Besides,
neither Emery nor I had shaved since starting, and it is quite likely
that we looked just a little uncouth. Appearances count for little
with these people in the little-settled districts, and it is a common
enough sight to them to see men dressed as we were. They did
everything they could to make us feel at ease. As one person remarked,
"The wealthiest cattle man, or the owner of the richest mine in the
country, usually looks worse than all others after a month on the
range or in the hills."
If wealth were indicated on an inverse ratio to one's good appearance,
we should have been very wealthy indeed. We felt as if it would take
us a week to get rested and lost little time in getting to bed when
the party broke up. We imagine most of the residents of Vernal were
Mormons. It is part of their creed to give "the stranger within their
gates" a cordial welcome. This however, was accorded to us, not only
among the Mormons, but in every section of our journey on the Green
and Colorado rivers.
The following day was a busy one. Arrangements had been made with a
local photographer to get the use of his dark room, and we proceeded
to develop all plates and many of our films. These were then to be
packed and shipped out. We were informed at the local express office,
that it might be some time before they would go, as the recent rains
had been very bad in Colorado and had washed out most of the bridges.
Vernal had passenger transportation to the railway--a branch of the D.
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