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Show FALL 2013 UHQ pp 304-385_UHQ Stories/pp.4-68 9/16/13 1:25 PM Page 374 UTAh STATE hISTOrICAL SOCIETy UTAh hISTOrICAL QUArTErLy river still holding the end of the parted rope This later version of the Moab attached to the cable. The commander ferry on the Colorado River is desperately tried to pull himself up to the reminiscent of the ferry where wire, but the current proved too swift, forcing Captain D. H. Murdock lost his him to let go of the rope. Down the life. Colorado River he swam, trying to reach the now sinking craft, but 150 yards of struggle proved too much, and the raging brown torrent claimed him and 2,000 pounds of goods as its own. He left behind a wife, who received small comfort from the $5,000 provided her as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.12 Second Lieutenant C. G. Morton, now in command of fifty-eight men, needed guidance. He left immediately for the telegraph key at the Thompson Springs station, arriving at nine in the evening. The next day, after receiving orders at four o’clock p.m. to proceed with the mission, Morton made an all-night ride back to his men as their newly appointed leader. This was hardly an auspicious start for a company ordered to bring peace to a troubled corner of the Colorado Plateau. Morton arrived at the river on June 8, happy to find that his soldiers had taken the initiative to repair the ferry. Wasting no time, he began the transfer of supplies across the high water, limiting loads to no more than three mules at a time, a process that occupied most of the day. Even though Moab lay only a short two miles away, the soldiers pitched camp on the south bank of the river and spent the night. By now it was apparent that the expedition needed to shed more excess weight; accordingly, the group left part of its ten-thousand12 374 Ibid. |
