Torn to Pieces by Canyons

In 1840 Walker went southwest on the northern banks of the Colorado River, traveling from Sevier Lake to the Virgin River, becoming the first white to make the crossing of the Utah/Nevada desert.

Walker later recalled that part of the country as "torn all to pieces with canyons".  He could never be talked into going back.  Walker and his party were the first Americans to see the upper Virgin and a series of falls and side canyons which in contrast to the desert they had just crossed, was "grand beyond description".

The expedition continued down the Virgin River, riding through country now deep below the surface of Lake Mead to where it junctioned with the Colorado, then across the Mojave, entering California in late fall of 1840s.  417 pounds of beaver pelts made a $1200 in Los Angeles  - a good living for that year.

Next time...Brother Joel joins his brother....