Traveling over Forgotten Trails: A Mystery of the Grand Canyon Solved

Improvement Era Vol. XXVII SEPTEMBER, 1924 No. 11. TRAVELING OVER FORGOTTEN TRAILS A Mystery of the Grand Canyon Solved By President Anthony W. Ivins Prior to the year 1869 the Grand Canyon of the Colorado was a place of mystery. To the Indians who occupied the country on the North and South rims, it was well known, but no effort was made by them to penetrate its depths; to them it was the abode of evil spirits, awaiting opportunity to seize the unfortunate who might venture within the shadows of its massive walls, and drawing them into the whirlpools of the great river, bear them away to the home of departed spirits, from which none returned. The Colorado River was never approached by the Indians, except at certain places where the country was open, and the water could be reached without entering the recesses of the Mysterious Canyon. So far as the writer is aware the first Indians to cross the river were a party of Oribas, who came to the settlements in Southern Utah with Jacob Hamblin, on the return from one of his visits to the Hopis. Two men, members of Jacob's party, were left at the Oriba village, as hostages for the safe return of the Indians. Jacob relates the following incident, which occured at Lee's Ferry, while he was returning to Utah, after having visited the Hopis. Tuba, the chief of the Oribas, and his wife, after much per- suasion, consented to accompany Jacob to the settlements. Upon arrival at the Colorado, Tuba said to Jacob: "I have worshiped the Great Spirit, the Father of us all, in the way that you believe to be right, now I would like you to worship with me, as the Hopis think is right, before we cross this great river. When Jacob assented, Tuba took his medicine bag from under his shirt, and taking from it a small portion of the sacred meal Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second class matter. Ac- ceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July Z, 1918, $2 per annum. Address Room 406 Church Office Building, Salt Lake City. Utah.

1018 IMPROVEMENT ERA which it contained, asked Jacob to do likewise. Jacob extended his left hand, but the Indian said, "No, you must take it with the right hand," which he did. Tuba sprinkled a small portion of the meal on the ground, in the air, and on the surface of the river, after which he knelt, with his face to the East, and prayed to the Great Spirit, the Father of us all, to preserve the party while they crossed to the opposite shore. He told the Great Spirit that he and his wife had many relatives and friends at home, and that if they were drowned, and did not return, there would be much weeping and sorrow. He prayed for his friends the "Mormons," that none of them might lose their lives, while crossing. He prayed that the animals might be preserved, because they were needed for the long journey, that the food might not be lost, because there was no more to be had, and the clothing, which was needed to keep them warm. When the party was safely over, Tuba gave thanks, that his prayer had been answered. The tragedies of the Grand Canyon will never be told. Once caught in the swirling rapids, the victim never returns to tell his story. That the river has claimed many victims we know; how many, no one can tell. In 1869, Theodore Hook was carried away, and lost. In June, 1876, the writer was at Lee's Ferry when the river was in flood, only a few days after Lorenzo W. Roundy had been caught in the whirlpools and drowned. His body was never recovered. Frank M. Brown, who was surveying the canyon with the view of constructing a railroad through it, lost his life at the Soap Creek Rapids, just below Lee's Ferry, in July, 1889, and five days later, Peter Hansborough a member of the Brown party, was drowned a little farther down the river. More recently the skeleton of a man was found in the Grand Canyon, below the Bright Angel Trail, lodged on a ledge, far above the water. Remnants of a news- paper, found in his clothing, had been published in the spring of 1900. Major John Wesley Powell was the first person, so far as we are aware, to pass through the Grand Canyon and reveal its mysteries and dangers to the world. It was a hazardous enterprize, and only men of supreme courage would have undertaken its accomplishment. Whether it was possible to pass through the canyon under any cir- cumstances was uncertain, for up to that time no one had done so. The personnel of the party, which started from Green River, in Wyoming, was as follows: Major John Wesley Powell, commander, John C. Sumner, William H. Dunn, Walter H. Powell, G. Y. Bradley, O. G. Howland," Seneca Howland, Frank Goodman, William R. Hawkins and Andrew Hall. With boats especially planned and constructed, this party of intrepid men plunged into the unknown recesses of the greatest chasm that mars the face of mother earth. The dangers and difficulties

