Our provisions were limited in quantity and would
not permit it; the canyon had deepened, and a second bench of sheer
cliffs rose above the plateau, making it impossible to climb out: so
we concluded to make the best of it, and pulled down the stream,
trying to put as many miles as possible between ourselves and our
great disappointment. This afternoon we passed from Utah into Arizona.
For the remainder of the trip we would have Arizona on one side of the
river at least. We had much the same difficulty this evening as we had
the night before in finding a camp. Judging by the evidence along the
shore, the high water which came down the San Juan had been a torrent,
much greater than the flood on the Colorado and its upper tributaries.
CHAPTER XVI
A WARNING
We camped that night at the Ute Ford, or the Crossing of the Fathers;
a noted landmark of bygone days, when Escalante (in 1776) and others
later followed the inter-tribal trails across these unfriendly lands.
Later marauding Navajo used this trail, crossing the canyon to the
north side, raiding the scattered Mormon settlements, bringing their
stolen horses, and even sheep, down this canyon trail. Then they drove
them across on a frozen river, and escaped with them to their mountain
fastness. The Mormons finally tired of these predatory visits, and
shut off all further loss from that source by blasting off a great
ledge at the north end of the trail.
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