The Promise of the Grand Canyon by John F. Ross

Author:John F. Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2018-07-02T16:00:00+00:00

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On July 6, Thompson reported that the Major “had decided to go on ahead to Uintah as he says, but to Salt Lake as I believe.” By now, Emma was in her seventh month of a difficult pregnancy, and he wanted to be with her.

When the rest of the expedition reached the Uinta River on July 15, they found a rusted oyster can containing a note from Powell telling them to stay put; so wait they did, for eight days. On his way back from Salt Lake, Powell met Jacob Hamblin, who still had not located the Dirty Devil. The Major hired Pardon Dodds, the former Indian agent at Uinta, to help him. By July 23, Powell had rejoined the men at the river, but told them to continue without him; he would meet them at Gunnison’s Crossing in the Utah Territory. By then, the monotony and hard work had worn on morale, and Beaman and Clem were not the only ones not getting along. Most complained about the cook and his food, while others flinched every time John Steward opened his mouth, such was the color and vigor of his profanity. In late August when Powell rejoined the party at Gunnison’s Crossing, even Thompson was not happy to see Powell, who had managed only to secure a rather slim resupply of flour, sugar, and meat. That would have to last for some time, because Powell still had not been able to locate the Dirty Devil, not that “the Major made any serious effort,” grumbled Thompson. In fact, Powell had traveled across the West Tavuts Plateau south of the Uinta Valley on his way to the Sevier River drainage, examining rocks and studying the Indians. Those he interviewed had confirmed Hamblin’s premise that the Dirty Devil did not offer a viable path for a mule train. “I do not care a cuss whether he comes with us or not on the river,” wrote Prof, “but it makes one mad to wait and then have him come in and report a failure.” He added as an aside that he should not complain, having known what the situation would be like before leaving on the trip. Like all secondary commanders in the field, comfortable when the leader is gone, Powell’s reappearance—once again sitting kinglike in his chair and calling all the shots—irritated him.

The expedition set off through Labyrinth Canyon, then to the intersection of the Green and Grand, and on to the bad whitewater of Cataract Canyon, which Powell dreaded seeing again. By the end of September, they reached the foul Dirty Devil, but did not find Hamblin and supplies waiting there. Powell decided to cache Canonita in a shallow cave some two hundred feet back from the river. They had less than a week’s worth of flour left. They would travel faster and more easily with two boats, although overcrowded, and could retrieve Canonita later.

Much to the Major’s disappointment, their dwindling food supplies forced them to skip the chance to climb the mountain Powell had named after Oramel Howland (today’s Navajo Mountain).

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