skull.
Parietals ridged along their line of
union with each other.
•
Interparietal triangular.
Nasals approximately parallel-edged
part way, then suddenly widening.
Superficies of mastoid bone occupying
nearly half the occipital surface of
the skull on each side.
Bullae ossese less inflated, quite acute
anteriorly.
Basi-occipital, in the middle, about as
broad as the width of the bulla at
the same point.
A pair of broad deep pits on the pal
ate behind, extending forward to
opposite the penultimate molars.
THOMOMYS.
Superior incisors without median sul-
cus,"but with a fine marginal groove
(sometimes obsolete).
Crowns of intermediate molars acute-
edged exteriorly.
Root of inferior incisors causing a pro
tuberance on outside of base of con-
dylar ramus nearly as high as con-
dyle itself; end of mandible thus
singularly three-pronged.
Zygomata regularly convex outward,
with a sweeping curve ; their
breadth across posteriorly deci
dedly greater than the intermas
toid diameter of the skull.
Parietals ridged externally near the
squamo-parietal suture.
Interparietal rather pentagonal.
Nasals widening uniformly from be
hind forward.
Superficies of mastoid bone restricted
to less than a fourth of the occipital
surface on each side.
Bullse ossese more inflated, quite ob
tuse anteriorly.
•
Basi-occipital, in tlie middle, much
narrower than the bulla at the
same point.
A pair of slight pits on the palate
behind, not extending beyond the
ultimate molars.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— OSTEOLOGY.
277
Pterygoids ? (will be found differ
ing appreciably from those of Tho-
momys).
Pterygoids appearing like a bifurca
tion into two thin diverging plates
of a single median vertical palatal
plate.
In like manner, we may proceed to compare some of the principal cranial
characters of Geomyida and Saecomyida. Notwithstanding the unquestion
ably close affinity of these two families, which must stand next to each other
in the system, their crania are curiously different in general appearance and
details of contour. The discrepancies are, however, of a superficial charac
ter, resulting mainly from the extraordinary molding of the parts in Sacco-
myid<£. In other words, it is a matter of mere shape, for the most part.
There are, however, some curious and more essential features, of which the
enormous inflation of various elements of the temporal bone and peculiar
zygomatic relations posteriorly are the most remarkable. Probably, going
into details, a hundred actual differences between the skulls of Geomyida and
SaccojJiyida might be enumerated. I shall content myself with tabulating a
few 'of the more important of these. The comparisons are made between
Geomys'bursarius and Dipodomys ordi; it should be remembered, however,
that the latter presents an extreme case, the average characters of the Sacco-
myid(B being less different from those of Geomyida.
GEOMYID.E.
Skull massive, angular, in general like
that of Arvicola, &c.
Interorbital space the narrowest part
of the skull — narrower than ros
trum.
Occipital region approaching a plane
surface, without median emargina-
tion.
Nasal bones not produced beyond
SACCOMY1D.E
Skull thin and papery, the corners
rounded off; the resulting general
shape peculiar.
Interorbital space expanded, very
much broader than the rostrum.
Occipital region formed chiefly of
enormous bulging mastoids, with
deep median emargination.
Nasal bones produced far beyond in-
278 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
vertical plane of incisors; rostrum
broad, parallel-sided.
cisors; rostrum attenuated, taper
ing.
Parietals small, linear, remote from Parietals large right-angled triangles,
the orbits. together as broad as the frontal,
reaching orbits.
Occipital of an ordinary character, Occipital reduced and of peculiar
not attaining top of skull. shape ; a part of it mounting the
top of the skull.
Temporal bone, though of great ex- Temporal bone unique in its enor-
tent, not remarkably inflate*d. mous size and inflation, being
blown up like a bladder; the
swollen mastoids forming most of
the occipital plane ; the two tem
porals larger than all the rest of
the skull together.*
Squamosal roofing most of the cere- Squamosal restricted to the orbit.
bral cavity.
Zygomata of an ordinary character, Zygomata thread -like in most of their
with the usual connections.
Tympanic, a contracted tube.
extent, and greatly depressed in
position ; the malar bone abutting
against the tympanic.
Tympanic, an inflated vestibule.
Petrosals discrete from each other, Petrosals in mutual contact at their
in contact with basi-occipital. extremities, and fissured away
from basi-occipital.
