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<br />GUNNISON RIVER DIVERSION PROJECT
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<br />rence's arms. The two wrestled together until Torrence was
<br />able to get his hunting knife into the animal, killing it. Upon
<br />this meat the men lived until they were able to procure more
<br />provisions'"
<br />Despite the hazards, they kept notes on the conditions
<br />of the canyon, made survey sightings, and Torrence made
<br />many photographs. The trip, which covered about 33 miles,
<br />took nine days. It was a rugged journey, and Torrence lost 13
<br />pounds in weight during the days out. Most of the equipment
<br />had been lost or abandoned in the river chasm," but among
<br />things saved was Fellows' black, cloth-bound engineering rec-
<br />ord book containing valuable records which would facilitate
<br />the future construction of a water diversion tunnel. The men
<br />had been able to survey for a side hill ditch, had seen the shape
<br />of the canyon walls, and had been able to determine the amount
<br />of fall within the gorge, all observations of great future value.
<br />It should be re-emphasized here that the popular published
<br />accounts of the 1900 and 1901 trips through the Black Canyon
<br />were highly exaggerated, edited, and embellished.
<br />Even today, however, the Black Canyon remains a danger-
<br />ous adversary. In 1916 the Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon
<br />fame attempted to run the river during the summer, were
<br />wrecked, and only saved their lives by scaling 1700-foot cliffs."
<br />Low water in 1934 permitted several intrepid adventurers,
<br />including some eastern college students using inner tubes, to
<br />make a successful river descent.4' About 1936 a U. S. Geological
<br />Survey team went in at Red Rock Canyon and came out at
<br />Cimarron, traveling over the river ice the entire distance'"
<br />In late summer of 1940 Parton Meek of Crawford led a party
<br />through the canyon which included the first two women to
<br />make the conquest.46 Today (1959), Ed Nelson, secretary of
<br />the Montrose Chamber of Commerce, holds title to being the
<br />river's most active runner." But the Gunnison continues to be
<br />conquered by relatively few. No visitor to the Black Canyon
<br />can escape the feeling of great wilderness solitude, unbroken
<br />by human traffic, which emanates from the chasm's narrow
<br />depths.
<br />
<br />41 Marsh, ap. cit.) pp. 100-105; Shaw, ap. cit.~ 1147. Apparently Torrence was
<br />unarmed when rushed by the sheep. Fellows slipped him a knife with which he
<br />eventually killed the bighorn.
<br />42 The men apparently did not feel too optimistic about their own survival
<br />and consequently had strapped to their bodies the message "The Gunnison tunnel
<br />is feasible. We know it, and they shall know it!" Forbes-Lindsey, ap. cit.~
<br />9377. Above the narrows they found the relict of the abandoned "John C. Bell"
<br />from the first expedition. Montrose Enterprise) August 29, 1901.
<br />"II, A. Giddings, "Blue River of Colorado," Outing, Vol. 70, No, 2 (1917),
<br />160.
<br />H Personal interview with Ed Nelson in Montrose, September. 1958.
<br />.,5 Ibid.
<br />16 Montrose Daily Press~ Aug. 23, 1940. The women in the party were Eliza-
<br />beth Benson and Hope Pearsall of Boston, MaBEl.
<br />.17 Don Johnson, "Ed Nelson-Conqueror of the White "Yaters," Colorado
<br />Wonderland, Vol. 5, No.1 (1954), 8-9.
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