Cataract Canyon InterpretationCompiled by Nick White and Stephen D’Arrigo

Overview:

• Cataract Canyon is a 46-mile long canyon of the Colorado River located within Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. It begins on the upstream end, at the confluence with the Green River and ends with the confluence of the Dirty Devil River.

Profile:

• River: The Colorado River • Rapid Rating: Class III-V (depending on water level)• Put in (Colorado River): Potash Boat Ramp (30 minute drive west of Moab, Utah) • Put in (Green River): Mineral Bottom (1 hour drive west of Moab, Utah)• Take-out location: Hite Marina on Lake Powell boat ramp (3 ½ hours southwest of Moab, Utah)• River Miles: 96 from Potash, 98 from Mineral Bottom • Rapid Miles: 14• Number of rapids: 29

The maximum recorded flow of 114,900 cu ft/s occurred on May 27, 1984. The rapids of Cataract Canyon become difficult at flows above 30,000 cu ft/s (850 m3/s) and extreme at flows above 50,000 cu ft/s.

Mile 47-Geology Note (Immediately After Potash Boat Ramp):

Honaker Trail Formation first appears on river right. 290-350 approximately 290-350 m.y.o Mixture of limestone, sandstone, shale, and chert. Caused by shallow sea with stream and deltaic and stream environments.

Mile 46.6-Historical Note (Frank Shafer #1 Oil Site):

Voyagers who cross the axis of the Cane Creek anticline may observe on the right-hand (west) bank a protruding oil-well casing, some drill bits, wooden ferry boat, and several shacks—all that remain of the Frank Shafer No. 1 oil test site.

5,000-foot oil well, caught fire in 1925, then gushed about a 1,000 barrels a day into the river for six months.

The oil gushed 200-300 feet in the air After a series of setbacks, the 5,000-foot well was abandoned, never having produced oil for

shipment. The well's 84 foot tall derrick was located on a narrow bottom along the river's right bank about

75 feet inland from the water. There was no road to the site and supplies were transported on a barge operated by the Moab Garage Co.

On the morning of December 8, 1925, driller E. F. Linde encountered considerable gas flow at a depth of 2028 feet and became apprehensive and stopped drilling. At 6:15 while he and other crew members were eating their breakfast they heard an explosion and saw the well gush oil and catch fire. Flames shot some three hundred feet above the derrick which was destroyed by the fire. The Moab Garage barge was summoned from Moab to bring fire fighting equipment.

Mile 46.5-Historical Note (Tangrila): Called Tangri-La or Caveman Ranch (Located on river right) Its creator is Bud Tangren, a successful Las Vegas businessman, has literally carved a personal

retreat out of the red sandstone cliffs. Bud has always intended that Tangri-La be for fly-in

guests only. His dream is to have a fly-in dude ranch for the discriminating traveler who could use an airplane to achieve the ultimate get away. It is still currently in business and you can look over Bud’s website at www.cavemanranch.com.

All the blasting and primary excavating was accomplished rather quickly in 1980’s. Dynamite was used heavily throughout the process.

Compound contains tennis courts, baseball field, shooting range, corral, main lodge, main residence, cave hotel rooms, garden, and lastly an airstrip.

The property is a completely self sufficient source. Bud has installed a solar panel array, which provides sufficient energy for average demand. Refrigeration for food is accomplished with propane powered refrigerators like those found in nice motor homes, and a bank of batteries stores unused solar power for evening needs.

Bud is a master collector and scavenger. Items include: Howitzer cannon, a portable jail cell, a four section tower, and a giant baseball. Another unique feature of the property involves Bud’s effort to tame the mighty Colorado River during its annual flood cycle. Bud solved the problem by bringing in old autos laid end to end along the river. He poured a half yard of cement in each and covered the whole thing with dirt.

Mile 41-Historical Note (Granary): On river right about 15ft up the river bank you can spot an Adobe Turtle Back Granary. A

granary is a sealed storehouse for threshed grain and seeds for future planting and consumption. When a granary was to be used it would be filled with precious grains and seeds through a narrow

opening located on the top of the granary. A small fire would be started inside the granary and the narrow opening (lintel) would be immediately closed. The fire would use up existing oxygen in the granary facilitating an air tight environment. Granaries would remain air tight and protective against the elements and animals.

This granary is different than most because of the way it was built. An Adobe Turtle Back Granary is made out of clay, water, and organic materials only. Other granaries are typical built out of stacked sandstone blocks and held together and plastered with adobe (sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material like sticks, straw, and/or manure) mortar.

This granary can be dated back to the Fremont & Ancestral Puebloan Era. (A.D. 700 to A.D. 1300)

Mile 38.5-Historical Note (J.H. Shafer #1 Oil Site) In 1926 the same companies that had drilled the well on the Cane Creek anticline started a well

on the apex of the Shafer Dome where it is crossed by the Colorado River, in sec. 16, T. 27 S.,R. 20 E. This well, known as the J.H. Shafer No. 1, was drilled to a depth of 5863 feet before it was finally abandoned. It begins at about 150 feet below the top of the Hermosa formation and cuts into the Paradox formation at a depth of 1610 feet and into unknown strata underlying the paradox at a depth of 5690 feet. A showing of oil was encountered in sandstone of the Hermosa formation at a depth of 764 feet, but the quantity was negligible.

Mile 38-River Facts Fossil Point (Thelma & Louise Point) River Trivia: Brad Pitt’s debut movie? (T&L) ,last scene? (Cliff Dive), movie scene location?

(Grand Canyon), type of car? (Blue 1966 Thunderbird convertible) Thelma & Louise Point Story A total of five identical 1966 Thunderbird convertibles were used throughout the movie: one ’star

car’, one camera car, one back-up car, and two stunt cars. Shafer Trail (37 mile long loop, 9 miles are paved and the remaining 28 are on a dirt trail.) This

trail attracts adventurous mountain bikers, and off-road enthusiasts.

Mile 37-River Facts (Petrified Forest and Fossils)

Robert R. Norman (oral commun. Feb. 27, 1973) described to Geologic Survey Bulletin a small petrified forest-which he said resembles a log jam-in the eastern part of the Shafer Dome, at Mileage 39 (Baars and Molenaar, 1971, p.65), just north of this point about halfway between the river and the jeep trail below Dead Horse Point. He estimated that there probably are 20 to 30 logs, some of which are as large as 18 inches in diameter and more than 20 feet long, and also described a stump about 3 feet in diameter. They occur in red beds at about the middle of the Rico Formation, hence could be either Pennsylvanian or Permian in age. The original wood has been replaced by silica (SiO2), and stained a dark reddish brown.

Petrified wood (from the Greek root petro meaning "rock" or "stone"; literally "wood turned into stone") is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree or tree-like plants having completely transitioned to stone by the process of permineralization. All the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (mostly a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the stem tissue. Unlike other types of fossils which are typically impressions or compressions, petrified wood is a three-dimensional representation of the original organic material. The petrifaction process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due to a lack of oxygen which inhibits aerobic decomposition. Mineral-laden water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the plant's cells; as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay, a stone mould forms in its place.

Elements such as manganese, iron and copper in the water/mud during the petrifaction process give petrified wood a variety of color ranges. Pure quartz crystals are colorless, but when contaminants are added to the process the crystals take on a yellow, red, or other tint.

Following is a list of contaminating elements and related color hues:o carbon - blacko cobalt - green/blueo chromium - green/blueo copper - green/blueo iron oxides - red, brown, and yellowo manganese - pink/orangeo manganese oxides - blackish/yellow

Petrified wood can preserve the original structure of the stem in all its detail, down to the microscopic level. Structures such as tree rings and the various tissues are often observed features.

