He tried it again farther down and met with an experience which taught him to trust to the land thereafter.
[Illustration: Flaming Gorge.
The Beginning of the Colorado River Canyons, N.E.Utah.
Photograph by E.O.Beaman, 1871.] The next day our boat was held back for some special work while the others proceeded toward a high spur of the Uintas, directly in front of us.

We followed with a fierce and blinding gale sweeping the river and filling our eyes with sharp sand.

Nevertheless we could see high up before us some bright red rocks marking the first canyon of the wonderful series that separates this river from the common world.

From these bright rocks glowing in the sunlight like a flame above the grey-green of the ridge, the Major had bestowed on this place the name of Flaming Gorge.

As we passed down towards the mountain it seemed that the river surely must end there, but suddenly just below the mouth of Henry's Fork it doubled to the left and we found ourselves between two low cliffs, then in a moment we dashed to the right into the beautiful canyon, with the cliffs whose summit we had seen, rising about 1300 feet on the right, and a steep slope on the left at the base of which was a small bottom covered with tall cottonwood trees, whose green shone resplendent against the red rocks.