Mastoid excluded from roof of cere- Mastoid roofing most of cerebral
bral cavity. cavity.
Zygomatic process of maxillary a Zygomatic process developing into a
plate with merely thickened upper
border.
shield over much of the orbital
space.
Palatal outline strongly ascending Palatal profile nearly straight and
* If the sense of hearing of Dipodomys be co-ordinated with the osseous development of the auditory
apparatus, it must be extraordinarily acute.
COUES ON GEOMYS AND THOMOMYS— OSTEOLOGY.
279
and arched anteriorly ; molars far
below level of zygomata.
Incisors large, parallel-edged, scarcely
converging.
Anterior molar, a double prism.
Root of inferior incisor protuberant
posteriorly.
Large erect falcate coronoid, overtop
ping condyle.
&c., &c.
horizontal ; molars on a level with
the zygomata.
Incisors small, acuminate, conver
gent.
Anterior molar, a single prism.
Root of inferior incisor not promi
nent posteriorly.
Minute prickle-like sloping coronoid,
far below level of condyle.
&c., &c.
ADDENDUM B.
NOTES ON THE "SALAMANDER" OF FLORIDA (GEOMYS TUZA).
{Communicated to the author by Prof. G. Brown Goodel\
One of the most interesting mammals of the Southern Atlantic States
is the species of Geomys known in Florida and Georgia as the "Salamander."
The name of " gopher," by which the various representatives of this genus
inhabiting the Upper Mississippi Valley are known, would seem very appro
priate for this animal. It appears to be a corruption of the French "gaufre",
and to refer to the manner in which the soil is honey-combed by the pouched
rats.
Local usage, however, has appropriated this name to a kind of land-
tortoise, Xerobates carolinus, (Linne*) Ag., which is common in Georgia and
Florida, and which also excavates a burrow, a habit to which, perhaps, it
owes its name. I have never heard an explanation of the name "salamander"
in its application to Qeomys tuza; but it occurs to me that it may allude to
the safety enjoyed by these little animals in their subterranean abodes at the
time of the devastating fires which sometimes consume the pine-forests.
After such a conflagration has passed over their heads, destroying every other
kind of life, they are seen at work among the ashes, very good types of the
salamander of fable, which passes unharmed over, burning coals, and
" with her touch
Quenches the fire, though blazing ne'er so much."
Although the species was not scientifically described until 1817, it was
noticed by several among the earlier writers. William Bartram, an English
naturalist, who visited the Southeastern States in 1773, speaks of a large
ground-rat, which he observed in the vicinity of Savannah, which was more
than twice the size of the common Norway rat, and whicli in the night threw
out earth, forming little mounds or hillocks.*
"Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee
Country, the extensive territories* of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the country of the
Chactaws. * * * —By William Bartram.— Dublin.— 1793. p. 7. [Orig. ed. Philadelphia, 1791.1
36 COL
282 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
A brief description of the species, under the name of the Hamster
of Georgia, was published in the New York Medical Repository in 1802,
and afterward in an appendix to the American edition of Bewick's Quadru
peds. On this description was founded the name Mus tuza, cited in the list
of American mammals published by Ord in 1815,* a name which antedates
that of Rafinesque by about two years, and which has been adopted by Dr.
Coues.
Notwithstanding their great abundance, it is extremely difficult to obtain
specimens of the salamanders. Their acute sense of smell gives them an
early warning of the approach of danger, and they easily make their escape
in the maze of tunnels. Should one even be driven into a blind passage, it
would find little difficulty in baffling its pursuer, for it can burrow faster than
a man can follow with a spade ; and, since it obliterates its track by throwing
the soil behind, it leaves scarcely more trace of its passage in the loose sand
than a fish swimming through the water. It is thought quite impossible to
dig them out. Occasionally, they are shot, when they come to the surface to
throw out sand ; but they remain in sight only an instant, and the marksman,
to be successful, must have his gun bearing upon the opening at which the
animal is expected to appear, with finger on the trigger, and be ready to pull
the moment the head is sighted.
By the patient use of steel-traps, while in Florida this spring, I obtained
a number of specimens, some of which I succeeded in keeping for several
weeks, thus having an excellent opportunity of studying their habits.f They
may easily be confined in a wooden box, with sides eight or ten inches high,
having dry sand two or three inches deep on the bottom. No cover is
necessary ; I have never seen one look up from the earth, and have rarely
known them to attempt to escape. They require no water, and no food
except sweet-potatoes. A single potato of moderate size will feed a sala
mander for three days.