Mile 37-River Facts (Petrified Logs/Fossil Hike) Petrified Logs & Fossils Hike: Can be accessed on river right. Look for tunnel through the Tamarisk trees and follow the

outlined stone path. The trail will come to a ‘Y’ and the petrified logs can be found to the right and left. The fossils have been collected by previous guides and will be displayed on a rock self to the left.

Fossils Hike: Can be accessed on river left straight across from the Petrified logs and fossils hike. The trail

starts by walking upstream on the limestone self at river level. The fossils have been collected by previous guides and will be displayed on a rock self.

Mile 37-Geology Note (Dead Horse Point Viewpoint) Downstream right view of Dead Horse Point exposes the following geologic layers:

o Kayenta Formation (190-200 m.y.o) Sandstone, siltstone, shale, conglomerate, and limestone mixture. Formed by

meandering stream environment.o Wingate Formation (200-208 m.y.o)

Sandstone, cross stratification represents preserved sand dunes.o Chinle Formation (208-220 m.y.o)

Shale, siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate, bentonitic clay, and limestone. Formed by meandering stream, flood plain, and shallow lake environments.

o Moenkopi Formation (220-230 m.y.o) Siltstone and sandstone, locally gypsum. Formed by mud flat environment, and subordinate stream deposition.

o Cutler Group Undivided (240-290 m.y.o) Sandstone, limestone, siltstone, shale, and conglomerate mixture. Formed by stream, tidal flat, shallow marine & marine environments, also lowland coastal environments.

o Elephant Canyon Formation (270-290 m.y.o) Limestone, sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Formed by varying marine environments.

Mile 37-Geology Note (Creation of Canyonlands) Deposition: Canyonlands National Park is a showcase of geology. In each of the districts, visitors

can see the remarkable effects of millions of years of erosion on a landscape of sedimentary rock. For hundreds of millions of years. material was deposited from a wide variety of sources in what is now called Canyonlands National Park.

Over time, southeast Utah was flooded by oceans, crisscrossed by rivers, covered by mudflats and buried in sand.

The climate has resembled a tropical coast, an interior desert, and everything in between. Layer upon layer of sedimentary rock formed as buried materials were cemented by precipitates in ground water. Each layer contains clues, like patterns or fossils, that reveal it’s depositional environment.

Approximately 300 million years ago in the Pennsylvanian period there were large deposits of evaporates or salts in a shallow inland sea. These deposits are the instigator many of geologic features in the area. These salt beds cause a variety of unique formations including: grabens, needles, fins, joints, and valleys due to collapsing pockets.

Erosion: Until about 15 million years ago, most of the Canyonlands area was near sea level. Local uplifts and volcanic activity had created features like Capital Reef’s Waterpocket Fold and La Sal Mountains near Moab, but the movements in the earths crust caused the whole area to rise. Today, the average elevation is over 5,000 feet above sea level.

The uplifting of this region is known as the Colorado Plateau, marked a shift from a depositional to one of erosion. The Colorado and Green Rivers began to downcut and are now entrenched in canyons over 2,000 ft deep. Sediment filled storm run-off drains into these rivers, scouring the surrounding landscape into a network of tributary canyons, pour-offs and washes.

Mile 36.5-River Facts (Natural Tunnel)

The natural tunnel can be accessed on river right. Look for a sandstone self on the right. You will find a trail to the left that will lead you to the opening of the tunnel. The tunnel makes a ‘U’ shape and will lead you back out near the entrance. You will need headlamps or flashlights and the ability to crawl when the tunnel makes a tight squeeze.

Mile 34-River Facts (Moab Music Festival and Grotto Concert) Every September, the award-winning Moab Music Festival brings world-class musicians to

stunning red rock venues around Moab For the Festival’s unique grotto concerts, audience members travel down the Colorado River in

jet boats to an acoustically perfect red rock concert site. After the performance, the audience has a chance to share food and drink with the musicians before boating back to Moab.

The setting is perfect for about six musicians and 100 canvas chairs for listeners. A handful of more adventurous concertgoers eschew the chairs and instead climb up to elevated ledges that jut out of the sedimentary strata.

Tickets Are $250-300 Proceeds go to outreach programs & other local programs

Mile 26.5-Lockhart Canyon (Ollie Lockhart, Frank C. Kendrick, Early Cattleman, and Indian Inscriptions)

Frank C. Kendrick was a mining engineer hired by Frank M. Brown, Colorado, to survey the route of a proposed water-level railroad from Grand Junction, Colorado, to the joining of the then-Grand River with the Green. Kendrick and four other men of his party left Grand Junction on March 29, 1889, and arrived at the Confluence on May 4th.

In his dairy entry for Thursday, May 2nd, Kendrick wrote the following paragraph: “At Sta [station] 4144+20 we found a little valley coming in from the South where it appears some few cattle come to water, the first below Moab. On a large rock to the East side of the cañon there are many Indian inscriptions. Snakes, lizards with two 2 heads, men & women & cet & many things we could not make out. Also the names of many cowboys written in 87 & 88 (sic).”

The inscriptions read, “Ollie Lockhart 1888 Silverton Colo Feb 8th 1888”, “John E. Brown, James C. Blood, and Frank C. ------, with a date of Jan 9 1887”, “B – Buchanan, Savage, and J – Blood, accompanied by a date of Mch 1887”.

All inscriptions can be found in the same place and a part of the same grouping. As Kendrick had stated, most of these names were of cattlemen. John E. Brown had settled on

nearby Indian Creek in the vicinity of present-day dugout ranch in 1887. James C. Blood was a ranch foreman for Pittsburgh Cattle Company, headquartered up near Old La Sal, from 1884 until 1887. Jeshiel V. Savage was the cattle foreman for Pittsburgh Cattle Company during the 1880’s.

Ollie Lockhart is still somewhat of a mystery. Lockhart’s records can be found by checking with the county historical society in Silverton, Colorado. The records indicate that he was a resident of that town in 1888. Moreover, he was the county clerk, a man of the “clerical mass”, and there was no indication that he was ever involved with either mining or cattle. It is speculated that Lockhart’s presence in Utah may have simply “been a one time vacation-adventure.”

Mile 23.6-Historical Note (Lathrop Pictographs, Granary, and Dwelling)

The trail leading to the pictographs can be found on river left, through a tunnel of Tamarisk trees. The trail starts and ends in the same place, making a large loop. It is best to go up and to the right first, then across to the left; ending with the granary, pictographs, and dwelling.

A petroglyph is an image or design cut into a rock surface without the use of pigment or coloring.

Pictographs are painted on light-colored sandstone surfaces. A mixture of sumac, yellow ochre (oh-ker), and pinyon gum was used to make a black powder; yellow from rabbit brush, and red from red ochre (oh-ker) or the roots of certain plants. Animal fat and plant oils may have been used to bind the powders together.

Adobe structures are constructed with bricks created from sand, clay, and water, with some fibrous or organic material, shaped using frames and dried in the sun

Ancient Puebloan PeopleWhat is the meaning of rock art? 

Like many prehistoric peoples, the Ancestral Puebloans pecked or painted a variety of images on the sandstone cliffs. Some of them might have been idle doodling. But the sustained effort needed to create them and the interpretations offered by Native Americans indicate that most images probably have deeper meanings.

For instance, some spirals may signify the sun's movement, or the passage of time. In certain places, shafts of sunlight strike a spiral differently at the spring and autumn equinoxes, and the winter and summer solstices. These spirals probably served as part of a ritual calendar. Elsewhere, according to modern Pueblos, spirals are symbols of a group's migration from one locale to another.

