The Grand Canyon of Arizona [114]
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
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