The senses of sight and hearing seem in them to be very dull.
An object may be held within a short distance of their eyes without attract-
* Guthrio's Geography, 2d American edition, ii, 1815, p. 292.
t Two of them, which I sent to the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, may be seen in the garden
at Fairmonnt Park.
GOODE ON THE HABITS OF GEOMYS TUZA. 283
ing their attention ; but the moment one is touched, he turns with a jump,
snapping fiercely, much to the detriment of fingers which may be near.
If two are confined in the same cage, the one does not seem aware of the
presence of the other, unless they accidentally come in contact. Their eyes
are small, dull, and without expression. Their sense of smell I judge to be
very delicate, from the mannerun which they approach the hills of potatoes.
Their motions are surprisingly quick and energetic; their activity never
ceasing from morning to night.
They are very pugnacious, and a rough-and-tumble combat between
two vigorous males would seem terrific, if their size could be magnified a
few diameters in the eye of the spectator. Every muscle of their compact,
elastic, stout bodies is brought into action, and they plunge and bite with
wonderful ferocity. A battle is usually followed by the death of one
or both. I have examined them after death, and found the whole ante
rior part of the body bruised almost to the consistency of paste, the bones
of the legs crushed in four or five places. When two come together in the
cage, their salutation is a plunge and a bite.
I watched their burrowing with much interest. They dig by grubbing
with the nose and a rapid shoveling with the long, curved fore paws, assisted
by the pushing of the hind feet, which remove the dirt from beneath the body
and propel it back with great power a distance of eight or ten inches. When
a small quantity of earth has accumulated in the rear of the miner, around he
whirls, with a vigorous flirt of the tail, and joining fore paws before his nose,
he transmutes himself into a sort of wheelbarrow, pushing the dirt before
him to a convenient distance, and repeating the act until the accumulation is
removed, then resuming his mining. Any root or twig which blocks his way
is quickly divided by his sharp chisel-teeth. I have never seen a salamander
place sand in his cheek-pouches, though I have watched their burrowing hour
after hour. It is, of course, impossible to observe them when at work under
ground, but I incline to believe that most of the refuse earth from the bur
rows is transported in the manner just described. The negroes told me that
they had seen the salamander appear at the mouth of its hole for an instant
and "spit out" the sand which it carried in its pouches, aiding the act by
inserting the fore paws into the pockets. I have never met any one who
284 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO.
could tell exactly what the salamander does at the instant he appeared, his
motions being so quick that one cannot be quite sure; the general impression,
however, is, that they are unloading their cheek-pouches. This is not at all
improbable, for we know that they carry their food in these receptacles, and
it seems a very natural way for them to bring their refuse sand to the surface,
since they often have to transport it a distance of several feet. Still it is
quite desirable to have other and more careful observations; for observers are
apt to be deceived by their own eyes, especially in the light of preconceived
opinions.
The subterranean labyrinth constructed by this clever army of sappers
and miners penetrates the pine-barrens and cultivated fields in every direction.
An energetic salamander, with a slight knowledge of engineering, would find
little difficulty, I suspect, in making an underground journey through Florida
from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico. The direction of the burrows may
easily be traced by the loose hillocks of white sand which are thrown up
along the line at intervals of three or four feet. These are the "dumps'7
made by the burrower in throwing out his refuse accumulations. Each con
sists of about a peck of loose sand, and, by the casual observer, might easily
be mistaken for an ant-hill. No opening is visible, but by digging under the
hill a hole is found, the mouth of the adit to the main tunnel, which may be
three feet below the surface if made in cold weather, but perhaps not more
than six inches if in summer. One of these mounds is thrown up in a very
few moments ; I have seen thirty raised in a single night on the line of one
tunnel ; this would represent nearly one hundred feet of tunneling. I have
seen one hundred and fifty in one continuous row raised in about two days ;
this would make between four and five hundred feet of burrow completed in
that short time apparently by one little animal, an amount of work which may
seem incredible to one who has not watched the restless movements of these
animated plows, which are seemingly as well adapted for piercing the sand as
birds are for cleaving the air. The burrows are about two and one -half inches
in diameter, barely large enough to admit a man's hand, and, as has been
stated, are at various depths below the surface. They meander in all direc
tions, except in straight lines; their builders being guided apparently only by
their whims or their olfactories. They, no doubt, intersect each other at many
GOODE ON THE HABITS OF GEOMYS TUZA. 285
points, and one tunnel serves as a passage for a community, though fierce bat
tles must often ensue when two rival claimants meet in a common highway.
