Canyons of the Colorado

John Wesley Powell

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• Publié par: uctoo
• Publié le: 01 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 44
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Canyons of the Colorado, by J. W. Powell This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Canyons of the Colorado Author: J. W. Powell Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8082] Posting Date: August 4, 2009 Language: English Character set encoding: *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANYONS OF THE COLORADO *** Produced by Eric Eldred, and David Widger CANYONS OF THE COLORADO BY J. W. POWELL, PH.D., LL.D., Formerly Director of the United States Geological Survey. Member of the National Academy of Sciences, etc., etc. WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS. First published 1895 PREFACE. On my return from the first exploration of the canyons of the Colorado, I found that our journey had been the theme of much newspaper writing. A story of disaster had been circulated, with many particulars of hardship and tragedy, so that it was currently believed throughout the United States that all the members of the party were lost save one. A good friend of mine had gathered a great number of obituary notices, and it was interesting and rather flattering to me to discover the high esteem in which I had been held by the people of the United States. In my supposed death I had attained to a glory which I fear my continued life has not fully vindicated. The exploration was not made for adventure, but purely for scientific purposes, geographic and geologic, and I had no intention of writing an account of it, but only of recording the scientific results. Immediately on my return I was interviewed a number of times, and these interviews were published in the daily press; and here I supposed all interest in the exploration ended. But in 1874 the editors of Scribner's Monthly requested me to publish a popular account of the Colorado exploration in that journal. To this I acceded and prepared four short articles, which were elaborately illustrated from photographs in my possession. In the same year--1874--at the instance of Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institution, I was called before an appropriations committee of the House of Representatives to explain certain estimates made by the Professor for funds to continue scientific work which had been in progress from the date of the original exploration. Mr. Garfield was chairman of the committee, and after listening to my IV PREFACE. account of the progress of the geographic and geologic work, he asked me why no history of the original exploration of the canyons had been published. I informed him that I had no interest in that work as an adventure, but was interested only in the scientific results, and that these results had in part been published and in part were in course of publication. Thereupon Mr. Garfield, in a pleasant manner, insisted that the history of the exploration should be published by the government, and that I must understand that my scientific work would be continued by additional appropriations only upon my promise that I would publish an account of the exploration. I made the promise, and the task was immediately undertaken. My daily journal had been kept on long and narrow strips of brown paper, which were gathered into little volumes that were bound in sole leather in camp as they were completed. After some deliberation I decided to publish this journal, with only such emendations and corrections as its hasty writing in camp necessitated. It chanced that the journal was written in the present tense, so that the first account of my trip appeared in that tense. The journal thus published was not a lengthy paper, constituting but a part of a report entitled "Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution." The other papers published with it relate to the geography, geology, and natural history of the country. And here again I supposed all account of the exploration ended. But from that time until the present I have received many letters urging that a popular account of the exploration and a description of that wonderful land should be published by me. This call has been voiced occasionally in the daily press and sometimes in the magazines, until at last I have concluded to publish a fuller account in popular form. In doing this I have revised and enlarged the original journal of exploration, and have added several new chapters descriptive of the region and of the people who inhabit it. Realizing the difficulty of painting in word colors a land so strange, so wonderful, and so vast in its features, in the weakness of my descriptive powers I have sought refuge in graphic illustration, and for this purpose have gathered from the magazines and from various scienPREFACE. V tific reports an abundance of material. All of this illustrative material