To the Havasupais and back twice,
and have ridden for many years over small portions of the trail. It is
intimately connected with the history of two of the people seen most at the
Canyon. According to one of the Havasupai legends, the Hopis and Havasupais
are descended from twin brothers. Hence they have always been friendly and
have traded continuously the products of their own manufacture. The Hopis
exchange their horses, sheep, and burros, laden with blankets, pottery and
silverware, for buckskin, Havasupai baskets (which they prize very highly),
dried peaches, etc.
Originally this was a foot trail; then horses, burros and mules were used;
and now, in some portions of its distance, notably from Moenkopi to Oraibi,
it is used for wagons.
A Six Day Journey. Let us leave the home of the Havasupais and go on a
visit to the Hopis. Our trip into Havasu Canyon is described in another
chapter. I discussed the matter with several of the leading Havasupais, and
they told me that the trip will be arduous and long. How long? Five, six
days!
A Side Trail. But before starting I decided to see one of the outlets to
Havasu Canyon, that used to be a part of the old trail, and that was used
as an inlet when General Crook and his soldiers came there. The trail is
called after a spring bearing the name Pack-a-tha-true-ye-ba. Never did I
have such a sense of the maze of canyons contained in this system of
canyons as on that trip. My guide was Sinyela, one of the most intelligent
Indians of the whole tribe. We left the Havasupai village early one
morning, each riding an Indian pony, with all the provisions we thought we
should need on our saddles. After awhile, we entered a side canyon I had
never before explored. During the whole of that day we toiled, riding as
hard as we could over the almost trackless canyon floor; trailing through
deep sand; climbing over masses of boulders that freshets or cloud-bursts
had. piled between the walls; forcing our way through dense willows;
scratched by thickets of mesquites. Again and again in the walls were seen
cliff-dwellings and corn storage houses. The heat was intense, and radiated
from the precipitous walls on either side.
The Camp at Night. When night came, we ate our frugal meal, our horses
standing by waiting to be hobbled and turned loose. For beds, we had the
nearest layer of sand we could find, with our saddles for pillows.
Suffering from Thirst. Early in the morning we started again, winding and
curving with the course of the Canyon. For nearly two days we had been
without fresh water, and the little we had brought in our wicker-woven,
pinion-gum-covered esuwas had to suffice for our needs.