The nests are large chambers, one or two feet from the main tunnel,
with which they are connected by side-passages, which leave nearly at right
angles. Here the miners lay up a supply of provisions, and the chambers
are often found to contain a half-bushel of sweet-potatoes cut up into chunks
as large as peach-stones, and of convenient size to be carried in the pockets.
The salamander is a liberal provider. In this region, cellars are unknown, and
sweet-potatoes are stored in heaps at the surface, covered with straw and sand.
The salamanders are cunning enough not to throw up sand-heaps in the
vicinity of these potato-heaps, but remove the loose earth into their old tun
nels. When they once get access to the "tater-hake,'' they quickly remove its
contents, and the owner wakes up the some morning to find his cache a hollow
pretense. In these side-chambers, the salamanders rear their young, building
a nest of grass, pine-needles, and live-oak leaves. I found them breeding in
April.
The color of Geomys tuza is quite constant, light reddish-brown above,
darker along the back, and lighter yellowish-brown beneath. One specimen
was caught for me which showed a decidedly melanistic tendency, being
nearly black. The measurements of a very large male are as follows : Nose
to eye, 1& inches; nose to ear, II ; nose to root of tail, 11& ; tail from root to
end of vertebrae, 3 ; arm, fore foot to end of claws, II; leg, hind foot from
heel to end of claws, li; muzzle to bottom of cheek-pouch, 3; circumfer
ence of expanded mouth of pouch, 5 ; distance from tip to tip of the longest
toes of the fore feet, when stretched apart at right angles with the body, 71;
same measurement applied to hind feet, 6£ ; girth of body behind shoulders,
5 ; distance from eye to eye, I ; distance from ear to ear, li.
The contents of one of the cheek-pouches in sand filled an old-fashioned
silver tablespoon, heaped full. The contents of the pouch of an ordinary
salamander will fill a dessertspoon in the same way.
INDEX,
Page.
Alcoves "--• 176
Alcove land, The 151
lands, defined , 149
lands of White River. ..^ 167
Ancient land*
Antecedent valleys defined 163
Antiquity of arid conditions 209
Aquarius Plateau 137
Arable land, Distribution of 143
Arid conditions, Antiquity of 209
Ascomys
borealis • " 250
bulbivorus 258
bursarius 251
canadensis 221
douglasii 259
mexicauus 236
rufescens 261
talpoides 250
townsendii 251
umbrinus 261
Ashley 17,26
-Falls 17
Bad-lauds described 149, 151
north of the Uinta Mountains 10, 150
south of the Uinta Mountains 166
— of erosion 171,203,206,209
Berthond, Captain 41
Bitter Creek 151
Black's Fork of the Green 10
Boats, Description of 8
Book Cliffs 53,167,170,172,174
Bow-Kuot Bend 53
Brown Cliffs 53,167,170,172,174
Brovm'sPark 19,157,161
Bright Angel River 86
Bnttes, Origin of 173
Camas rat 221
Canada rat 221
Canadian hamster 221
Canon, Cataract 60,175
, Desolation 46, 168, 170, 174
, Glen 68,177
Gallon, Grand
, Gray 50,
, Gypsum
, Horseshoe
, Kanab
.Kingfisher
, Labyrinth 52,167,
, Lodore «.
, Marble
, Mu-koon'-tn-weap
, Narrow
, Pa-ru'-nu-weap
, Red 16,
, Split Mountain 38,
. Stillwater
, Swallow
, Whirlpool
Canons due to erosion
, lateral to the Grand . .
of the Colorado, Exploration of
of the Colorado, Myths of
, The Terrace
Carboniferous at the Grand Wash
at the Paria Fold
in the Grand Canon
in the Kanab Cafion
on the Kaibab Plateau
strata . .
Cataract Canon
Caves
Chestnut-faced gopher
Cliff erosion
of the Harp
Cliffs
, Book 53,167,170,
, Brown , 53,167,170,
— , Echo - 73,
, Orange 55,167,170,
, Pink 107,
, Shin-ar'-ump
, To-ro'weap
— , Vermilion 112,134,180,
, White
Page.