Other symbols may have been maps showing out the locations of springs, villages, and other features. Animal figures may have played roles in rituals or prayers for successful hunting. Corn plants might represent a successful harvest. Some symbols evidently represent family, clan, or ceremonial society affiliation. Some of these same designs appear in the decorations of early Puebloan pottery.Who were they?

Ancient Pueblo peoples or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. They lived in a range of structures, including pit houses, pueblos, and cliff dwellings designed so that they could lift entry ladders during enemy attacks, which provided security. When did they live?

700-1200 AD Where did they live?

In the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico now meet. Were they only tribe the in the region?

No, they had a sphere of influence and geographic spread of villages that was the largest in the Southwest. Where did they come from?

Directly preceding the Anasazi stone villages and cities, their ancestors belonged to the period now known as Basketmakers and live in semi-underground houses called pit houses, often right in the same area where the stone cities and villages were later built.What did they eat, and how did they prepare their food?

• Although the Anasazi were farmers of corn, beans, and squash, they also hunted and gathered wild plants for food. Studies indicate that sometimes people depended more on wild foods than on farmed crops.

• Corn was dried and stored on the cob. Strips of dried squash hung in the storage rooms. Wild plant foods were also stored and prepared for cooking. Piñon nuts, sunflower and other seeds had to be winnowed and hulled before they could be cooked and eaten. Corn kernels were parched in jars that lay on their sides near the fire.

• Women spent hours each day grinding corn into flour with manos and metates. Beans were soaked then cooked in large jars. Vessels full of stew or mush may have been placed directly over fires, or hot rocks were dropped into the contents. They probably made paper-thin piki (a Hopi word) by spreading corn meal batter on a hot greased rock.

• Mice and rabbits were probably more important sources of meat than larger game such as deer or bighorn sheep. Among the larger game animals, wild sheep apparently were more abundant than deer. Large animals were butchered at the kill site. Back at home the meat was roasted, stewed, or dried for jerky. Long bones were cracked to extract marrow, and hides were cured for other uses.

• Turkeys were domesticated and used mainly for feathers, or as pets. They also were good for keeping bugs out of gardens. There is little evidence that turkeys or turkey eggs or dogs were eaten. How did the Ancestral Puebloans make their living besides farming?

• Hunting and gathering, the primary food resources of the earliest people, were never totally abandoned. When crops were reduced by drought or cold weather-- or as the population grew larger-- communities were forced to rely more on game and wild plants to make up the difference. Meat remained the major source of protein. Piñon nuts, yucca fruit, berries and other wild plants were still part of the diet. The people also gathered plant materials to make baskets, clothing and tools.

• Garden plots actually made hunting easier by attracting rabbits, birds and mice. The people also hunted deer and elk in the mountains, and antelope and bighorn sheep at lower elevations.

• The Ancestral Puebloans did not move seasonally to the lowlands to hunt or gather wild plants. Lower elevations in this region are mostly desert, with few game animals or food plants. If they did make extended hunting and gathering trips, it is more likely they went uphill toward the mountains, but we have not found evidence of seasonal camps at higher elevations. What kind of government and social structures did they have?

• Modern Pueblo groups share certain social patterns. Traditionally they are all matrilineal, meaning that clan affiliation is reckoned through the female line, and children "belong" to the mother's clan. They are matrilocal, meaning that husbands traditionally move into the bride's family household. Their society is matriarchal, meaning that homes and farm land are owned by and inherited from the mother, and a wife has the right to divorce and evict her husband. However, some kinds of civil and religious authority are usually reserved for men. Among the Hopi, for instance, the village chief or kikmongwi sometimes has been a woman, but usually the kikmongwi is a man.

• Archaeological evidence is indirect, and does not usually reveal much about a people's beliefs, religion, political system, or social customs. Sometimes the geographic patterning of settlements in the landscape-- or the placement of buildings within a village-- are indicators of social relationships. Otherwise, we can only assume that many cultural patterns are the same now as they were a thousand years ago, and the Pueblos tell us they were. For example: In recent times, men were the weavers, and they socialized in the kivas. In archaeological sites, we often find evidence of weaving in kivas. But our understanding of Anasazi rules of property and authority are still too vague to be certain about them. At least there is nothing that would indicate that roles have been reversed.

• Many modern Pueblo people believe their 13th century ancestors were organized into clans and were governed by clan elders. Some archaeologists doubt that the clan system existed at that time because they see little evidence for it. They theorize that clan formation was a response to social and geographical dislocations ca. AD 1300 - 1400, and to a need for a new way to define relationships between new neighbors. In this view, clans represent people who previously migrated as a group and then settled with other groups to form a larger community. 

• Recent research indicates that, as the landscape grew more crowded over time, dispersed settlements aggregated into larger communities with smaller hamlets surrounding the core villages. There is also evidence of status differences among the later Ancestral Puebloans, as seen by differences in architecture and burial possessions. However, compared to many ancient societies, the Ancestral Puebloans appear to have been relatively egalitarian without well-defined class distinctions.What happened to these people?

• The Ancestral Puebloan farmers were relatively successful in the Four Corners area for over a thousand years, but by AD 1300 they had left the entire region. Long-term climate changes that reduced crop yield may have been among the reasons that the Ancestral Puebloans finally moved away from their former homeland.

• Tree-ring records and other indicators show that persistent drought and/or shortened frost-free seasons affected this region during several prehistoric periods, including the early 900s, the early 1100s, and the late 1200s. Each of these periods corresponds to shifts in settlement pattern. The last period (late 1200s) witnessed the final, widespread Puebloan migrations out of the Four Corners. Other factors responsible for this exodus may have been deforestation or other kinds of environmental degradation, a growing scarcity of land or other resources, and/or political conflicts related to these problems.

• The Ancestral Puebloans may have reached the limit of the natural resources available to them. When crops consistently failed, the people moved to a better location. Archaeologists also see evidence of social changes over time, changes perhaps related to internal pressures or to outside competition from non-Pueblo groups.

• In the Dolores Valley, research revealed that people began settling in small villages around AD 500. The settlements were heavily populated between AD 600 and 900 when conditions were most favorable for agriculture. The number of households, hamlets, and villages increased as the population grew.

• Environmental conditions began to change around AD 900, as cooler temperatures made farming unreliable. Families began leaving the Dolores area to pursue agriculture and community life at lower elevations nearby. In later centuries the population rebounded and use of the area continued

through the 1200s. In southwestern Colorado, some settlement areas persisted for centuries but with internal changes such as a trend toward concentration into larger, fewer villages.

• While the Four Corners settlements declined, more southerly areas began to develop and grow. The Rio Grande pueblos and the pueblos of Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni grew in numbers after AD 1300, perhaps including people from this region. Evidence also exists for sudden population growth around the Homolovi area near Winslow, Arizona. The Acoma of New Mexico and the Hopi people of Arizona say that some of their clans came from the Four Corners region.

Mile 20.1-Historical Note (Coffee Pot Ruin) A granary can be spotted on river left. The granary is located on a large rock column that

resembles a coffee pot. More specifically the granary is half way up the sandstone column on the left. The opening to the granary id identified by a small black dot.

Mile 18.5- Geology Note (White Stripe) A prominent white band appears on the cliff at the river left. Although some jokingly call this the

“high water mark,” it is actually a sandstone band made gypsiferous (containing the mineral gypsum) by the evaporation of ground water discharge.

This process is known as sapping. Sapping consists of bedrock erosion by means of groundwater discharge and contacts between units, or bedding planes within units, where water movement is restricted vertically.

