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Show v .. ~ . _, . , -3- it is a ma~tio sight.~ deserYes better treatment; but I do think tha.t some of my sketches caught a wee mite of its majesty. Normanr Weldon and somebody else climbed to the top--they looked s~ tiny up there I couldn't tell who they were. There is a bronze tablet utthe foot of the Bridge,commemorating its discovery by J ' white men in 1969, but as there Wa.S" s.ome dispute about the real ~iscoverer,the tablet depicts in relief the pai ute boy who led, the party to the Bridge. Why they call him a Pai Ute,! don't . know; his name is Navujo, "Nasjah Begsy"(Roundearfs Son) and the scujlptor shows him in Navajo dress and hair-do. The hike ba.ck to camp was pleasantly broken by a swim in one of the many clear pools that lie along the trail. . Again one of Norman's inimitable build-ups. "Early start? We're gonna be outa here like a bunch of scared rabbits,and I'm not kidding! 51 miles to go tomorrow!" We really got stirring at dr.lylight, thanks to Al Sal.ley; the' human alarm-clock, and were soon off for the Crossing of the Futhers. Every respectable map of the Colorado River indicates the Crossing ~ a of the Fathers,for here,in 1776, the first white o ~ , "/.. '1/';;. men c?:,os,sed the Colorado River; a fter harrowing % ' ''\.~ \ ~~ ''{\ 0 experiences exploring the deserts of Southern --:... ~ ' ~i Utah. The city of S<?ntu Fe was at that time as -- ~ ~ rold as the Declaration of Independence is now, - _. "\but the country to the north and we~t was yet ume%plored. Fathers Escalante and Dominguez, with Don Bernardo Miera and a number of guides and enterpreters set out to find a route from Santa Fe to the California Missions, but in vainjby November, 1776 they were seeking a vmy back to Santa Fe Via the Hopi and Zuni villages when they came to the appr,rently impnssible Colorado River. After many Iulrdships and discouragements they found a creek,now ' known as Padre's Creek, ,which made E possible trD.il down to a po1nt where the River was wide nnd shallow enough to ford,and where the opposite bank swe~~ ~ capable of ascent. To get their hors-e s down the trail it was necessary to cut steps in the rock Let one place "for a space of about three yurds or less" as Fr Escal unte says in his dia~. These stone steps,alter much erroneous conjecture, have been found,and , mark the true Crossing, about u mile down-stream f rom the place so indicated on most maps. We moored our boats at Kane Creek, the $purious Crossing,and climbed to the rim from which we could see Tower B\,1tte, 'and Gunsight Bu~.te , ",,·both mentioned and described in Fr Escalante1s diary. That day I was the "most photographed man"in Utah, they say, for all wanted pictures of u real padre at or near this historic crossing. Only the more intrepid members went all the way to the stone steps. You know how maudlin I am about places like that: all I could do was to take off my hat and stoop to kiss the place where heroes and saints hr..d trod. Honeymoon Frc:..nk said "Are you ill,Father?" Maybe. Anyway, I recovered sufficiently to ,be "shot" in color, in movies, in black-and-white until I thought I 'd never want to heD.r the click of ['.. camera agninl. pndre Creek is lovvly in its own right, chrystal clenn water running over t1ny pebbles of ktJ.leidoscopic colours, be.nked on either side with a lush gr owth of cane six or seven feet high. Some stalks that have been blown or knocked down h~ vecontinued to grow, nnd with no gravity or wind to contend with h&ve attGined a length of 35 feet or more. Al Bailey claims to hnve pr,ced off one that vms 55'. |