80
167, 170
65
14
197
14
170, 174
22, 161
73, 180
111
68, 175
5,109
157, 161
157, 161
54, 175
19
35, 161
197
197
1
7
167
187
178
190
197
212
177, 180
60,175
68
230
,205
23
6
172, 174
172, 174
189, 191
172, 176
135, 190
190
188
190, 200
134
288
INDEX.
Page.
Cliffs and slopes of displacement 182
characteristic of a dry climate 171
, Formation of 204
, Measurement bf, by the eye 16
of erosion 1 190
of erosion thrown forward by displace
ments 191
Climbing out of the cafion 64
Coanini Creek '-- 197
Plateau 194
Colorado Chiquito Kiver 77, 180, 197
Eiver 60
, Sources of the " 3
, Tributaries of the 4
Consequent valleys, defined 163
Corrasion -. - 179
Coues, Dr. Elliott, on Geomys and Thomo-
mys 216
Cranial characters of GeomyidaB 267
Cretaceous in Gray Cafion 170
strata 190
Cricetus 220
bursarius 221
talpoides 250
Crossing of the Fathers 72
Dawes, Mount ~.. — . 34
Dental characters of Geornyidae 267
Descent into the Grand Cafion 122
Desolation, Cafioii of 46, 168, 170, 174
Diamond Creek 196, 199
Dike 81
Diplostoma 220
alba 221
bulbivorum 258
fusca 221
Diplostome blanche - 221
— bruii 221
Dirty Devil Eiver 67, 107, 133, 138, 141, 176
Disaster Falls 26
Distances and heights. . . 12, 21, 30, 43, 56, 79, 145, 180
Displacement, Cliffs and slopes of 182
, influence on cliffs of erosion 191
Distribution of forest 142
of water, arable land, grass, &c. 143
Drift of the valley of the Mississippi 208
Eastern Kaibab fault 186,192
Echo Cliffs 191
Park 32
Eclipse of the sun 74
El Vado do los Padres J 72
Ernma.Mount 200
Erosion, Ancient 213
— , Base level of 171,203,206,209
by streams, Manner of 179
, Clilla of . . 190
Erosion in the Colorado region relatively
small
, Magnitude and results of
, Methods and conditions of
Eruption as an agent in topography
Eruptive mountains carved from sediment
ary beds - :...
Escalante, Father
River
.Sierra
Exploration of the valley of the Colorado.
Falls, Ashley
, Disaster
.Triplet .
Fault, Eastern Kaibab
, Grand Wash
• , Hurricane Ledge
-, To-ro'-\veap 186,
, Western Kaibab
Faults discussed
in Ulnta Mountains
Fire in camp
Flaming Gorge 11, 14,
Floods, Sudden
Fold at the Toom'-pin Wu-near' Tu-weap'. .
near the San Juan River
, Paria
,Uinta 152,
Folds, Minor, of the Uinta Mountains
, Monoclinal, discussed
Forest, Distribution of.
Gaufre
Geomys
borealis
breviceps
bulbivorus
bursarius
canadensis
castanops ,
clarkii
des pins
douglasL
drummondii .... .
f uliginosus
fulvus ........
hispidus
mexicanus
oregonensis
pineti
' pinetis
rufescens
talpoides
townsendii
tuza
uuibriuus.-.
Pago.
209
208
202
206
177
72, 138
138
35
1
17
26
27
186,192
186
186, 199
196, 199
186, 192
182
156
29
157. 161
65,86
175
178
178, 185
159. 162
58
182
142
221
220
250
221
258
221
221
233
233
230
259
221
259
261
239
236
231
330
230
251
251
251
230
201
INDEX.
289
Page.
Geomys unisulcatus 2G1
Gilbert, G. K.,on antiquity of arid conditions 211
Glacial epoch 211
Glen Cafion .": 68,177
Goblin City 41,167
Goffer 221
Goode, Prof. G. Brown, on Geomys tuza 279
Gopher _ 221, 230
Grand Canon
, Descent into the
described .".
, Region traversed, by the
80
12:2
193
185
56
3
Grand River
,Sources of the --.
