recking boats or losing
lives.

After passing the Fremont River the walls on the right or north side
dropped down, leaving low, barren sandstone hills rolling away from
the river, with a fringe of willows and shrubs beside the water, and
with the usual sage-brush, prickly pear, cactus and bunch-grass on the
higher ground. We had seen one broken-down log cabin, but this ranch
was the only extensive piece of ground that was cultivated. Judging by
the size of his stacks of alfalfa, Hite had evidently had a good
season. The banks of the south side of the river were about two
hundred feet high, composed of a conglomerate mass of clay and gravel.
This spot has long been a ferry crossing, known far and wide as Dandy
Crossing, the only outlet across the river for the towns of
southeastern Utah, along the San Juan River. The entire 150 miles of
Glen Canyon had once been the scene of extensive placer operations.
The boom finally died, a few claims only proving profitable.

One of these claims was held by Bert Loper, one of the three miners
who had gone down the river in 1908. Loper never finished, as his
boat--a steel boat, by the way--was punctured in a rapid above Dark
Canyon but was soon repaired. His cameras and plates being lost, he
sent from Hite out for new ones. His companions--Chas. Russell, and
E.R. Monette--were to wait for him at Lee's Ferry, after having
prospected through Glen Canyon. Some mistake was made about the
delivery of the cameras and, as Hite post-office only had weekly
communication with the railroad, a month elapsed before he finally
secured them. Lee's Ferry had been discontinued as a post-office at
that time, and, although he tried to get a letter in to them, it was
never delivered. His disappointment can be imagined better than
described, when he reached Lee's Ferry and found his companions had
left just a few days previous. They naturally thought if he were
coming at all he would have been there long before that, and they gave
him up, not knowing the cause of the delay. They left a letter,
however, saying they would only go to the Bright Angel Trail, and the
trip could be completed together on the following year.

Loper spent many hard days working his boat, with his load of
provisions, back against the current, and located a few miles below
the Hite ranch.

CHAPTER XV

PLACER GOLD

We passed Loper's claim after resuming our journey the next day. His
workings were a one-man proposi