Black Canyon of the Gunnison Sunrise
by Janice Pariza
Title
Black Canyon of the Gunnison Sunrise
Artist
Janice Pariza
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Another Black canyon of the Gunnison Image from Colorado's Western Slope.
2nd in my Fall in the Canyon Series.
An amazing Canyon, more wondrous than the Grand Canyon for sure!
The Black Canyon stretches far beyond the 14 miles within the national park. Including the canyon within Curecanti National Recreation Area and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, the total length is 53 miles.
Big enough to be overwhelming, still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time, Black Canyon of the Gunnison exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. With two million years to work, the Gunnison River, along with the forces of weathering, has sculpted this vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky.
The canyon has been a mighty barrier to humans. Only its rims, never the gorge, show evidence of human occupation - not even by Ute Indians living in the area since written history began.
While the people of the Ute bands knew of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, it was an obscure geographic feature to explorers for hundreds of years. The Spanish were the first Europeans to canvas western Colorado with two expeditions, one led by Juan Rivera in 1765, and the other by Fathers Dominguez and Escalante in 1776. Both were looking for passage to the California coast, and both passed by the canyon.
Fur trappers of the early 1800s undoubtedly knew of the canyon in their search for beaver pelts. They left no written record of the canyon, though, probably because they couldn't, in fact, read or write.
By the middle of the century, exploration of the American west had captured the nation's attention. In turn expeditions came to the Black Canyon searching for railroad passageways, mineral wealth, or in a quest for water. Eventually explorers came to see the canyon, not for commercial wealth, but for the renewal and recreation that it offered.
Today, you can walk in the footsteps of some of these hardy and inquisitive forebearers. The canyon still offers a rugged and demanding experience, even as it did more than a hundred of years ago.
Herds of buffalo, wide open spaces, and the amazingly massive landscape of the American West captivated John W. Gunnison and other members of the Stansbury Expedition in 1849. This expedition was Gunnison�s first adventure west of the Mississippi River, and one that would create in him a longing for the west for the remainder of his career.
Gunnison and his men decided to navigate around what is now known as the Black Canyon and follow an easier route west through the present day town of Montrose. When the expedition finally reached Utah, Gunnison witnessed the destruction left by Paiute Indian raids on Mormon settlements. Local residents reassured the expedition that the attacks were not a serious threat because peace talks had just taken place. After a trip for provisions to the town of Fillmore, Gunnison divided the troops to make up for lost time. He went ahead with a crew of soldiers and guides on October 25 and the party camped along the bank of the Sevier River. The attack came during the early hours of the next morning. Only four men of his party survived. John W. Gunnison never returned home to his family.
Reports of the incident stated that it was an act of retribution by the sons of a Paiute leader who had been killed by some emigrants heading west. Utah Governor Brigham Young noted that Captain Gunnison underestimated the tension between the tribes and settlers. Due to earlier successes in negotiations with native people, Gunnison tried to resolve the situation. A formal investigation by Colonel Edward Steptoe brought forth varying testimony about the massacre. One unique statement was heard from a Mormon living in Salt Lake City. She claimed to have heard her fellow Mormons say: "...Captain Gunnison and his party were murdered by the "Danites," [Mormon group] disguised as Indians, by, and with the knowledge, and "counsel" of the Prophet (Governor Brigham Young)." In the end, Paiute Indians were indicted for the act.
Coo-che-to-pa Pass from the Gunnison-Beckwith Exploration Report, 1855.
Coo-che-to-pa Pass from the Gunnison-Beckwith Exploration Report, 1855.
Although remembered largely because of the massacre and by the many places that bear his name, Gunnison�s spirit of adventure and longing for the landscapes of the West made him unique among explorers. His place in the history of exploration in the United States brought early Americans closer to an understanding of the wild country beyond the Mississippi River and the tradeoffs that often must be made in order to experience those places. Today it gives us an idea about why the landscapes of the west were so magnetic for John W. Gunnison and continue to be so for many explorers and adventurers, regardless of the personal costs.
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Uploaded
October 21st, 2014
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