The White Stripe is created as the water traveling through porous sandstone intersects with a non-permeable layer. When the water is impeded by this impermeable layer the gypsiferous contents are brought to the surface of the rock where they are then exposed.

Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It can be used as a fertilizer, and is the main constituent in many forms of plaster (drywall) and is widely mined.

Cutler Group Undivided inter-fingers with Cedar Mesa Sandstone from about mile 19-11.5. Thereafter Cedar Mesa Sandstone is Exposed

Mile 16.5-River Facts and Historical Note (Indian Creek) Indian creek originates in the Abajo Mountains on the southern slopes of Horsehead Peak and

Twin Peaks. The creek drains past Newspaper Rock and the Dugout Ranch to join Rustler Canyon.

The trail from the river eventually dead-ends into a slot canyon/waterfall that runs during the spring.

Ruins & Granary are on the left side as you pass through the camp. An abandoned meander can be found on right side of the drainage. The meander is fully

accessible and can be hiked all the way around. A rock shelter can be found near the front of the abandoned loop on the left side.

Mile 15.5-Historical Note (Monument Canyon, Liberty Bell Arch, & Granaries) Granary #1 can be found on river right directly under the arch about 30ft up from the river. Granary #2 can be found on river right downstream of Granary #1 about 40ft up from the river A broken paddle can be found in Monument Canyon under a shelf on the left side of the canyon.

(no current information available)

Mile 12.5-Geology Note (Before Loop Hike Downstream Right) Honaker Trail Formation appears for the second time.

Mile 12-River Facts (Loop Hike) For those wanting a strenuous hike, The Loop Hike, which begins at mile 12, offers and up-and-

over hike through a saddle that eliminates about four miles of river travel. The Loop hike gains about 400ft of elevation in about 1/2 mi. The total length of the hike is

about 1.3 mi.

Mile 6.5-Historical Note (Mining Cache) Cache site can be found on river left near mile 6.5 under an overhang. There is a faint trail on the

talus slope leading to the site. Cache site includes:

-Tables, barrels, mining powder boxes, survey equipment, metal stove, metal containers, and shovel.

It is possible that this equipment was left by early survey crews. A “Hercules Powder Box” found at the site can be dated back to 1926.

Mile 5-Historical Note (Granary Sites)Numerous granary sites located on river left

There are about 10 granaries in total along the back sandstone wall at mile 5. Only a few sites are visible from the river. Some of the granaries still contain corn cobs, and grain.

Mile 3-Historical Note (Elephant Canyon Granaries) Granary Sites can be found at the mouth of the canyon on the left. These sites are visible from the

river.

Mile 1.5-Historical Note (The Slide & The “City of Moab”) The Slide-formed by rock landslide, 1904-1905 In 1905, a steamboat, called City of Moab was launched at Green River to much fanfare, but the

55-foot craft (which had twin gas-powered propellers) got stuck and ran out of fuel after trying to climb rapid at the slide. It was repaired and renamed Cliff Dweller and launched again the following year, but its use as a river boat was soon abandoned after it continued to get stuck on sand bars.

The City of Moab was not the first nor the last of steamboat travel in Cataract Canyon. The idea of steamboat traffic was made popular by The Green Grand and Colorado River

Navigation Company in 1890. Their surplus was made on delivering supplies to ranchers and miners, and to guide tourists to the

picturesque canyons. There was even talk of building a hotel at Spanish Bottom for the traveling guests to stay.

Steamers in Succession: Major Powell

Undine City of Moab Cliff Dweller – (Rebuilt version of the City of Moab) Black Eagle

Mile 0-Historical Note (The Confluence) The Center of The Universe - All three districts of Canyonlands National Park converge

together at the Confluence. The Green River lies at the bottom of Stillwater Canyon to the immediate right. Cataract Canyon

officially begins downstream on left. On May 24, 1869, Major John W. Powell, a one-armed veteran of the Civil War, along with nine

others (geologists, geographers, scouts and adventurers), set out from Green River, Wyoming to explore the last great unmapped and unknown portion of the continental U.S. No man had ever formally descended the Colorado river as it cut its way through 1,000 miles of incredibly rugged badlands. However, Powell and his band of men completed a remarkable journey of exploration through this country.

Major John Wesley Powell is given formal credit to be the first to explore this canyon. July 23 1869 journal entry reads, “On starting we come at once to difficult rapids and falls, that in many places are more abrupt than in any of the the canyons through which we have passed, and we decide to name this Cataract Canyon.”

John Wesley Powell, heads two separate trips through the canyon, the 1869 & 1871-72 trips. Both expeditions follow the green river to the confluence.

Mile 0-Historical Note (The Engineers Inscription or Kendrick’s Inscription The engineer’s inscription or Kendrick's inscription, is named after the engineer F.C. Kendrick’s.

Kendrick’s was a part of the Stanton-Brown Expedition of 1889. These markings can be found on a large red rock colored with desert varnish.

Mile 0-Historical Note (The Naming of the “Colorado) Less than a hundred years ago, the Colorado River wasn’t in Utah or even in Colorado. Until

1920, “Colorado River” referred to the river section downstream from Glen and Grand Canyons. Upstream, it was called the Grand River all the way up to the headwaters in Colorado Rockies

The citizens of Colorado weren’t pleased with the Colorado River’s location. So in 1920, the Colorado legislature renamed Colorado’s portion of the Grand River, with a somewhat awkward result: The Colorado River began in Colorado, became the Grand River at the border of Utah and then became the Colorado River again at the confluence with the Green.

This arrangement did not last long-again because of Colorado’s legislator. U.S. Representative Edward T. Taylor, petitioned the Congressional Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce to rename the entire river as the Colorado. Despite objections from Utah, and Wyoming representatives and the U.S Geological Survey, the name was made official by the U.S. Congress on July 25, 1921.

Mile 216-Historical Note (Junction Dam Site) In the autumn of 1914, the U.S. Reclamation Service floated a barge with a drill rig to the

confluence.

They drilled into the river to ascertain depth to bedrock as part of their evaluation of the junction dam site. Which was a quarter mile downstream of the confluence.

Crews drilled to a depth of 124.5 feet, never reaching bedrock. The Reclamation Service eventually determined that the site was unsuitable for dam construction. Had this damn been built, the Moab Valley would have been flooded.

Mile 213-Historical Note (The Doll House or Sentinels) The Doll House (park service name) or Sentinels, land of standing rocks. A foot trail climbs over 1000 feet to the doll house

Mile 213-Geology Note (Lower Red Lake Canyon) Trail head at the mouth of the canyon leads you into the Needles District. Specifically this trail

will lead you into the “The Grabens” & Cyclone Canyon. The trail into this area is about 4.0 miles.

River left reveals large gypsum plug Harry Aleson found Denis Julien’s inscription mentioned by Fredrick Dellenbaugh, in his book A

Canyon Voyage. The inscription was found in 1951 near Lower Red Lake Canyon. (Dellenbaugh was the artist and assistant topographer of the 1871 Powell Expedition)

Mile 213-Historical Note (Steamer Major Powell Insription) In 1892 the steamer, “Major Powell” was abandoned on the green river near the San Rafael River.

Edwards and two companions repaired the Major Powell, converting the boiler to burn wood rather than kerosene. The three men ran the steamer downstream to Spanish Bottom.

The inscription can be found below Spanish Bottom on the right, just off the established trail. The inscription reads, “1ST STEAMER; MAJOR POWELL; MARCH 24, 1893; W.H.

EDWARDS; H.F. HOWARD; G.M GRAHAM.”

