Clyde L. Eddy

              LEE KEEDICK presents
CLYDE L. EDDY
 Journalist, Explorer and Lecturer



Leader of an Epochal Exploration Expedition Through the Rapids of the Colorado River


Figure




LECTURE SUBJECT:




Exclusive Management of LEE KEEDICK, 475 Fifth Avenue, New York





ADVENTURING THROUGH THE 600 RAPIDS OF THE COLORADO RIVER



THE softening tendencies of modern civilization have failed to dull the spirit of adventure that has enlivened the pages of history through more primitive epochs.  There are still daring knights in the world who are driven on by irrepressible instincts of romance to beard the dragon of danger in its lair.  Recent exploits in the air give ample evidence of this spirit; but equally as daring have been those doughty explorers who have ventured into unexplored wildernesses, to brave dangers at which they could not even guess.  Most often they have had a specific mission in the service of science, and in adding to the sum total of human knowledge they have also added brilliant pages to the chronicle of thrilling adventure, pages that make the blood tingle and the heart beat faster.




One such band of adventurous knights, headed by Clyde L. Eddy, explorer, journalist and lecturer, braved the raging Colorado River last summer; fighting their way through nearly six hundred rapids in which other men had lost their lives in previous vain attempts; battling undreamed terrors that only the resiliency and endurance of youth could withstand.  Only a handful of men in all the world's history have navigated this turbulent stream.  As though jealous of its virgin natural wonders, the Colorado


The Grand Canyon, in Upper Granite Gorge, is more than a mile deep.  The current of the river is incredibly swift, rapids are numerous and, in the event of shipwreck, there is no escape over the precipitous walls
.




At Dubendorf Rapids the river snatched away one of the boats, jammed it firmly against a rock and held it there while the men worked vainly for four days trying to get it clear.  Then, provisions running low, they were compelled to go on without it
.

 River has wrought a quick vengeance upon the heads of those daring enough to venture forth to seek them out.




It was no wonder, then, that the members of the Eddy expedition were warned that their venture was suicidal when they started out from Greenriver, in southern Utah, on June 27.  And yet they came through the six hundred rapids, over a course of 758 perilous miles, in forty-three days, without the loss of a life, although they had faced death a dozen times a day.





College Students in Party



When Mr. Eddy stepped ashore at Needles, California, on August 7, he had with him the guide he had engaged at Greenriver, Parley Galloway, and nine college men—students at Harvard, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Coe.  They had stuck together on the great adventure, but their nerves were frazzled because of their trying experiences.  Yet they had the gratification of knowing that they had made the journey in less time than any previous expedition; that they had been the first to make it at high water; that they had gone through more rapids than anyone else; that they had been the only expedition to get through without loss of life; and that the motion pictures and other records they had made of the trip were the best ever made of this thrilling and wildly beautiful portion of the Colorado Water.




Mr. Eddy had been planning the expedition for ten years.  Ever since he was a boy in Utah, California and Colorado, he had had an ambition to navigate a rough stream.  When he left the army in 1919 he stopped over at the Grand Canyon with his wife, on the way to their California home.  As they gazed at the raging stream below he turned to her and said:  
There is my river.







Just before the start.  Mr. Eddy and his volunteer crew of young college men about to embark on the great adventure.  Left to right, Frederick L. Felton, W. Gordon Adger, Robert F. Bartl, Robert H. Weatherhead, Mr. Eddy, Vincent F. Carey, Vincent F. Callaway, O. A. Seager, John H. Marshall and Edward L. Holt.  Four colleges are represented, Harvard, Coe, Notre Dame and Northwestern
.




Other Expeditions Failed



For years he had watched other expeditions make the attempt.  Since 1909 eleven other attempts were made, but only one, conducted by the government in 1923, succeeded.




Mr. Eddy's chance came last spring.  More than a hundred college students responded to a call he issued through college publications for volunteers.  He selected eleven.




