"
"Exactly," replied Milton. "The great difficulty is that you can't
judge men until they're undergoing the trial. Then it's too late. In
Powell's first expedition, soon after the Civil War, there was constant
friction between Powell and three of his men. At last, although they
had signed a contract to stick by him, they deserted him."
"How was that?" asked Enoch with interest.
"They simply insisted on being put ashore and they climbed out of the
Canyon with the idea of getting to some of the Mormon settlements. But
the Indians killed them almost at once, poor devils! Powell got the
story of it on his second expedition. The history of those two
expeditions, I think, are as glorious as any chapter in our American
annals."
"Was it so much harder than the work you are doing?"
"There is no comparison! We're simply following the trail that Powell
blazed. Think of his superb courage! These terrible waters were
enshrouded in mystery and fear. He did not know even what kind of
boats could live in them. Hostile Indians marauded on either hand.
And as near as I recall the only settlements he could call on, if he
succeeded in clambering out of the Canyon, were Ft. Defiance in New
Mexico, and Mormon settlements, miles across the desert in Utah.
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