TRAVELING OVER FORGOTTEN TRAILS 1019 encountered and overcome, as the party felt their way slowy down the canyon were well nigh insurmountable, but they passed all of them in safety until they reached a point almost due south from St. George, Utah, where the Shevwits Plateau pushes out, forcing the Colorado off to the south, in what is locally known as the Horse Shoe Bend. At this point a rapid was encountered which appeared to some members of the party to be impassable. O. G. Howland, the older of the two brothers, was pronounced in his determination to go no farther. He regarded any farther progress impossible, and urged that the expedition be abandoned, and an at- tempt made to reach the settlements to the north, by scaling the canyon walls and traveling overland. A council was held, at which Major Powell urged that the expedition proceed, they were so near the end of the hazardous undertaking, he was determined to finish the task which the Government had assigned to him. There was division in the party, some of the men desiring to abandon the undertaking; others, while doubtful of the result, were willing to follow the Major wherever he would lead. All night Major Powell paced up and down the sandy bank of the river where camp had been established, and when morning came announced his determination to proceed. The Howland brothers and Dunn declined to go farther. Sup- plies were very low, and the Howlands refused to accept any food, They took two rifles, and a shot gun, believing that with these they could kill game sufficient to provide food until they reached the settlements. As the boats pushed off and drifted slowly down toward the dangerous rapid, the Howland brothers and Dunn stood on a ledge of rock, far above the water, and waved adieu to their comrades. A few days later the Major reached the mouth of the Rio Virgin, his task finished. The Howland brothers and Dunn were never seen again by people of their own race. Their experiences can only be surmised from the following somewhat obscure facts. Soon after the events recounted, a party of Shevwit Indians came to St. George, having in their possession a number of articles, among them a watch, which had evidently been the property of white men, which they offered to trade for clothing, food or powder and balls. Questioned in regard to ownership they stated that the articles had been found at an abandoned camp. It later became known that three of Major Powell's men had left him, in the Grand Canyon, and that they had been killed by the Shevwits, as they journeyed to- ward the settlements. The following year Major Powell, with Jacob Hamblin as guide and interpreter, visited the Indians at Mount Trumbull, and endeavored to get from them the story of the tragedy. The Indians admitted that the year before, their people, who lived on the Shev-

1020 IMPROVEMENT ERA LEGEND. A.COLORADO RT tfER B. KELLY'S SPRIHG C.PENS POCKETS GREEK SPRING ■'THE BUTTE" (MT . DELENBAUGH PARASHONT RAMCH HOUSE G.MEN WERE KILLED HERE H.OLD INDIAN TRAIL Map showing the point in the Grand Canyon where the Howland Brothers and Dunn separated from Major Powell wit Mountain, had killed three white men, the reason assigned being that Indians on the south side of the river had told them they were bad men who were looking for mines, and that they would bring other men in who would take their country. The Major explained that he had come to them as a friend, and not an enemy, that he desired to explore their country and become acquainted with them, that he might report to the Government at Washington their condition and the character of the land in which they lived. After the Major had made his statement the man who acted as spokesman said: "Your talk is good, and we believe what you say. We believe in Jacob, and look upon you as a father. When you are hungry you can have our game. You may gather our sweet fruits. We will give you food when you come to our land. We will show you the springs, and you may drink; the water is good. We will be friends, and when you come we will be glad. We will tell the Indians who live on the other side of the great river that we have seen Ka-pu-rats (One Arm: the Major had lost one of his arms), and that he is the friend of the Indians. We will tell them he is Jacob's friend. We are very poor. Look at our women and children, they are naked. We have no horses, we climb the rocks, and our feet are sere. We live among the rocks, and they yield little food, but many thorns. When the cold moons come our children are hungry. We have little to give, you must not think us mean. You are wise we have heard you tell strange things. We are ignorant. Last year

