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Boats Are Made. Three boats were made, with stout wooden frames,
covered with hulls of steel plates. Each boat was decked over, fore an
aft, with sheet steel covers, bolted down by means of a row of small
bolts along each gunwale. Covers, on decks, reached from each end to
the bulkhead placed near the center of the boats, thus leaving an
open compartment, three and a half feet long, for the oarsman. All
the loads were placed under cover, and securely lashed to prevent
shifting. The boats were also provided with air-tight compartments in
each end, and under the seat, containing sufficient air to float both
boat and load, should all the other compartments be full of water.
The boats were named the Arizona, the Utah, and the Nevada. Each was
equipped with provisions for three months. The Start. The start was made down the Green River, September 20.
Four days later, the trio had reached the junction of the Green and
Grand Rivers, the beginning of the Colorado, having covered a
distance of one hundred and twenty miles. From this point to Hite, a
small town near the Arizona line, the first bad water was
encountered in the forty-one miles of Cataract Canyon. Loper's boat me
with disasters here dashing on a rock and tearing a long rent in its
side--and giving warning of the inferiority of these thin metal boats
to the stout oak craft used by the Powell party. The party managed to
reach Hite, however, towing the damaged boat, and there made the
necessary repairs. Loper Stays at Hite. Loper had acted as photographer of the expedition
and had the camera and the plates in his boat, when it was filled
with water. Examination showed that the plates were ruined, and the
camera shutter badly rusted. It was decided that Loper should remain
behind at Hite, and await the arrival of a new shutter for which he
had written. It was agreed that he need not be thus delayed more than
two weeks, and should be able to rejoin his companions at Lee's
Ferry, a Mormon settlement of three families, one hundred and forty
miles below Hite, within twenty-one days.
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