For Nearly Twenty
Years I Have Been Visiting The Canyon Annually, And For Many Years There
Were Few Conveniences, Such As Railway And Hotels.
Now these are provided.
One may leave his office in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago or Kansas
City, and in a Pullman car ride direct to the Canyon, where a few steps
will lead him into one of the most perfectly equipped, yet homelike hotels
in America.
And there, without effort or fatigue, he comes face to face
with this rest-giving, strength-producing Canyon. As soon as a man or woman
learns this, you can scarcely get him, or her, to wait the coming of the
regular holiday period. The appeal of the Canyon is as strong as the "call
of the wild," and that man or woman needing quiet is wisest who yields to
the call, and yields often, going to the Canyon in perfect faith that it
has within itself recuperative powers which it is ready to give in full
measure to those who are in need.
Ways in Which to Recuperate. To those who recuperate best by contact with
Nature out-of-doors, the suggestions contained in the chapters devoted to
the various outing trips will be useful. Those who wish to lounge and rest,
surrounded without by all the sublimity of this unequalled scene, and
within by all the comforts and luxuries of a modern hotel, will find that
the Grand Canyon absolutely satisfies their most exacting demands. Easy and
gentle drives, with perfect equipment; over forest roads, in the restfully
stimulating atmosphere of Arizona, at an elevation of nearly seven thousand
feet, soothe tired brain and nerves. More vigorous horseback exercises,
taken through the park-like glades and reaches of the Coconino Forest,
produce perfect digestion and the restfulness of dreamless sleep. The sun
tans you. You breathe a pure, thin air, laden with scent of pine and cedar.
Your lungs expand, your muscles harden. Soon you are "fit for a king."
The Mecca of the Traveling World. There are many canyons, but the Grand
Canyon of Arizona is the Mecca of the traveling world; and El Tovar always
has the housing of the choice spirits who have run the gamut of tourist
delights in other lands. This home-like inn shelters men of letters,
scientists, geologists, artists and business men. Any night, in the year,
on the rim of this wonderful abyss, there will be found a miniature city,
with its life and sparkle, its fellowships and social converse, its bustle
and abandon, and, best of all, the simon-pure democracy inherent among
traveled men and women.
In magical contrast with this human centre, is the near by solitude, for
one may in a moment step from the companionship of men to the isolation of
the desert or mountain - at will you may be one of the crowd or a hermit.
CHAPTER XXXI. The Story Of A Boat
The Utah. Near the rim of the Canyon, at El Tovar Hotel, is a steel boat,
sixteen feet long, scarred and battered, showing signs of the roughest
usage, named the Utah. Here is its story:
Loper Plans to Explore the Canyon. For ten years after Galloway's first
trip was made, no one was found venturesome enough to risk the dangers of
the Canyon journey until the man who built the Utah and his two companions
resolved to "dare and do." These men were Charles S. Russell, of Prescott,
Arizona, Edward R. Monett, of Goldfield, Nevada, and Albert Loper, of
Louisiana, Missouri. Russell was thirty-one years of age, Monett
twenty-three, and Loper thirty-eight years.
The plan originated in the mind of Loper, in a mine in Cripple Creek, in
1899. Six years later, Loper had been attracted to the San Juan River, a
tributary of the Colorado in Southeastern Utah, by the excitement created
by the discovery of placer mining there. He confided to Russell his belief
that the Colorado River offered much greater chances of richer placer
mining.
Difficulty in Finding Companions. The men planned to make their start in
the spring of 1905. But they presently discovered that the undertaking they
had faced so lightly presented almost insurmountable difficulties. At the
outset, the men found it was necessary to have at least one more companion
if they were to accomplish their undertaking, and four men were preferable
to three. But the most daring of the men they met in the mines refused to
consider such a trip.
Plans Begin to Materialize. It was consequently not until April of 1908
that their long-laid plans began to materialize. Loper met Monett, a boy in
appearance, seemingly not strong, and unusually quiet, as he did his day's
work in the Mohawk mine in Goldfield. But that Monett was not a boy - in
courage at least - and not as weak as a casual glance suggested, was
presently evidenced. Loper notified Russell, then foreman of the mine near
Prescott, that the third man had been found. A meeting was arranged at
Green River early in September.
Boats Are Made. Three boats were made, with stout wooden frames, covered
with hulls of steel plates. Each boat was decked over, fore and aft, with
sheet steel covers, bolted down by means of a row of small bolts along each
gunwale. Covers, on decks, reached from each end to the bulkhead placed
near the center of the boats, thus leaving an open compartment, three and
a half feet long, for the oarsman. All the loads were placed under cover,
and securely lashed to prevent shifting. The boats were also provided with
air-tight compartments in each end, and under the seat, containing
sufficient air to float both boat and load, should all the other
compartments be full of water. The boats were named the Arizona, the Utah,
and the Nevada. Each was equipped with provisions for three months.
The Start. The start was made down the Green River, September 20. Four days
later, the trio had reached the junction of the Green and Grand Rivers, the
beginning of the Colorado, having covered a distance of one hundred and
twenty miles.
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