Grand Wash 102,187,188
Fault.* 186
Granite 81,96,193,212
Gravels of the Great Salt Lake Desert 211
on the fla.nks of the Uinta Mountains. 207
Gray Cafion . 50,167,170
Great Salt Lake Desert, The 211
Green River City 151
Green River older than the Uinta Fold 152, 162
.Sources of the 3
Gunnison's Crossing 51
Gypsum Gallon .• 65
Ilamblin, Jacob 107, 128, 133, 137
Hamster du Canada 221
Hamster of Georgia 230
Harp, Cliff of the 23
Hawkins, Mount 38
Heights and distances 12. 21, 30, 43, 56, 79, 83, 180
Hell's Half-Mile 28
Henry Mountains 71,137,141,177
Henry's Fork of the Green 11, 12
Hill and mom. tain erosion ..* 205
Hog-back erosion 205
Hog-backs 159
— , Formation of « 204
IlorseshoeCanon 14
House Rock Valley 192
Howland brothers and Dunn determine to
leave the river 98
.Murder of 130
Hughes, General 41, 167
Hurricane Ledge 187
-Fault 186,199
Indian garden 96
rafts 51
Indians 17,42,104,113,140
,Kai-vav-its 107,189
— .Navajo 72, 189
,Shi'-wite 115,128,189
— , Food of 126
Inscription at Ashley Fulls 17
37 COL
Page.
Island Park 33
Ives, Lieut. J. C 195,196,199
Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers .. 56
Jurassic at foot of Gray. Cafion .,. 170
strata '. 190
Kaibab Plateau lc-5, Ihy, 192, 194, 212
Kai-par'-o-wits Pluteau 137
Kai-vav-ks 107,189
Kauab , 132,133
Cafion ^ 197
— Creek 106,197
Kingfisher Cafion 14
Labyrinth Cafion 52,167,170,174
Lavas, Ancient 213
Lava streams 94
.Recent 131
Legend of the So'-kus Wai'-uu-ats 116
Lodore, Cafion of 22, 161
Logan, Mount 200
MarbleCafion 73,180
Mar vine, A. R., on the valley system of the
Rocky Mountains of Colorado 164
Mauvaisea terres 149
Measurement of cliffs by the eye 16
Mesquite 77
Minor folds of the Uinta Mountains 158
Monoclinal folds discussed 182
Mountaineers ]2
Mountain sheep .. 66
— , Navajo 136
, San Francisco _. 197
Mountains, Abajo ., 175
, Escajante 35
, Henry 71,137,141,177
, La Sal 56,175
.Trumbull „... 131,200
,U-in-ka-ret 131,189,199,200
, Uinta 10,152,200,206
, Volcanic 6,58,131
34
200
38
200
111
220
221
221
221
221
Music Temple 70,178
Myths of the cafions of the Colorado 7
Narrow Cafion 68, 175
Navajo Indians 72, 189
Mountain 136
Non -conformable beds under Kaibab Plateau 212
Mount Dawes
Emma
Hawkins
Logan
Mu-koon'-tu-weap Cafion .
Mns
bursarius ,
ludovicianus
saccatus
tuza..
290
INDEX.
Pago.
Newberry, Dr. J. S 196
, on the erosion of the
caiions , 198
Orange Cliffs 55, 167, 170, 172, 176
Oryctomys 243
bottsB , 258
Paria Fold 178,185
Plateau 192
River 73,106,133,135,197
Pa-ru'-nu-weap Cafion 5,109
Party, Names of 9,134
, Separation of 99
Pauns-a'-gunt Plateau .„..,.. 107, 135
Peatbog.... 107
Pecos gopher 233
Physical features of the valley of the Col
orado 148
Pink Cliffs ....107, 135, 190
Pipe Spring 112, 132
Plateau, Aquarius 137
, Coanini . 194
, Kaibab 185, 188, 192, 194,212
, Kai-par'-o-wits 137
, Paria 192
, Pauns-a'-gunt 107,135
, San Francisco 186,195
, Shi'-wite. 187,189
, TableCliff 139
, Yampa 159
Plateaus 193
Pleasant Creek 140
Pocket gopher 221
Poisoned by potato-tops 45
Potato Valley 136
Pot-holes in Echo Cliffs 189
Pouched rat 221
Pseudostoma 220
borealis 250
bulbivorum 258
bursarius 221
castanops 233
douglasii 259
fulvus 261
floridana 230
hispiduin 239
mexicana 236
talpoides 25C
umbrinus > 261
Pseudostome a bourse 221
Rapids, Manner of passing 22, 23, 50, 83
, relation to dip and texture of strata. 73, 81
, Waves of, distinguished' from wind-
waves 22
Red Canon 16,157,161
River, Black's Fork of the Green 10
Page.