He had reached the conclusion that the reason other expeditions had failed was because they had not been adequately equipped.  He was determined to avoid that mistake.  When he started from Greenriver he had two 22-foot boats built of half-inch mahogany, with heavy oak keels and ribs.  They were the best designed boats money could buy for the purpose.  He also had a 16-foot scout boat of the same quality.  He had life preservers and life-lines.  Each boat was fully equipped with its own set of supplies.  These included tools and materials for repairs, if anything should go wrong, for there were only two spots enroute where they could get outside help—Lee's Ferry and the Grand Canyon.  Later events proved the wisdom of these precautions.






Too Much for Camera Man



Just before the start a newsreel camera man and a wandering soldier of fortune were admitted to the party.  The camera man had faced danger before.  The soldier of fortune—he boasted that he was 
hard-boiled
—claimed to have 
been everywhere and seen everything.
  He told of having gone through the rapids of the Euphrates and the Yukon.  Mr. Eddy, curious as to how his actions and reactions would compare with those of the college boys, yielded to his plea to be taken along. And, as events turned out, the college boys proved hardier, more courageous and mentally more alert than the seasoned veteran of adventure.




The first stage of their journey would carry them through Cataract Canyon.  They were told that they could not get through Cataract Canyon alive.  The high water would destroy them, they were warned.  But Mr. Eddy reasoned that, on the other hand, the high water might help, by allowing a passage over the rocks.  The experience was extremely trying, but they came through.  After they had negotiated this stage they were struck by a late flood.  It was the highest water in nine years.  The stream rose eighteen feet in one night and swept away their kitchen material.  They had to haul the 1200-pound boats up the side of a cliff to save them from being swept away.




These early experiences proved too much for the camera man, the soldier of fortune and two of the students.  They left the expedition at Lee's Ferry.  But the other nine students remained with Mr. Eddy and the guide the rest of the way, although they were given the opportunity to withdraw when Kanab Canyon was reached.






The nine who pulled through.  Tanned by the sun, roughened by toil and not a little battered by their six weeks' struggle with the river, these nine men, and 
Rags
 their mascot, emerged triumphant from their grim fight with the most dangerous river in the world.  Parley M. Galloway, the guide shown here on Mr. Eddy's right, does not appear in the picture on the preceding page
.





Remarkable Pictures to Illustrate Lecture



There were many moments during that journey when boats and men were merely toys in the maw of the furious waters.  One




Where Deer Creek plunges into the Grand Canyon, one of half a dozen places in 750 miles where clear, palatable drinking water may be had by voyagers on the turbid Colorado
.



 of the large boats was lost when the force of the terrific current wedged it against a huge rock.  After trying for three days to dislodge it, the craft had to be abandoned.  At another time they were in danger of being dashed against the overhanging cliffs by waves that rose to a height of twenty-five feet.




Mr. Eddy obtained a remarkable motion-picture record of the journey and its many adventures.  Not only are they thrilling as action pictures, but they have a distinctly scientific and educational value, for they depict for the first time a panorama of natural wonders that few human eyes have ever beheld.  Mr. Eddy will exhibit these pictures in connection with the lecture in which he is to be heard in a limited number of cities, in which he will relate the adventures and discoveries of the expedition.





About Mr. Eddy



Mr. Eddy is Director of Education and Research of the Bray Pictures Corporation, producers of educational motion pictures.  He was born in Texas, and spent most of his life in the West.  He is a graduate of the University of California, where he took degrees and honors in chemistry.  He was subsequently the editor of various scientific publications.




During the World War he made pictures for the War College.  He was attached to the American air forces, and made many tours over the front taking pictures of the enemy trenches in the various sectors where the American army operated.  His 
shots
 were made from both airplanes and observation balloons.  Obviously, Mr. Eddy was no stranger to dangerous missions when he undertook the Colorado River expedition.




Mr. Eddy has been on the lecture platform on previous occasions, discussing scientific subjects before scientific and lay organizations.




With the thrill of his Colorado River experiences still tingling in his blood, he is at present engaged in planning a bigger and more dangerous expedition, the nature which he is not yet prepared to divulge.





Boat going down into an 
easy
 rapids.  The boats were run stern first so that the men could see where they were going and, if possible, put on their 
four oar brakes
 when danger threatened
.






Soap Creek Rapids guard the entrance to Marble Canyon.  It was in the whirlpools at the foot of this rapids that Brown was drowned in 1889
.