Mile 212.5-Historical Note (Rapid 1 Brown Betty) The first mishap of the Stanton-Brown expedition occurred above the very first rapid. Although

the crew was working on river left, making that side a logical place to camp, Brown inexplicably ordered the boatmen to ferry across to river right for the evening camp. The most likely reason for this was to facilitate a safer portage of Rapid 1 the following day.

The Stanton-Brown boats were made of thin cedar designed for the hunter sportsman than for the rigors of whitewater. The cedar boats came with five zinc-plated, water resistant compartments that were originally thumb-screwed to the floors. The large amount of provisions packed into the boats left little room for personnel, so they tethered the zinc- boxes with ropes and towed them behind the Brown Betty. This boat was rowed by Gibson & Richards, who became the first African Americans to participate in a river trip down the Green & Colorado Rivers.

While Gibson & Richards were rowing the Brown Betty from left to right banks, the current caught the cumbersome boxes in a tow and began to drag the entire contraption into the rapid. To stop this uncontrolled entry they cut the tow rope and made it to safety. The boxes that carried important camp gear and food bobbed down river; some boxes were subsequently retrieved in eddies downstream. Because of this incident, Rapid 1 is affectionately known today as “Brown Betty”.

Mile 210.8-River Facts (Surprise Valley Hike) Surprise Valley can be accessed by hiking into the canyon at Rapid #5. As you begin hiking into

the canyon there is an access trail on the right that takes you up and into the valley. The trail is faint and hard to find, so be very attentive.

You can also access The Doll House by using this route. This canyon has a drainage area of 13.7 square miles

Mile 208.2-Historical Note (Loper/Russell Incident) In June 1914, Loper and Russell for the second time launched steel boats from Green River, Utah.

Loper was concerned about the extremely high water, so to counter their wild speed through the rapids, they decided to drag steel chains to slow their momentum. Unlike Loper , Russell avoided the mainstream, and while struggling for control in a violent eddy above Titled Park (Rapid 10 Left Side) his boat slammed into a rock. The force of the blow punctured the steel skin and the steel chain, coiled on the deck, fell into the river and snagged in the rocks below, carrying the boat to the bottom. They decided to abandoned the trip and cached the remaining boat, with the idea of continuing downstream. They walked upstream to Spanish Bottom, through the Land of Standing Rocks, and on to the Hite area where Loper had horses pastured. A fight between the two broke out in the course of this hike due to resentments, stress, and Russell’s dementia. Furthermore, the trip ended and so did the friendship between the two men.

Mile 207-Historical Note (Alonzo G. Turner Inscription-After Rapid 12) Alonzo G. Turner – Navigated the canyon solo in 1907 and painted his name in faded black paint

on the right wall after Rapid 12. Miner and solo runner of Cataract Canyon.

Mile 207-River Facts (Eddy After Rapid 12) Allegedly the deepest portion of Cataract Canyon (Approximately 60 to 90-ft) In June 1985, a trip was camping downstream of Rapid 12. Two friends decided to deliver ice

cream to the trip by dropping the ice cream, wrapped in a life jacket, out of an airplane. The plane made three passes at altitudes of only thirty-five to fifty feet above the water, and the last pass ended when the plane hit the water, reportedly because of engine failure. The two men crawled from the wreckage before it sank and were rescued by their friends. The pilot was battered, and his passenger had a broken collarbone and had to be evacuated. The plane sank within 15 minutes. The airplane remains in the eddy below Rapid 12. (see official park incident report #850181)

Mile 206.8-Geology Note (Lake Cataract) Range Canyon (mile 205), is one of the most significant producers of course-grained sediment of

the free flowing sections of Cataract Canyon. Range Canyon’s debris fan is responsible for the creation of Lake Cataract (mile 206.8-205.5),

and consequently rapids 13-19.

Mile 204.5-Historical Note (Rapid 15: “Hell To Pay” or “Capsize” Inscriptions) Best Expedition (1891) - They wrapped their boat, a well-documented, epic boat wreck, on Third

Base, not Capsize Rock. Inscriptions include: “CAMP #7, HELL TO PAY, NO. I, SUNK & DOWN.” “1891”, and “HMc”-(Harry McDonald the head boatmen of the Best Expedition)

Wright & Faatz (1892) “Faatz August 27, 1892” “Wright September 16, 1892” Aleson/White Expedition (1947) - White and Aleson ran Cataract Canyon in a small war-surplus

neoprene boat that was twelve feet long and originally designed for military reconnaissance, demolition, and invasion.

Mile 204.5-Historical Note (Rapid 16: Bill and Fern Davis Inscription) If one looks carefully numerous inscriptions can be seen here. A series of inscriptions here, in silver paint, tells what little is known of the story of Bill Davis’s

Cataract Canyon career. According to the inscriptions, Davis boated Cataract in 1952, 1953, 1954, and 1964; some of

these trips were solo. One rock tells a cryptic story of a typical Cataract disaster: “JULY 7 1952 BILL & FERN

DAVIS WENT OVER UPSIDE DOWN CARRIED 300 FT. UNDER WATER UPSET HERE.”

Mile 203.5-Historical Note (Rapid 19 and 20 Clyde Eddy Inscription) Between Rapid 19 & 20 on the right, the Eddy inscription of 1927 is painted on a large block. Clyde Eddy had a brief river-running career notable for it’s ineptitude and grandiosity. In 1927

he discarded the sum of all river-running knowledge and decided to run on high water with equipment and techniques similar to Powell’s and thus conquer “The world most dangerous river.”

Eddy, twelve men, one brown-eyed dog, and a fuzzy bear cub survived this high-water run through Cataract Canyon largely by avoiding all of it’s rapids

Mile 203- River Facts (Rapid 20 Ben Hurt) The rapid gained it’s name for something found on the highest point of the island. In the late

1950’s Joe Baker and A.C Ekker were traveling down the Green River during ‘The Friendship Cruise’. On a lark, they decided to run the rapids of Cataract Canyon with Baker’s motorized speed boat.

While scouting rapids 1 & 2, the improperly tied rope on their boat loosened and the boat bobbed down the rapids right before their eyes. The boat was called Ben Hurt, and the section of the boat that had the name emblazoned on it’s side came to rest on the island at Rapid 20.

Mile 202.9-River Facts (Big Drop Section) Rapids 21,22,& 23 comprise the Big Drop Section. The river drops thirty-two-feet in less than a quarter mile. Has become the most dangerous place on the Colorado River. Of the fourteen deaths recorded in

the river history of Canyonlands National Park, eleven occurred in the Big Drops and most were the result of a boat flip.

These infamous rapids are caused by major debris flows from Teapot (a.k.a Calf) canyon, which joins the Colorado at Big Drop 1. This canyon has a drainage of 19.3 square miles

Mile 202.3-River Facts (Big Drop III) A drop-off just right of the center of Big Drop 3 is called Frogg’s Hole, named after Frogg

Stewart, a boatmen for Holiday Expeditions who ran triple rigs.

Triple rigs, invented by Georgie Clark (White), consist of three row boats tied together and operated by two rowers , one upstream and one on the downstream side of the boat. Each oarsmen uses only one oar. In high water, triple rigs run with the river and take big hits in the Big Drops with remarkable stability.

Frogg’s Hole was the reward for a successful run of Big Drop 3; these cumbersome boats could not avoid it.

Mile 202.3-Historical Note (Kolb Brothers and Nevills Inscriptions) Kolb Brothers (1911) - After careful inspection the Kolb Brothers ran the first two Big Drops and

camped on the right above Big Drop 3. To make their mark on the canyon, they climbed the talus slope a short distance above their camp and brushed their names on the cliff face using some paint left by the Stone Expedition. The inscription reads “E.C. & E.L. KOLB CAT CAMP 2 10-28-1911”. You can also find pieces of their wooden oars near the inscription.

