". . . ABOUT eight miles from the mouth of the Little Colorado is located this old and historic trail, long used by Hopituh, Paiutis, and Navahos. It leads to a salt ledge, extending from the lower end of the Little Colorado, some eight or nine miles, towards the Tanner-French Trail of the Grand Canyon. Owing to the cheapness of salt, and the superior quality of the article purchased of the Indian traders, the aborigines have ceased fetching salt from this ledge; hence the trail is rapidly becoming impassable . . ."
George Wharton James (1858– 1923) was an American popular author, lecturer, photographer, journalist, and editor. An editor of two magazines The Craftsman (1904–05) and editor of Out West (1912–14), he also wrote more than 40 books and many articles and pamphlets on California and the American Southwest. James' books included the well-received The Wonders of the Colorado Desert (1906), Through Ramona's Country (1909), In and Out of the Old Missions of California (1905), and The Lake of the Sky (1915). Characteristics of his writing included romanticism, an enthusiasm for natural environments, idealization of aboriginal lifeways, and promotion of health fads.
In 1907 he published "In and Around the Grand Canyon." It is the fruit of ten years' visits by Mr. George Wharton James to "the most sublime spectacle of earth,"— the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona. The one hundred photographs which embellish the pages of this work are in themselves remarkable. Even the text of the book was written, it may be said, within the canyon. The author has made a special effort to gather the local history of the region. He has followed traces of the early explorers, and obtained accounts of their thrilling adventures and escapes. Mr. James dedicates his book to Maj. John W. Powell, whose name is indelibly associated with the early explorers of the Colorado.
He has followed carefully all possible traces of the early explorers, and relates, often in their own fresh, vivid words, the records of their thrilling adventures and hair-breadth escapes. Adventures so wild that they rival those we read in the most sensational fiction, but stern facts, taken from government records. The author himself met with many perilous experiences. He finds the scenery magnificent beyond description, the Indians and their legends and customs picturesque, and the life of a traveller and explorer fascinating in spite of hardships.
Contents
I. THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS CANYONS
II. EXPLORATIONS, SPANIARDS (1540) TO MAJOR J. W. POWELL (1869)
III. EXPLORATIONS BY MAJOR J. W. POWELL (1869-72)
IV. LATER EXPLORATIONS
V. FLAGSTAFF, SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAINS, CLIFF AND CAVE DWELLINGS, AND DEAD VOLCANOES
VI. FROM SANTA FE RAILWAY TO THE CANYON BY STAGE
VII. TO THE CANYON BY RAILWAY, AND A FEW PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO TOURIST
VIII. FIRST IMPRESSIONS
IX. WHAT DOES ONE SEE?
X. ON THE RIM
XI. THE GRAND VIEW TRAIL
XII. THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL
XIII. TWO DAYS' HUNT FOR A BOAT IN A SIDE GORGE NEAR THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL
XIV. MYSTIC SPRING TRAIL
XV. THREE DAYS OF EXPLORING IN TRAIL CANYON WITH THE WRONG COMPANION
XVI. MR. W. W. BASS AND HIS CANYON EXPERIENCES
XVII. THE SHINUMO AND ITS ANCIENT INHABITANTS
XVIII. PEACH SPRINGS TRAIL
XIX. LEE'S FERRY AND THE JOURNEY THITHER
XX. JOHN D. LEE AND THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
XXI. UP AND DOWN GLEN AND MARBLE CANYONS
XXII. OLD HOPI SALT TRAIL
XXIII. THE TANNER-FRENCH TRAIL
XXIV. THE RED CANYON AND OLD TRAILS
XXV. GRAND CANYON FOREST RESERVE
XXVI. THE TOPOCOBYA TRAIL AND HAVASU (CATARACT)
XXVII. THE HAVASUPAI INDIANS AND THEIR CANYON HOME
XXVIII. HAVASU (CATARACT) CANYON AND ITS WATERFALLS AND LIMESTONE CAVES
XXIX. AN ADVENTURE IN BEAVER CANYON
XXX. THE GEOLOGY OF THE GRAND CANYON
XXXI. BOTANY OF THE GRAND CANYON
XXXII. RELIGIOUS AND OTHER IMPRESSIONS IN THE GRAND CANYON
XXXIII. PHOTOGRAPHING THE GRAND CANYON
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE GRAND CANYON REGION
George Wharton James (1858– 1923) was an American popular author, lecturer, photographer, journalist, and editor. An editor of two magazines The Craftsman (1904–05) and editor of Out West (1912–14), he also wrote more than 40 books and many articles and pamphlets on California and the American Southwest. James' books included the well-received The Wonders of the Colorado Desert (1906), Through Ramona's Country (1909), In and Out of the Old Missions of California (1905), and The Lake of the Sky (1915). Characteristics of his writing included romanticism, an enthusiasm for natural environments, idealization of aboriginal lifeways, and promotion of health fads.
