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32 THE GREEN RIVER" AND ITS UTILIZATION
<br />Accordingly ]he writesl z; snme of the men comraeneecl making s frame ab
<br />the size and shape of a common mackinaw boat, while others were sent to pros
<br />buffalo skins for a covering. On the 21st of April, all things being ready for
<br />departure, I despatched b men northwardly to the source of the river; i otl
<br />set out for a mountain bearing south-southwest and north-northeast, distairt ab
<br />30 miles; and 6 others were sent in a southern direction. * * #
<br />The partisans were also informed that I would descend the river to sonic
<br />gible point about 100 miles below, there deposit my merchandise. and make s
<br />marks as would designate it. as a place of general rendezvous for the men in
<br />service in that country, and they were all directed to assemble there on or be
<br />the loth of July following.
<br />After the departure of the land parties, Ashley with six men
<br />April 21 embarked on his "bull boat" and began the trip down
<br />river. The starting point was apparently just a few miles below
<br />site of Fontenelle, Wyo., for he says: "After making about 15 m
<br />we passed the mouth of the creek which we had left on the moil
<br />of the 18th and to which we gave the name Sandy."
<br />At the mouth of Henrys Fork a spot was selected as a place of I
<br />eral rendezvous, and it was designated by marks in. accordance 11
<br />-the instruction given to his men. On May 3 the party was in
<br />Canyon, where
<br />the navigation became difficult and dangerous, the river being remarl;
<br />crooked, with more or less rapids every mile, caused by rocks which had
<br />from the sides of the mountain, many of which rise above the surface of the
<br />and required our greatest exertions to avoid them. At 20 miles from oti
<br />camp the roaring and agitated state of the water a short distance,
<br />us indicated a fall or some other obstruction of considerable magnitude .A
<br />boats were consequently towed to shore, along which we cautiously desLc?
<br />to the place from whence the danger was to be apprehended. It proved!
<br />perpendicular fall of 10 or 12 feet produced by large fragments of rocks;
<br />had fallen from the maintain and settled in the river extending across its
<br />nel and forming an impregnable barrier to the passage of loaded water craft
<br />were therefore obliged to unload our boats of their cargoes and pass them
<br />over the falls by means of long cords which we had provided for such
<br />It was at this place that Ashley inscribed his name in paiA
<br />_-!Alhe-cliffs-above the-river, and this inscription ("Ashley 1525"1
<br />given rise to much interesting speculation.
<br />After camping in what is now Browns Hole, "on a spot of gr
<br />where several thousand Indians had wintered during the past seed
<br />the journey was resumed and a short run put the party into the-
<br />yon-:of Lodore. The profound impression upon the men iuit,
<br />Rnterea -this great gorge is best expressed by Ashley himself
<br />his entry -of Rriday, May 8,26 He says:
<br />We proirzeded down the riser about. 2 miles, where it again enters beiwa
<br />mour`t, Wand affording a chainrtel even more enntracted;tlzen befor ;
<br />passed along between these massive walls, which in a great degree eact
<br />its ttie rays of beaver' and presented a surface as -impassable as th. ir; i
<br />wZda? pP1E4118
<br />GREEN RIFER CANYONS 33
<br />impregnable, I was forcibly struck with the gloom which spread over the coun-
<br />r; nances of my men; they seemed to anticipate !and not far distant, too; adread-
<br />tu tcrminatiou of our eo- , and I must confess that I partook in some degree
<br />chat I supposed to be their feelings, for things around us had truly an awful
<br />appearance.
<br />At the mouth of the Duchesne River, then called the Tewinty by
<br />Tile Indians, Ashley made a cache and finally concluded his boat trip
<br />at some point in Desolation Canyon about 50 miles below the mouth
<br />of the Duchesne, then called the Uinta. He then purchased a few
<br />horses from the Eutaws and made his wav back to the cache on the
<br />llnehesne, which he followed to its headwaters, and finally returned
<br />to the general rendezvous on Henrys Fork. In making his boat trip,
<br />Ashley says, "we performed 16 portages, the most of which were
<br />tittended with the utmost difficulty and labor." Although this trip
<br />-was incident to his fur-trading business, due credit should be given to
<br />Ashley for his success in so mysterious and hazardous an undertaking
<br />and for the facts which he determined relative to the river and its
<br />meanderings.
<br />MANLY
<br />In 1349 another trip was made down these canyons by W. L. Manly
<br />and six of his friends, and as a spectacular exhibition of foolhardiness
<br />it is apparently without peer.,` Manly was one of the ox-team drivers,
<br />commonly referred to as bullwhackers, of a company that was headed
<br />for California. It was announced by the head of the company before
<br />passing the Green River that on account of the lateness of the season
<br />lie was going to winter in Salt Lake City." Accordingly Manly and
<br />air, of his fellow drivers, as he writes,"
<br />pit a great many "ifs" together, and they amounted to about this:. If this stream
<br />xere large enough; if we had a boat; if we knew the way; if there were no falls
<br />nor bad places; if we had plenty of provisions; if we were hold enough to set out
<br />such a trip, etc., we might come out at some point or other on the Pacific.
<br />-'lad now when we came to the first of the "ifs," a stream large enough to float a
<br />Sm,!1 boat, we began to think more strongly about the other "ifs." In the
<br />culuse of our rambles we actually did run across the second "u" in the shape
<br />0'a small ferryboat-filled up with sand-upon a bar' and it did not take very long - -
<br />t^ dig it out and put it into shape to use, for it was just large enough to hold one
<br />'41,911a at a time.
<br />I'he decision was finally made, and after the departure of the
<br />oX train Manly and his companions put their belongings into their
<br />crude craft and started down the river. The utter lack of concep-
<br />tion of what was ahead of them is clearly shown iR Manly's statement
<br />that "it looked as if we were taking the most sensible way to get, to
<br />'so
<br />the Pacific, and afmost i_ondared that everybody was ? - niilid as
<br />401 to see it as we did."
<br />` eemdn I R, P clt p. 228, im
<br />41112Y, W. L., Death vaIIeF in 149, p. 91, IM.
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