Norman Nevills (1940) - Nevills was a pioneer for commercial river running on the Colorado River. Del Reid a boatmen for Norm Nevills, stuck his boat in the center of Big Drop 3 at low water in August 1940. Nevills left an inscription on the left at Big Drop 3 after Del Reid’s accident.

Mile 198-Location Note (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area) Construction of Glen Canyon Dam started in 1956 and was not finished until 1966. It took 14 years for Lake Powell to completely fill for the first time Glen Canyon NRA encompasses over 1.2 million square miles offering backcountry and water-

based opportunities Lake Powell consists of only 13% of the total area of Glen Canyon Recreation Area. Named after John Wesley Powell Lake Powell is technically in two time zones part of the year. Arizona (which never changes its

clock) and Utah which does participate in DST. However, Lake Powell follows Arizona’s clock. Lake Powell has more coastline that the Pacific coast of the United States at 1960 miles

Mile 182.8-Historical Note (An Elegy to Dark Canyon Rapid) It was one of the largest rapids in the Colorado drainage. The rapid is now about 200 feet under water and sediment. It was the second largest fall in Cataract Canyon. Dark Canyon had the quickest, sharpest drop of any Colorado Plateau rapid, which of course

includes all of those in the Grand Canyon. Relatively short, the rapid curved to the right, and it’s center, like Big Drop 3, was littered with

large boulders that became an island at low water.

The Other Drowned Rapids: Gypsum Canyon Rapid (mile 196.5) Had a drop of only eight feet but had enough energy to flip

a boat in a 1952 run down the center. Rockfall Canyon Rapid (mile 187) Several expeditions reported a significant rapid at the mouth

of what is now called Rockfall canyon. It’s drop was nine feet. Rapid 47 (mile 181.6) Rapid 47 was not a the mouth of a tributary; historical photographs show

a tongue dropping over what appears to be a ledge of Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Most observers thought it was an easy rapid to negotiate.

Bowdie Canyon Rapid (mile 190.5) This rapid was one of the larger rapids in lower Cataract Canyon.

Mile 182.8-Historical Note (Lost Dark Canyon Inscriptions)Beneath the surface of Lake Powell at the mouth of Dark Canyon are the following Inscriptions:

D. Julien (1836) USGS (1921) A.G Turner (1907), Socialism (1912) Kolb Brothers (1911) Norm Nevills (1938) Amos Burg & Buzz Holmstrom (1938)

Mile 128.8-Historical Note (Dark Canyon Dam Site) In 1914 the U.S. Reclamation Service accompanied by The U.S Geological Survey hydraulic

engineer Eugene C. LaRue, set out to test proposed dam sites throughout the canyon. The second to last proposed site was near Dark Canyon. After sampling the area, Sidney Paige the head geologist realized that the underlying substrate-the salt filled paradox formation-was less than satisfactory for dam safety.

Mile 177-Historical Note (Sheep Canyon and Millie Crag Bend) Sheep Canyon is named after an event that took place on John Wesley Powell's first expedition.

His journal entry recounts the event. July 27, 1869 - “Later in the afternoon we discover a flock of mountain sheep a hundred feet

above us. We land quickly, out of sight, and away go the hunters. Soon we hear firing.” “We lash our prizes to the deck and go on for a short distance; but fresh meat is too tempting, and we stop and have a feast. And what a feast it is! Two fine young sheep! We care not for bread or beans or dried apples tonight; coffee and mutton are all we ask.”

Mile 177-Historical Note (Millie Crag Bend Dam Site) In 1914 the U.S. Reclamation Service accompanied by The U.S Geological Survey hydraulic

engineer Eugene C. LaRue, set out to test proposed dam sites throughout the canyon. One of the last proposed sites was near Millie Crag Bend. After sampling the area, Sidney Paige the head geologist realized that the underlying substrate-the salt filled paradox formation-was less than satisfactory for dam safety.

Mile 175 to 170-Geology Note (Narrow Canyon) Mile 175-170 is formally known as Narrow Canyon

Mile 170.8-Historical Note (Hite Crossing Bridge) The Colorado River served as a major barrier to early settlers and explorers of the region. In 1883

a prospector named Cass Hite established a ford near the mouth of the Dirty Devil River, 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream from the present-day bridge location. This ford, named "Dandy Crossing", served as one of the few locations in the region where travelers could cross the Colorado River. The settlement which formed at the crossing location took the name of its founder, Hite.

Cass had been born to pioneer parents in Missouri. He had left there and come west at the age of sixteen. Prospecting thru all the Western states, Cass adapted easily to the wild lifestyle of the

mining camps. In Telluride, he killed his first man in an argument over a mining claim. Because he didn’t take kindly to being hanged, Cass decided that right then was an opportune time to go search for gold. Hite built a trading post and post office, which assumed his name. At one time, Hite even had a school built to educate thirty students.

In 1946, a settler named Arthur Chaffin constructed an automobile ferry using an old car engine and a thick steel cable to hold it in place. The ferry operated for 20 years, before the rising waters of Lake Powell inundated the settlement of Hite.

The current bridge was completed in 1966. It was designed by David Sargent and was advertised for bids on June 29, 1963 at a cost of approximately US$3 million.

Glen Canyon Dam Located 15 miles upstream of Lee’s Ferry Original construction 1956 – 1966 25 feet thick at crest and 300 feet thick at base 710 feet high 1560 feet wide at crest Holds back Lake Powell, containing 27 million acre feet (MAF) of water and is 186 miles long at

full pool (3700’ ELEV)

Colorado River Compact 1922 Agreement among seven southwest states (California, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah,

Colorado, and New Mexico) governing the water rights and river’s water among the states. Signed in Bishop City, NM in 1922.

The Pact divided the states into Upper Basin (Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico) and Lower Basin (California, Nevada, and Arizona) requiring the Upper Basin states to not deplete the flow of the river 75,000,000 acre feet during any period of ten consecutive years.

Based off historical rainfall patterns, the river was estimated to carry 15 MAF of water each year. 7.5 MAF was allocated to each basin.

The Compact allowed widespread irrigation throughout the southwest states as well as the development of state and federal water work projects.

Allotments in the Lower Basin were established in 1928 with the Boulder Dam project (now Hoover Dam) and allotments in the Upper Basin were established in 1956 with Glen Canyon Dam.

Colorado River Storage Project A United States Bureau of Reclamation project designed to oversee the development of the Upper

Basin of the Colorado River (Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.) The projects original scope was the upper Colorado River, Green River, San Juan River, and

Gunnison River. Project consists of 4 major units.

o Glen Canyon Unit: Largest and most important unit. Located near Page, AZ. Holds back 27 MAF of water and accounts for 64% of total power generation at 1,296 megawatts. Completed in 1966

o Flaming Gorge Unit: Consists of Flaming Gorge Dam, creating Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Located on Green River near Green River Wyoming. Accounts for 8.5% of total power generation at 153 megawatts. Completed in 1964

o Navajo Unit: Consists of Navajo Dam located outside of Farmington, NM creating Navajo Reservoir on the San Juan River. First of project to be completed in 1963, originally did not generate power. A small plant was added in 1983 to provide power to Farmington with 32 megawatts

o Aspinall Unit: Only unit to consist of multiple dams with 3, Crystal Dam, Morrow Point Dam, and Blue Mesa Dam, on the Gunnison River. The three dams produce 290 megawatts, about 17%, of total projects power.