TRAVELING OVER FORGOTTEN TRAILS 1021 our people killed three white men. Bad men said they were our enemies, they told great lies. We thought them true, we were mad, it made us big fools. We are very sorry. Do not think of them; it is done, let us be friends. We are ignorant like little children, compared with you. When we do wrong, do not get mad, and be like children, too. When white men kill us, we kill them, too, then they kill more of us. It is not good. We hear that the white men are a great number, when they stop killing us, there will be no Indians left to bury the dead. We love our country, we know no other lands. We hear that other lands are better, we do not know. The pines sing to us, and we are glad. Our children play in the warm sand, we hear them sing, and are happy. We do not want their good lands, we want our rocks, and the great mountains, where our fathers lived. We are very poor, but very honest. You have horses and many things, you are very wise, you have a good heart. We will be friends. I have nothing more to say." Some years after the visit of Major Powell referred to above, a company was incorporated at the town of Washington, in Southern Utah, known as The Mojave Land and Cattle Company. This company bought from the Indians the right to use various springs, and water holes which were on the Shevwit Mountain, stocked the range with cattle, and commenced a general ranching business. The writer, soon after, acquired the interests of the Mojave Company, and added to the number of company cattle his own herd, which he had grazed on the Trumbull Mountain. It at once became evident that ranching could not be successfully carried on, while the Shevwits remained on the land, the right to which they had sold to others. They became insolent, frequently killed cattle for food, and when remonstrated with replied that the country was theirs, and that the white man, with his flocks and herds, should move away, and leave them in peaceful possession. Representation was made to the Indian Department, at Wash- ington, and the suggestion offered that the Shevwits be removed to a reservation on the Santa Clara River, where they would be among civilized people, and subject to proper Government supervision. The suggestion was approved, funds were appropriated for the purchase and improvement of land, and the writer was appointed to establish an agency, and place the Shevwits upon it. The Indians were re- luctant to leave their old home, and a few, in the beginning, refused to come in, but when they discovered that no force was to be applied, and that those on the reservation were well treated, one by one they came straggling in until they were all there. Among these Indians there was one man who was a constant source of trouble. He was obstinate, uncontrolable, a constant mischief maker. He pretended to be possessed of supernatural power, was a medicine man, and pretended to see, in dreams and visions, the

1022 IMPROVEMENT ERA past, present and future. His Indian name was To-ab, we called him John. One day, while To-ab was irrigating his water-mellons and squash, another Indian took the water from him, claiming that it was his turn to use it. To-ab went to the camp of his friend, where a quarrel ensued, and the man who had taken the water reached for his gun, which stood against the wigwam, and as he did so, To-ab struck him with a hoe, which he carried, and killed him. To-ab was sent to the District court at Beaver, and a charge of murder preferred against him. The court appointed an attorney to defend him, and To-ab had made out a good case of self defense, when his attorney made a fatal mistake, which shattered the theory Old Simon, the Indian who places the killing of the Howland Brothers and Dunn upon To-ab. which he had built up. In summing up the evidence, before the jury, the attorney called attention to the fact that To-ab, when the other man seized his rifle, acting under mortal fear that his life would be taken, struck the fatal blow. To-ab, who had acquired a limited knowledge of the English language, at this point sprang up, and shaking his fist at the attorney shouted — "No! No! Me no scart. Gun hain't got any bullets." He was not afraid, because he knew the gun was not loaded. To-ab was sent to the State Prison, where he soon became ill, and was placed in a hospital, where he rapidly re- covered. After this he was ill while in his cell, but immediately re- covered when sent to the hospital. The warden finally sent for me and begged that I take him back to the reservation, which I did, and thus removed from the prison an intolerable nuisance. From the time this Indian, To-ab, came to the reservation I had

