Numerous river trips were undertaken in the years following Powell’s pioneering expeditions. The ill-fated Brown-Stanton voyage of 1889-90 included starts on both the Grand and the Green Rivers. (See section on “[Colorado River].”) More successful were Nathan Galloway and William Richmond, trappers who left Henrys Fork, Wyo., late in 1896 and reached Needles, Calif., on February 10, 1897 (Kolb, 1927, p. 338). Trappers Charles S. Russell, E. R. Monette, and Bert Loper left Green River, Utah, in three steel boats on September 20, 1907; Russell and Monette reached Needles in one boat in February 1908, but Loper was drowned. Dellenbaugh’s 1902 book was carried by the Kolb brothers as a guide for their 1911 trip down the river (Kolb, 1927). In addition to making superb still photographs, the Kolb brothers took the first moving pictures in the canyons, and these are still being shown in the Kolb Studio on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Julius F. Stone and party traversed the canyons in 1909, and his account (1932) also contains excellent photographs. E. C. La Rue, of the U.S. Geological Survey, and assistants made two trips down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1914 and 1915 and additional trips from 1921 through 1924. Their comprehensive hydrographic findings and studies, plus excellent photographs, are given in two reports (La Rue, 1916, 1925). The 1916 report also contains (p. 16-22) a good condensed account of earlier explorations and voyages from 1531 through 1911, taken in part from Dellenbaugh (1902).
As noted earlier, a modern river runners’ guide by Mutschler (1969), which logs the Green and Colorado Rivers from Green River, Utah, to Lake Powell, is now available. River mileages in this log were taken from detailed topographic maps of both rivers prepared under the direction of Herron (1917). We will visit only a few notable features of the canyons; the mile-by-mile details for the Green River can be obtained from Mutschler (1969), and those for the Colorado River, from Baars and Molenaar (1971, p. 61-99). Several other references are given below, and additional ones are given by Rabbitt (1969, p. 20-21).
BOWKNOT BEND, of Green River, looking east from west end of narrow intervening saddle. Upper photograph was taken by E. O. Beaman on September 10, 1871, during second voyage of Major John Wesley Powell and his party. Lower photograph was taken from same camera station on August 19, 1968, by Hal G. Stephens, U.S. Geological Survey, on expedition led by E. M. Shoemaker to recover camera stations of the 1871 voyage and rephotograph the scenes to record changes during the nearly 100 year interval. Note that almost no changes occurred in the bedrock, or even in the loose rocks, but that considerable change occurred in the vegetation along the river. Although salt cedar (tamarisk) had been introduced into this country from the Mediterranean area long before 1871, it had not yet spread to this area, but the bare islands shown in the earlier photograph are covered by salt cedar in the 1968 photograph. (Fig. 62)
All travelers down the Green River embarking from Green River, Utah, or above, were impressed with Bowknot Bend ([fig. 62]), so named by Powell and his men (1875, p. 54) near the beginning of Labyrinth Canyon, which they also named for its deeply entrenched meanders. The upper photograph in [figure 62] was taken by Beaman on September 10, 1871, looking eastward from the west end of the narrow saddle separating the upper and lower reaches of the river; the [lower photograph] was taken from the same point on August 19, 1968, by Hal G. Stephens nearly 97 years later. Although there are changes in the vegetation, as described in the caption, there are virtually no visible changes in the bedrock. Nevertheless, the distant future will likely see a breakthrough, whereby Green River will shorten itself by about 7 miles (Herron, 1917, pl. 15C). It is interesting to note that the vertical cliffs of Wingate Sandstone in and west of Bowknot Bend are only a few hundred feet above the river, whereas, because of the gentle northward dip of the beds and the gentle southward grade of the rivers, the Wingate cliffs are more than 2,000 feet above the two rivers at Grand View Point and Junction Butte, at the southern tip of Island in the Sky.
At the mouth of Horseshoe Canyon, about 3 miles below Bowknot Bend, we pass a large rincon where the Green River shortened its course by about 3 miles. Some idea of the rincon’s antiquity is gained from the facts that the river is now some 350 feet lower than at cutoff time, whereas Bowknot Bend ([fig. 62]) has shown no visible deepening in 97 years. This rincon was not noted by Powell or other early voyagers, seemingly because they did not happen to climb the banks at this point, but it is quite noticeable on modern topographic maps and on aerial photographs. This rincon and Jackson Hole along the Colorado River may be as old as late Tertiary ([fig. 80]).
At a point reported to be 350 yards above the mouth of Hell Roaring Canyon, which enters from the east about 3½ miles below the rincon, an early day trapper named Julien left his mark. Stone (1932, p. 69, pl. 39A) seems to have been the first river runner to find (from a description given him by a Mr. Wheeler at Green River), record, and photograph the inscription shown in [figure 63]. Mutschler (1969, p. 31) indicated that this inscription is carved on a massive Moenkopi sandstone bed about 40 feet above the canyon floor. A similar inscription by Julien was found in Cataract Canyon, 31 miles below the confluence, but it is now covered by Lake Powell (Mutschler, 1969, p. 65).
Some boaters are met by car and taken out to Moab or Green River via the Horsethief Trail ([fig. 1]), just north of the park. The road along the river here continues south for 6½ miles to the mouths of Taylor and Upheaval Canyons, where it becomes the White Rim Trail.
