Across The Fence: Deserters or outcasts: Three who left (Part II)

On May 24, 1869, Maj. John Wesley Powell – along with nine other adventurous men – launched four specially designed boats into the waters of the Green River and began a four-month long expedition into the unexplored Grand Canyon.

Sixteen days into the journey, the most serious mishap of the entire expedition occurred. Oramel Howland – piloting one of the four boats, "No Name" – missed Powell's command to go ashore and was caught up in a series of violent rapids that resulted in the destruction of the craft and the loss of one third of the expeditions supplies.

Naturally the disaster would have serious consequences but most everyone understood, from the beginning, that the expedition would encounter much difficulty and many dangers. The loss of the boat and its contents was just one of those risks.

However, according to the personal accounts of others in the expedition party, this accident seemed to set the Major against Oramel Howland and began an animosity between the two. The cook, Billy Hawkins, wrote to Robert Brewster Stanton in 1907 and said, "The trouble with the Howland boys began way back at Disaster Falls, where their boat was lost..."

For eight days, from June 9-17, the expedition's three remaining boats and the 10 men traveled through the stretch of river that they named Lodore Canyon. From Disaster Falls to the confluence of the Green River and the Yampa, the men battled constant rapids. In one section, about a half-mile in length, the river dropped nearly 100 feet. The rapids there were so violent that the stretch of river was named, "Hell's Half-Mile."

After coming safely through Lodore Canyon, Powell wrote in his journal: "This has been a chapter of disasters and toils. ... The roar of its waters was heard unceasingly from the hour we entered it until we landed here. No quiet in all that time."

Throughout the remainder of June, the expedition encountered more rapids but came through without mishap. In early July, they spent several days in a quiet village with the Unita Indians. Before leaving the village on July 6, Englishman Frank Goodman informed Maj. Powell that he had had all the adventure he had ever hoped to have and decided to remain on dry land.

From the time the party left the Unita village on July 6 until August 6, the expedition faced rapid after rapid. The boats were battered and needed constant attention and repair. Oars were broken or lost and replacements had to be fashioned from scavenged driftwood. Many of the rapids were so violent that it was decided to lower the boats with ropes rather than riding them out.

One stretch of rapids passed through the canyon where the river stretched across the canyon from wall to opposite wall and the men had to balance on exposed rocks in the river as they lowered the boats. On one stretch of river, Lt. Bradley was trapped beneath his overturned craft and although most of the supplies were lost to the river, he managed to save himself from drowning.

In late July, the party passed a stream that flows into the Colorado River. The stream was muddy and had a distinct, unpleasant smell. Powell wrote in his journal that William Dunn named the stream, 'Dirty Devil." Interestingly, Billy Hawkins wrote that it was Powell who named the stream and that he named it after Dunn. According to Hawkins, Powell had often referred to Dunn as being a "Dirty Devil."

In one of Billy Hawkins' letters he wrote: "Now our trouble begins ... Dunn was the one who took the altitudes with the barometer, and it was here we had the first real trouble in the party, although Powell had named Dunn the "Dirty Devil." But the rest of the boys looked over that. At noon, while we were making a portage and letting the boats over a bad place, the ropes happened to catch Bill Dunn under the arms and came near drowning him, but he managed to catch the ropes and come out. Whi1e we were eating our dinner, Sumner said that Dunn came near being drowned and the Major's brother made the remark that it would have been but little loss. The Major spoke up and said that Dunn would have to pay thirty dollars for a watch belonging to him that had been soaked with water and ruined, and that if he did not he would have to leave the party."

"Dunn told him a bird could not get out of that place, thinking the Major was joking, but all of us were very quickly convinced that every word the Major said was meant. Dunn said he could not leave then, but that he would go as soon as he could get out. The Major then said he would have to pay $1 a day for his board until such time as he could get out of the canyon."

"Sumner told the Major he was surprised at what he had said to Dunn, and the Major said he was running the expedition. But Sumner said that was one thing he could not do – compel Dunn to leave the party or make him pay for his board. ... Captain Powell took up the quarrel and thereby came near getting shot. We all considered the Captain demented because of his imprisonment in Andersonville prison. Had it not been for this, I doubt very much if the Captain would have made the entire trip."

In fact, at one point Captain Powell had pulled a gun on Dunn and threatened to kill him, which he would have done had Hawkins not interfered. Hawkins' account certainly indicates that there was considerable animosity between Dunn and Major Powell as well as with the Major's brother, Captain Powell.

By mid-August, the last of the supply of flour had been sifted through mosquito netting in order to remove the molding clumps. What little bacon remained was rancid and very few dried apples were left. The shortage of food was critical and the men were subsisting on a starvation diet.

On Aug. 27, Hawkins' letter states that it was Maj. Powell who held a conference and suggested that the entire party abandon the river and climb out of the canyon. The boats were in poor condition and the rapids ahead appeared to be some of the worst yet.

Powell, not knowing how much farther they had to go or what they might encounter, proposed that they climb out of the canyon, secure additional provisions and then return to finish the trip. But Billy Hawkins, Lt. Bradley and Andrew Hall decided to finish the journey through the canyon. Seeing that the three were intent on continuing, Maj. Powell, Cap Powell and Sumner also decided to take the river route. Oramel and Seneca Howland and William Dunn elected to climb out of the canyon and travel by land to the nearest settlement.

Interestingly, Major Powell abandoned his personal craft the "Emma Dean" deeming it to be too damaged to repair and continue down river. Clearly, there weren't enough boats to carry all nine members of the party and three of the men would have been compelled to climb out. The fact that it was the Howland brothers and William Dunn who chose to leave the party was no doubt due in part to their ill feelings toward the Major. Neither cowardly deserters nor dishonorably discharged members of the expedition, the three men took the only path available to them.

Hawkins' letter states: "... in justice to Dunn and the Howland brothers I must say that the account in the Report which accuses them of cowardice is entirely wrong, and that it was made to cover up the real cause of their leaving."

Ten days later news of their deaths at the hands of the Shivwits would be telegraphed across the continent. As for the continuing expedition party, the final leg of the journey was less perilous than anticipated and the Powell expedition exited the canyon just two short days later with no mishaps.

It was in 1871, during the second Powell expedition down the Colorado River, that Major Powell was able to speak to the Shivwits and discover the supposed facts concerning the deaths of Oramel and Seneca Howland and William Dunn. Powell was told that the three had been mistaken for three other trappers in the area who had assaulted and killed a Shivwits woman.

However, there is some reason to suspect that the three were killed by a group of Mormons in the region who suspected that the three men were Federal Agents sent to spy on them. At that time it was suspected that some Mormons, disguised as Indians, were carrying out deadly raids against white settlers.

It's interesting to note that Major Powell's conversation with the Shivwits Chief was translated for him by a Mormon interpreter. What was actually said remains unknown.

M. Timothy Nolting is an award-winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. E-mail him at [email protected]