TRAVELING OVER FORGOTTEN TRAILS 1023 suspected that he was connected with, if not entirely responsible for, the murder of the Howland Brothers and Dunn, but neither by persuasion, nor offer of reward or threats, could the Indians be induced to give a word that would incriminate him. More than twenty years after the Howlands and Dunn were killed, the writer was one day riding alone on the range, a short distance east, and little north of the Parashont Ranch House. A heavy growth of cedars covered the mesa, it was an ideal place for an ambuscade. Passing through a dense growth of cedars the horse emerged into a small clearing, and stopped. It was evident that "John" To-ab who is said to have' been responsible for the killing of Powell's men. His features are an index to his depraved nature someone had long before camped on the spot, dead cedars had been pulled down, a temporary shelter improvised, and a fire built. Like a bolt from the blue the thought came — This is the spot where Powell's men were killed. In 1923 the writer made a trip to the southern part of the state. Knowing that To-ab had died, and that there was but one living who would be able to give the information desired, he went

1024 IMPROVEMENT ERA President Grant and party looking down into the Grand Canyon of the Colorado from Bright Angel Point. to the angcncy for the purpose of interviewing Old Simon, the only man remaining, who would have personal knowledge of the details of the tragedy. Simon had gone to the mountains to gather pine nuts, so the matter was left with George Brooks, ex-sheriff of Washington county, to acquire if possible, the desired information. Upon his return from the mountains, Simon said: He remem- bered that when he was a big boy three white men came up from the river which flows through the Grand Canyon, and were killed by the Indians on the Shevwit Mountain. Que-toose, who at the time was chief of the Shevwits tribe, was away at a spring, raising corn, and knew nothing of the killing until after it had occurred. From the story told by Simon, and from other information gleaned from the Indians, it appears that the men, after leaving the Major, at the river, followed an old Indian trail, known to the writer, which reaches the north rim of the Grand Canyon at a point on the east side of Green Spring Canyon, where there is a small dripping spring, known as Kelly's Spring. From this point the trail bears north to Pen's Pockets and Green Spring. From there it passes north-west, on the north side of the "Butte" (Mount Dellenbaugh) , goes over Lake Flat, and turns north, down a canyon, to Pine and Duke Springs, and from there down the Para-shont Wash to the head of Hidden Canyon, across Poverty Mountain to Wolf Hole, and on to St. George. Had Powell's men been left unmolested, they undoubt-

Traveling over forgotten trails 1025 edly would have followed this trail, and reached the settlements in safety. It appears that when they first met the Shevwit Indians the white men were received with protestations of friendship. After they had passed, a council was held to determine whether they should bo permitted to proceed in peace, or should be attacked and killed. The majority of the Indians were in favor of treating the strangers as friends, but To-ab insisted that they be dealt with as enemies. Persuading two young Indians to go with him, he followed the men to the point marked on the accompaning map, a short distance north east of the Para-shont Ranch House, which was built many years after, where they attacked them from ambush, and killed them. It is interesting to know that the point marked by Simon as the spot where the tragedy occurred, is the exact locality where some invisible influence caused the writer to stop his horse and reflect, as before stated, and it was at that time that the resolve came to him some day to fix the responsibility for this needless and unjustifiable murder, where he always believed it belonged, on John To-ab, whose character is plainly stamped in the lines of the face shown in the accompanying photograph, which was furnished the writer by the warden of the State Prison. Don't Grumble Though the road seems rough and the days seem cold, From grumbling I will refrain; For the God of Love doth destiny hold, And who am I to complain! My sight may be short, my arm may be weak, Life's boat I barely may row. But why should I grumble? It is not meek, It never lighteneth woe. Yes, grumbling I say will lighten no load, It never maketh a friend; It weakens the nerves and roughens the road, And wrecks our lives in the end. Let the day be bright or rainy or cold, From grumbling I will refrain; For the God of Love doth destiny hold. And who am I to complain! Don't grumble and growl, no good will be done, It always leadeth to ill; If sweets you would drink, this fountain then shun Before your cup it can fill. If you'd be worthwhile, meet life with a smile, From grumbling always refrain; The darkest of clouds lasts only a while And life is refreshed by the rain. Dirigo, Ky. ROBERT L. CAMPBELL.