In 1907 he published "In and Around the Grand Canyon." It is the fruit of ten years' visits by Mr. George Wharton James to "the most sublime spectacle of earth,"— the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona. The one hundred photographs which embellish the pages of this work are in themselves remarkable. Even the text of the book was written, it may be said, within the canyon. The author has made a special effort to gather the local history of the region. He has followed traces of the early explorers, and obtained accounts of their thrilling adventures and escapes. Mr. James dedicates his book to Maj. John W. Powell, whose name is indelibly associated with the early explorers of the Colorado.
He has followed carefully all possible traces of the early explorers, and relates, often in their own fresh, vivid words, the records of their thrilling adventures and hair-breadth escapes. Adventures so wild that they rival those we read in the most sensational fiction, but stern facts, taken from government records. The author himself met with many perilous experiences. He finds the scenery magnificent beyond description, the Indians and their legends and customs picturesque, and the life of a traveller and explorer fascinating in spite of hardships.
Contents
I. THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS CANYONS
II. EXPLORATIONS, SPANIARDS (1540) TO MAJOR J. W. POWELL (1869)
III. EXPLORATIONS BY MAJOR J. W. POWELL (1869-72)
IV. LATER EXPLORATIONS
V. FLAGSTAFF, SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAINS, CLIFF AND CAVE DWELLINGS, AND DEAD VOLCANOES
VI. FROM SANTA FE RAILWAY TO THE CANYON BY STAGE
VII. TO THE CANYON BY RAILWAY, AND A FEW PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO TOURIST
VIII. FIRST IMPRESSIONS
IX. WHAT DOES ONE SEE?
X. ON THE RIM
XI. THE GRAND VIEW TRAIL
XII. THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL
XIII. TWO DAYS' HUNT FOR A BOAT IN A SIDE GORGE NEAR THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL
XIV. MYSTIC SPRING TRAIL
XV. THREE DAYS OF EXPLORING IN TRAIL CANYON WITH THE WRONG COMPANION
XVI. MR. W. W. BASS AND HIS CANYON EXPERIENCES
XVII. THE SHINUMO AND ITS ANCIENT INHABITANTS
XVIII. PEACH SPRINGS TRAIL
XIX. LEE'S FERRY AND THE JOURNEY THITHER
XX. JOHN D. LEE AND THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
XXI. UP AND DOWN GLEN AND MARBLE CANYONS
XXII. OLD HOPI SALT TRAIL
XXIII. THE TANNER-FRENCH TRAIL
XXIV. THE RED CANYON AND OLD TRAILS
XXV. GRAND CANYON FOREST RESERVE
XXVI. THE TOPOCOBYA TRAIL AND HAVASU (CATARACT)
XXVII. THE HAVASUPAI INDIANS AND THEIR CANYON HOME
XXVIII. HAVASU (CATARACT) CANYON AND ITS WATERFALLS AND LIMESTONE CAVES
XXIX. AN ADVENTURE IN BEAVER CANYON
XXX. THE GEOLOGY OF THE GRAND CANYON
XXXI. BOTANY OF THE GRAND CANYON
XXXII. RELIGIOUS AND OTHER IMPRESSIONS IN THE GRAND CANYON
XXXIII. PHOTOGRAPHING THE GRAND CANYON
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE GRAND CANYON REGION