CRSP Impacts:o The Colorado River Storage Project units have a maximum output of 1,813 megawatts at

any given time. This compares to a large coal burning plant.o Blue Mesa and Navajo Dams were primarily built to manage flood control rather than

produce power.o The Units have created significant recreational opportunities in an arid climateo The breeding grounds of many native species of fish were destroyed o Many archaeological sites are now beneath lake watero The total evaporation rate of project is roughly 2 MAF a year, allowing the water to

become more saline

Denis Julien-1836 Best known to history as a mysterious explorer with a penchant for carving his name on rocks in

Canyon County. He was a very real person; a husband, father, fur-trapper, soldier and possibly the first American

of European descent to enter into the bowels of Cataract Canyon. There is much speculation about Julien’s mode of transportation. Most historians think that Julien

operated a rigid row boat on the Green and Colorado rivers because of what is depicted on the inscription sites at Hell Roaring Canyon on the Green River (Julien etched a picture of a boat at this site)

Brown-Stanton Expedition-1889 Brown-Stanton expedition started in Colorado-at Grand Junction. In 1889 Frank M. Brown organized a company for the construction of the proposed Denver,

Colorado Canyon, and Pacific Railway, which was to carry coal from mines in Colorado over a “water level” line through the mighty canyons of the Colorado River to the gulf of California some 1,200 miles away. This includes: Westwater, Meander, Cataract, Glen and Grand Canyons. This railway would have also promoted scenic tourism.

March 26, 1889, president Brown, chief engineer F.C Kendricks, and assistant engineer T.P. Rigney drove the first stake at Grand Junction for a survey of the new line. Then Brown left for the East to obtain financing, and the other two men and some hired hands took off in a boat down the grand river. After reaching the confluence, they towed the boat up the Green River to the town of Green River, Utah, thus becoming the first to make this trip upstream, albeit on foot and dragging their boots.

Brown, who had returned from the East, his newly appointed chief engineer Robert Brewster Stanton, and 14 others in six ill-designed boats of cedar rather than oak, left Green River, Utah, on May 25, 1889 (45,000-60,000+ CFS). Against the advice of Major Powell and others, they

carried no life preservers (this was done to try and save money). Stanton attempted to discuss river navigation with Powell. Powell, however, had developed a propriety attitude about the Colorado River and refused to discuss it with Stanton (Stanton was the first to question the accuracy of Powell’s account). After many mishaps, Brown and two others were drowned near the head of Marble Canyon, and the ill-fated expedition temporarily ground to a halt.

However, the unrelenting Stanton had new boats built of oak, and with a reorganized party of 12 left the mouth of the Dirty Devil River on November 25. After many additional mishaps the party finally reached the Gulf of California on April 26, 1890. In spite of Stanton’s heroic efforts, the railroad was never built, and the Grand Canyon was spared the huffing and puffing of locomotives. Had oil not been discovered in California and had the 1891 depression not occurred, this railroad probably would have been built despite the large construction costs that massive bridge-making and tunneling would have required.

One well known survey marker can be found at the confluence. It is known as the engineer’s inscription or Kendrick's inscription, named after the engineer F.C. Kendrick’s. These markings can be found on a large red rock colored with desert varnish.

The Green Grand and Colorado River Navigation Company 1890-1891: Unimaginable as it seems, steamboats briefly plied the Green and Colorado rivers to deliver

supplies to ranchers and miners and to guide tourists to the picturesque canyons. The idea of steamboat traffic began in 1890 with B.S. Ross of Rawlins, Wyoming. Ross and his

companion rowed a small boat from the town of Green River, Utah, to the first rapid of Cataract Canyon and back, determined to prove that motorized craft could navigate the river.

He convinced some prominent investors to form the Green Grand & Colorado River Navigation Company, with plans to build a hotel at Spanish Bottom for guests transported there by steamboat.

In 1891, the company purchased a steam launch from a Chicago company, shipped her to Green River, Utah, and named her the Major Powell. The 35x8 ft craft was powered by two steam engines that each turned a propeller (or screw) and drafted 18 in of water without a load. The steam was supplied by an upright boiler fired by kerosene.

On the trial run in August 1891, the screws were damaged by the shallow, cobble-lined river. After modifications were made to shield the propellers, the company made it’s maiden voyage in April 1892. However, the Major Powell was vastly underpowered for river navigation, and the craft barely made it back up the Green River near the mouth of the San Rafael River.

The Best Expedition-1891: The 1889 Brown-Stanton Expedition was a poorly planned trip run by inexperienced men. In

contrast the next expedition to pass through the Cataract Canyon was much better prepared and run by outdoorsmen, some with experience from the Brown-Stanton Expedition.

The former head boatmen from Stanton’s second expedition, Harry McDonald, spread the word to speculators about ore deposits he saw below the mouth of the little Colorado river. As a result of McDonald’s influence, James D. Best, a successful real estate broker from Denver, founded and became the president of the Colorado Grand Cañon, Mining and Improvement.

Best and McDonald chose the most experienced boatmen from Stanton’s second crew, including William H. Edwards, John Hislop, and Elmer Kane. John McCormick was the expedition’s photographer; the final two members were John Jacobs, and Luther Jewell.

Best obtained $10,000 from investors to fund the expedition. McDonald, who had assisted in designing a better whitewater boat for Stanton’s second expedition, further improved upon that boat design. The camp outfits and the personal needs of the crew were first-rate and included amenities such as rubber coated canvas bags, cork life jackets, and practical river clothing to protect them from the harsh environment.

They launched in two boats from Green River, Utah on July 15, 1891. Cataract Canyon in low water is a maze of rocky rapids that require precise entry and maneuvering. McCormick’s photographs show that this expedition decided to run rapids, not walk around them.

As well prepared and experienced as it was, the expedition met trouble at Rapid 15 in Mile Long Rapid. The steerman of boat No, I lost momentum in an eddy fence above the rapid, a place choked with large rocks. The boat slammed sideways into a mid-stream boulder and became hopelessly pinned, spilling crew members into the river. They were in an ideal position to start the process of rescuing the boat. However, the extraction of the boat would prove insurmountable. They built a wooden a frame on the rock to which they attached ropes for moving people and supplies to and from shore. Attempts to pull the boat free with ropes failed. Plan B was more dramatic; they would blow the rock into pieces by impact drilling a hole and packing it with explosives. Hislop hiked to Dandy Crossing to acquire the necessary powder, but by the time he got back the rope to the boat had worn to the breaking point, making access to the rock impossible. Moreover, rising water from a summer storm had submerged the pinned boat, and at last they gave it up for lost. The expedition had wasted 8 days on the aborted rescue. While waiting, members of the crew chiseled inscriptions into the boulders on river right.

The expedition ran all the rapids in cataract canyon accept, Big Drop 2 & 3, and Dark Canyon Rapid. The company dissolved without ever conducting a single mining operation.

F.G. Faatz and G.M. Wright – 1892: We would probably know nothing about the river trips of F.G. Faatz & G.M. Wright if they

hadn’t left inscriptions on various rock faces along the river. These men prospected and mined the placer (plass-er) gold deposits that were common between the town of Green River and and the mouth of the San Rafael River, and in Glen Canyon.

Wright jointly left inscriptions at two places in 1892. According to the dates of these inscriptions, they launched at different times but eventually traveled together in the lower reaches of Glen Canyon. The sites where both men inscribed their names are Rapid 15 in Cataract Canyon and Colorado River Mile 10.4 above Lee’s Ferry, in Glen Canyon. At Rapid 15, the Faatz inscription is dated August 27, 1892, and the Wright inscription is dated September 16, 1892. Wright also left an inscription at Sheep Canyon, which was the last rapid in Cataract Canyon (now submerged).