originated in my work, but it has already been used elsewhere. Many years have passed since the exploration, and those who were boys with me in the enterprise are--ah, most of them are dead, and the living are gray with age. Their bronzed, hardy, brave faces come before me as they appeared in the vigor of life; their lithe but powerful forms seem to move around me; and the memory of the men and their heroic deeds, the men and their generous acts, overwhelms me with a joy that seems almost a grief, for it starts a fountain of tears. I was a maimed man; my right arm was gone; and these brave men, these good men, never forgot it. In every danger my safety was their first care, and in every waking hour some kind service was rendered me, and they transfigured my misfortune into a boon. To you--J. C. Sumner, William H. Dunn, W. H. Powell, G. Y Bradley, O. G. Howland, Seneca Howland, Prank . Goodman, W. E. Hawkins, and Andrew Hall--my noble and generous companions, dead and alive, I dedicate this book. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. The Valley of the Colorado ..... 17 II. Mesas and, Buttes . . . . . . 39 III. Mountains and Plateaus ...... 67 IV. Cliffs and Terraces ....... 89 V. From Green River City to Flaming Gorge . . 117 VI. From Flaming Gorge to the Gate of Lodore . . . 133 VII. The Canyon of Lodore ...... 151 VIII. From Echo Park to the Mouth of the Uinta River . 167 IX. From the Mouth of the Uinta River to the Junction of the Grand and Green . ...... 189 X. From the Junction of the Grand and Green to the Mouth of the Little Colorado ...... 211 XI. From the Little Colorado to the Foot of the Grand Canyon 247 XII. The Rio Virgen and the Uinkaret Mountains . . 289 XIII. Over the River ....... 327 XIV. To Zuñi ......... 351 XV. The Grand Canyon ....... 379 Index .......... 399 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of the Author ....... Frontispiece [missing] PAGE The Colorado River ......... 16 Parunuweap Canyon ........ 18 Bird's-eye View of the Cliffs ....... 19 San Francisco Peak ........ 21 Cliff near Fort Wingate ........ 22 Scenery on the High Plateaus ...... 23 The Mogollon Escarpment ....... 25 Snow-clad Mountains on the River ..... 26 Our Messenger ......... 28 Apache Basket ......... 29 Our Messenger's Wife ........ 30 Ruins of Toyalone ........ 31 A Zuñí Court .......... 33 Adobe Church, Zuñi ........ 34 The Site of Moenkopi . . . . . . . . 36 Mountain of the Holy Cross ...... 38 Wingate Cliff .......... 40 Pyramid Butte near Fort Wingate ..... 41 Zuñi Cliffs .......... 42 Great Neck Nine Miles South of Salazar .... 43 Cinder Cone and Neck, Northeast of Grant Station . . 44 Two Large Necks, the More Distant One being the Cabazon 45 Neck Six Miles Northeast of Juantafoya ..... 46 A Group of Necks near Mount Taylor .... 47 Panorama from the Edge of Mount Taylor Mesa ... 48 Panorama in the Valley of the Puerco .... 50 Ruins at the Head of McElmo Canyon . . . . . 52 A Navajo Hogan ......... 53 An Ancient Coiled Vase from Tusayan ..... 54 A Typical Cliff Dwelling ....... 56 A Room in a Pueblo ........ 57 A Navajo Ready for a Journey ...... 58 A Navajo Boy .......... 59 Gardens of Zuñi ......... 60 A Tusayan Ladder ......... 61 A Zuñi Stool ......... 61 X CANYONS OF THE COLORADO. PAGE A Tusayan Field Shelter ........ 62 Another Tusayan Field Shelter ...... 63 View of Hano, One of the Seven Pueblos of Tusayan . . 64 Mesa Verde . . . . ... . . between 64 and 65 Mount Moran, Teton Range, Wyoming ..... 66 Marble Basins, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park . 69 Terraced Basins, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park . 70 Tabernacle Crater and Lava Beds of the Basin Province . 73 View on Great Salt Lake Desert, showing Mountains half buried by Lake Sediments ........ 74 An Indian Hunter ......... 76 Reservoir Butte, showing Terraces of the Ancient Lake Bonneville Shorelines . . . . . . . . 77 Pavant Butte, over a Submarine Volcano of the Great Basin 78 An Indian Camp ......... 79 Indians Gambling ......... 80 Ruin near Moenkopi ........ 81 Ruins of Payupki, Six Miles Northwest of Mashongnavi, Tusayan 82 Shupaulovi .......... 85 General View of Zuñi, looking West ..... 86 The Gray Cliffs ......... 88 Section and Bird's-eye View of the Plateaus North of the Grand Canyon ......... 90 A Group of Stone Corrals ....... 91 Ruins ........... 92 Lagoon on the Kaibab ........ 95 Pink Cliffs, Paunsagunt Plateau ...... 96 A Permian Butte ......... 99 Vermilion Cliffs at Kanab ........ 100 A Midsummerday's Dream on the Colob .... 103 An Indian Village ......... 104 Antinaints, Putusiv, and Wichuts in Festal Dress . . 105 Perspective View of Typical Solitary House .... 106 Perspective View of Round-House Structure of Lava . . 107 An Ancient Cliff House ........ 108 A Zuñi Eagle Cage ........ 109 A View of Zuñi ......... 110 Walpi Dance Rock ........ 112 A Passageway in Walpi ........ 114 A Passageway in Mashongnavi ...... 115 The Hurricane Fault ..... between 114