These were the
conditions when we returned to our boats December the 19th, 1911, and
found a thin covering of ice on small pools near the river.
Our party was enlarged by the addition of two men who were anxious for
some river experience. One was our younger brother, Ernest. We agreed
to take him as far as the Bass Trail, twenty-five miles below, where
he could get out on top and return to our home. The other was a young
man named Bert Lauzon, who wanted to make the entire trip, and we were
glad to have him. Lauzon, although but 24 years old, had been a quartz
miner and mining engineer for some years. Coming from the mountains of
Colorado, he had travelled over most of the Western states, and a
considerable part of Mexico, in his expeditions. There was no question
in our minds about Lauzon. He was the man we needed.
To offset the weight of an extra man for each boat, our supplies were
cut to the minimum, arrangements having been made with W.W. Bass--the
proprietor of the Bass Camps and of the Mystic Springs Trail--to have
some provisions packed in over his trail. What provisions we took
ourselves were packed down on two mules, and anything we could spare
from our boats was packed out on the same animals. As we were about
ready to leave a friendly miner said: "You can't hook fish in the
Colorado in the winter, they won't bite nohow. You'd better take a
couple of sticks of my giant-powder along. That will help you get 'em,
and it may keep you from starving.
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