The inscription in lower Glen Canyon have both names inscribed on the panel and are dated November 16, 1892.

William Hiram Edwards-1893: William H. Edwards was born in Belleview, New York, on December 6, 1866, and was one of the

more interesting river runners on the Colorado. His many achievements include pioneering river trips through Cataract and Grand Canyons,

mining placer deposits on the San Juan and Green Rivers; and the discovery of at least four D.

Julien inscriptions. Edwards was a part of Stanton’s expedition in 1889 and the Best Expedition of 1891.

The steamer “Major Powell” was abandoned in 1892 near the San Rafael River. Edwards took a skiff down river during the late winter of 1892-1893 to access the damage to the steamer. He determined that it could be repaired and went to Denver to buy the necessary materials and to negotiate a leasing arrangement with the owners.

Edwards and two companions repaired the Major Powell, converting the boiler to burn wood rather than kerosene. The three men then ran the steamer downstream to Spanish Bottom in Cataract Canyon. There, on river right, they painted the following inscription: 1st STEAMER; MAJOR POWELL; March 24, 1893; W.H. EDWARDS; H.F. HOWARD; G.M. GRAHAM.

Edwards, like his predecessors, was unable to return the boat to the town of Green because of the increased river gradient above the San Juan River and a riffle called “The Auger”

The Major Powell was abandoned once again in 1894 by Edwards.

Nathaniel Galloway 1894 and Stone Expedition -1909: Nathaniel Galloway is one of the more famous river runners of this region, largely because he

developed rowing techniques that are still used to this day. Galloway’s rowing technique was different from the style of the Powell, Stanton, and Best

Expeditions. Boats usually required two or three boatmen: two oarsmen in the fore and aft positions pulled on their oars with their backs downstream, providing maximum speed, while a third boatmen used one longer oar mounted to a stern pin to steer. Because Galloway was a solo boater, he needed something that would work for one person and thus developed the “stern first” technique. The oarsman faced downstream by running the rapids stern first and pulled on his oars to slow the boat down. By facing downstream, the solo oarsman could see the obstacles ahead and steer by applying ferry angles.

On September 12, 1909, Stone, Galloway, Cogswell (Photographer), Seymour Dubendorff, and Charles Sharp launched from Green River, Wyoming, in four boats. Stone was enamored with the Canyonlands region and planned to retrace Powell’s 1869 route and expedition. This expedition was launched for entertainment and fun.

Raymond Cogswell, the trips photographer, made a huge contribution to history and science by photographing about two-thousand scenes in the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers.

The Kolb Brothers-1911: Ellsworth and Emery Kolb moved from Pennsylvania to the south rim of the Grand Canyon in

1902. They stumbled into the photography business and prospered on the tourist dollar. Not completely satisfied, they decided to make an adventure movie of a river trip that traced the route of the first Powell Expedition.

What began as an enterprising gimmick resulted in one of the largest-running movies of all time as well as a pictorial book about the journey that is still in print.

They launched from Green River Wyoming in September 1911, without any prior whitewater experience, having only their courage and purpose to motivate them.

After careful inspection, they ran the first two big drops and camped right above big drop 3. To make a mark on the canyon, they climbed the talus slope a short distance above their camp and

brushed their names on the cliff face using some paint left by the Stone Expedition (1909). The river water had made Emery ill, so they stayed two days at this camp.

Ellsworth Kolb became famous after his book was published in 1914.

Bert Loper & Charles Russell- 1907 and 1914: Loper began teaching himself about rivers and boats in 1893 while placer mining on the San Juan

River, a career that was briefly interrupted by his military service in the Spanish American War. While mining in Telluride, Colorado, he developed a friendship with mining engineer Charles Silver Russell. Russell was a courageous individual who made big river plans upon hearing Loper’s tales. Russell’s reasons for exploring the canyons of the Colorado were diverse: prospecting, adventure, publicity, and photography.

As mining migrants, Russell, Loper, and Monett started downstream from Green River, Utah in three galvanized steel boats. They ran every rapid, making them the first documented river runners to successfully navigate Cataract Canyon.

In June 1914, Loper and Russell again launched steel boats from Green River, Utah. Loper was concerned about the extremely high water, so to counter their wild speed through the rapids, they decided to drag steel chains to slow their momentum. Unlike Loper , Russell avoided the mainstream, and while struggling for control in a violent eddy above Titled Park (Rapid 10 Left Side) his boat slammed into a rock. The force of the blow punctured the steel skin and the steel chain, coiled on the deck, fell into the river and snagged in the rocks below, carrying the boat to the bottom. They decided to abandoned the trip and cached the remaining boat, with the idea of continuing downstream. They walked upstream to Spanish Bottom, through the Land of Standing Rocks, and on to the Hite area where Loper had horses pastured. A fight between the two broke out in the course of this hike due to resentments, stress, and Russell’s dementia. Furthermore, the trip ended and so did the friendship between the two men.

Bert Loper is known as the “Grand Old Man of the Colorado River” after his long and illustrious river-running career. In his folky style, he described his feelings about the rivers that dominated his life: “There have, without doubt, been better boatmen than I who have traversed that mighty Canyon, but there have never been any that have given the time to the study of it than I have, for as I said, I seem to be part of it, for I have lived in it, on it, with it, and in an instance or two, under it. I have after a day’s work laid on the bank and listened to it-I have listened to the grinding of Mush Ice-I have listened to it when it hardly made enough sound to hear at all. Then there would come a time when there would be a gentle murmur, which told me that it had begun to awake. Then from that there would come a swish as though it were becoming peeved at something. Then from that there would be boils, swirls, eddies, and whirls, and then I knew that the river had started house cleaning.”

Kitchen Etiquette/Cooking: All surfaces with which food comes into contact during preparation, including knives, utensils,

cutting boards, and table tops, must be clean and sanitary. Tables and equipment used for preparing raw meats and poultry should not be used for preparing other foods until they have been cleaned and sanitized thoroughly. Use a sanitizing solution with a chlorine concentration of 100 200 ppm for these surfaces. A test kit is recommended to monitor the concentration of the sanitizing solution.

Stored perishable food should be kept at temperatures below 41 F or below. Thermometers should be keep in each cooler especially the meat cooler.

Cooler’s should be packed correctly. Eggs, chicken, steaks, bacon, or any uncooked product needs to be in one cooler and separated by a divider to prevent contamination from meat-meat.

After preparation and prior to serving, keep hot foods hot (above 140 F) and cold foods cold (41 F or below).

Leftover perishable food should be discarded or refrigerated immediately in clean, protected, labeled containers. Leftover perishable food should be thoroughly reheated before use (to 165 F). It is suggested that leftovers only be used for emergencies.

All chemicals should be properly labeled and should be stored separately from food and food equipment.

It is recommended that tarps be placed in the kitchen area and under the dishwashing set up in order to reduce the amount of food particles left on beaches.

Add detergent to 1 heated bucket of water, leaving the second bucket of hot water clear for rinsing. The third bucket of water (~75 F to 120 F) should contain a chlorine concentration of 50-100 ppm for sanitizing. Wash dishes and utensils in the first bucket of hot, soapy water to remove grease and food particles. Water temperature should be 120 F to 140 F.

Food Handler’s should have their permit on hand and ready to present when being checked by the Park Service.

Each guide should posses a Park Service comm. Book and be ready to present it should the Park Service ask for it.

White ash from leftover coals can be dumped into the river. Any black pieces of coal need to be placed in the garbage.