River, Bright Angel 86
, Colorado 3,4,60
, Colorado Chiquito 77, 180, 197
, Dirty Devil 67, 107, 133, 138, 141, 176
, Escalante 138
, Grand 3,56
, Green ". 3
, Henry's Fork of the Green 11, 12
— , Paria 73,106,133,135,180,197
— , San Juan 73,178
, Sevier 106
, Uiuta 41
, Virgen 41,104,106,109,197
, White 5,30,32,41
— , Yampa 5,30,32,41
Rock Rovers Land 112
Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Inter-hog
back valleys of 163
, Superimposed valleys of 163
Ruins, Shi'-ni-mo 69, 77, 87, 90, 125
Saccoinyidse, cranial characters of 276
Saccophorus 220
albus 221
borealis 250
bottse 258
bursarius » 221
mexicanus 236
pineti 230
quachil 239
talpoides 250
Salamander 221,230
Sand-rat 221
Sandstone 50
San Francisco Plateau 186, 195
Mountain 197
San Juan River -. 73,178
Shin-ar'-tunp Cliffs 190
Shi'-wits Indians 115, 128, 189
- — Plateau 187,189
Shipwreck of the "NoName" 24
Showers causing sudden floods 65, 76, 86
Sierra Abajo 175
Escalante 35
La Sal 56,175
So-kus Wai'-un-ats, Legend of the 116
Split Mountain Canon 38,157, 161
Standing rocks 176
Still water Canon : 54,175
Superimposed valleys denned .
Swallow Canon
Table Cliff Plateau
Taschenmaus
Temples of the Virgen
Terrace; Canons, The
Terraces...
166
19
136
221
111
167
6
INDEX.
291
Page.
Tertiary in the CaQon of Desolation 170
in the Pink Cliffs 190
Thomomys 243
borealis ~s 250
Wta> 259
bulbivorus 249,258
clusius 250,263
douglassii •-«. " 592
fulvus ..~ 251, 261
-laticeps 259
rufescens - 251
-talpoides <--* 249,250
Thompson, A. H., Report of 133
Thousand Wells, The 1H9
Toom'-pin Wu-near7 Tu-weap' 54, 58, 174, 175
To-ro'-weap Cliffs 188
Fault 186,196,199
Valley 186
Tower Park 54
Trias in Glen Canon 177
in the Vermilion Cliffs 190
Triplet Falls 27
Trumbull, Mount 131,200
Tuca 236
Tuean 236
Tugan 236
Tusayan, Province of 87
Tuza 236
U-in-ka-ret Mountains 131, 189
described 199
, Geological history of .. . ...-. 200
Uinta Fold, relation to drainage system.. . 159
-, younger than the Green River . . 152, 162
Mountains 10,152,200,206
, Canons of the 13,157
Pago.
Uinta Fold, Course of the Green River
through the 18
geology of the 152
, portion east of the Green River. 20, 35
, their base-level of ypsion 206
River .-.'. 41
Valley, House Rock....*... 192
, Potato 136
— — , To-ro'-weap 186
, Won'-sits 44
Valleys, Antecedent, defined 163
J — classified.. 160
, Consequent, defined 163
, Inter-hog-back 159,162
of the Uinta Mountains, classified 161
, Superimposed, defined , 166
Vasey's Paradise 76
Vermilion Cliffs , 112, 134, 180, 190, 200
Creek 20
Virgen River 41,104,106,109,197
Volcanic cones 94,114,196,202
mountains 6, 58, 117, 131, 177, 200, 2015
Volcano, Extinct, on Shi'-wits Plateau 187
Water-shed of Southern Utah 106
Waves produced by rapids and by winds.. 23
Western Kaibab fault 186,196
Whipple, Lieutenant 199
Whirlpool Canon 35,161
WhiteCliffs 134
River 5,30,32,41
Won'-sits Valley •* - 44
Yampa Plateau 159
River 5,30,32
Zoology 214
-A.'WPiiSr- n^ it. ^ . • -.«%Jir»
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11