eorgie (White) ClarkŠat Cliff Dwellers Lodge the day after a monster 80th birthday party thrown by Ted Hatch. Fall of 1990.

You can't imagine now, when nobody knew nothing about the CanyonŠThere weren't trails, there wasn't anything. But I come up with a friend of mine[Harry Aleson, in 1944] on Lake Mead and we looked up this river and he said, "Oh, nobody ever comes down there." And I said, "Nobody?!" He said, "Oh, way back somewhere I read a man went on a trip or twoŠ" And I said, "Well, if he went, I can go." I talked him into it, that we¹d hike in and do it by piecemeal. We¹d start on the bottom and work our way up. I said, "We can go each year.² I already had plans. "We can take some of it, and then go the next year further." On life preservers, of course, not thinking boat‹couldn¹t afford a boat at that time. So I got him to go. But the hikes were our problem, because there weren¹t trails‹we just went. And boy, some of those hikes were pretty scary, even for me. So I was glad to get to the river! (laughs) We had our problems, and he almost drowned. So then he got out, he said, "Don¹t you ever say Œriver¹ to me again, or swimming!² And I said, "I won¹t,² because I hadn¹t realized just how bad it would be.

Did you get out and walk around any ?

Oh, you couldn¹t get out then. That¹s what you don¹t understand now. Because when I went, it was over 70,000 cubic feetŠIt was in June, so everything was high. What gave you problems was the big trees, and big whirlpools in those days that you don¹t have now. Used to have mighty whirlpools, and I¹m talking about mighty ones. Then when you got in those, you had to go with it. When it popped you out, if you¹re lucky, it would throw you out of the circle, and you would go on down. But if you came in that circle, you went back down again, and it went around and around and swooped you right down. And that¹s how it was, so you need to get your breath to go down again. And you never know how long you¹re down. If anybody ever says they do know how long they¹re down, they¹re lying, because you¹re not keeping track‹all you¹re doing is hanging onto your breath, and hoping you get up. And even use your hand on your nose if you think there¹s any chance that you¹re going to let go. (laughs) All you¹re looking for is that light when you come up. When you go down in a whirlpool, you¹re going with that water, and not agin¹ it. So that¹s real good when it throws you out.

Georgie White was one in a billion‹tough as nails; fearless, fun, friendlyŠmaybe a little crazy. You had to see her to believe her, really, and if you never got to you should check out Don Brigg¹s movie, "River Runners of the Grand Canyon² for that alone. Like another Canyon swimmer, John Daggett, she came to the river grief stricken, hardly caring whether she lived or died after losing her beloved daughter Sommona Rose in a tragic car-bicycle accident. Unlike Daggett, Georgie stayed. For forty-seven years. With her "share the expense² trips and her big old boat, she opened up the river to the "common man² with thrills, spills, chills and adventure galore. Us newcomers took her for granted through the ¹70s and early ¹80s and then, just before she left us, kinda realized what a treasure she was: a true pioneer, the likes of which we¹d never see again.

What made you decide to start using a boat?

Well, because they become available. The first boats were the Navy boats. And the frog divers had used them. And they were something you can handle, that you can even turn over by learning how to jump on one side if they upset, so they looked like the ideal thing. I didn¹t know the Canyon at all, remember, and I just simply started. Had no idea of anything about it. I just simply put in at Lees Ferry and that was that! Everything was learned from the word "go.² (laughs) But the thing in my favor was that after swimming, then I felt like I had the "Queen Mary² under me, with this air, you knowŠwhy gee, and able to carry some groceriesŠand a sleeping bag! Because when we swam I didn¹t have anything‹you just sit in a life preserver. When you did get throwed ashore‹because you never actually swam to shore, it was only when the current threw you agin¹ a wall‹and this was in a narrow canyon, usually‹and you just parked thereŠIt was full of driftwood and everythingŠYou can¹t swim in a preserver anyway. And with that kind of current, you sure aren¹t going to!

When you were swimming, you didn¹t take much food?

Oh no! We didn¹t have these bags or nothing! Frog suits weren¹t out, you didn¹t have these rubber bags, you didn¹t have any of this stuff! So the most I could do was a malt can from a drugstore. It had a double lid, so the water wouldn¹t get in, because I couldn¹t even think of anything where water wouldn¹t get inŠI put it in a packsack and punched holes in this packsack, just a little tiny one to put on my back so the water would drain out. Then I put in dehydrated soup. But thinking that I could dump this can out, dip up water, and then with all the driftwood I could have a fire and have this soup. And then I had pure sugar candy. The first dehydrated coffee came out in little cans called "Martha Washington,² and that was what I had. But then, we discovered of course, that when it threw you agin¹ a wall, there was no wood. There was lots of wood in the river, but of course it¹s wet and you¹re not going to use that. So then you just had the dehydrated coffee if you wanted to use it cold, period. Otherwise, you just had the candy which is pure sugar, and that was the end of that. So you didn¹t have much of that. And then you didn¹t have a sleeping bag, because you couldn¹t carry such a thingŠThere just wasn¹t anything. So then you set and shivered and you kept your preserver onŠAnd then it was so cold, we froze to deathŠWe learned that if the water threw us agin¹ a wall, even at one in the afternoon, you stayed there. Because then you got some sun, and then you might thaw out. (laughs) Because the cold was your bitter enemy.

How long would you go, about?

Oh, you had to go until it just happened to throw you agin¹ a wall. You couldn¹t get in or out. Believe it or not, clear down on the low part, with the motorboat we had put some food in at Quartermaster Canyon, and thought, "Well now we¹ll be able to get out here, for sure.² And so we had food in there. And do you know that we couldn¹t even stop at Quartermaster Canyon‹there was no way. We did get stopped below it on the same side, and then had to hike to it. But we could not stop at Quartermaster itself‹the current there was that fast. There was no way you could get in. We went by Bridge Canyon, and there were men at that time surveying. And so of course they were all excited and we waved that it was okay. We knew they had a camp below, probably, with that many men, but if you think we could get [out], there¹s no way. So we just had to wave to them that it was okay. We just went like this, because we could see we couldn¹t get [out]ŠNever mind going, it was a case of stopping! And then you got in problems when you got down toward Pearce¹s Ferry and everything, because you had these miles of driftwood. And gosh, you didn¹t know what to do with it, because you couldn¹t grab hold of it‹itŠwas just too much of a mess. That¹s what gave you real problems. The wood really gave you a lot of problem. When I first got out at Pearce¹s, then you had a long hike. They didn¹t have a road then‹that was just ranch landŠSo it was just a trailŠAnd that¹s a long trail when you¹ve got to hike it. So first you froze to death, then when you went across this trail to reach this road, then the heat out in June, and then you burned to death! You went from one extreme to the other complete extreme. That was on the first trip. Then we got out to the highway. But things would stop for you, and we were just like we were, which is probably pretty sad-looking. But we hailed, and the bus stopped. They would do it then, because they didn¹t see anything like this in those days. And they stopped and we got on and then told them, so they took us right into Boulder then. So then at Boulder City we had some clothes that had been sent there. But imagine those people, they were from the East, and they were looking so horrified, I can remember.

What made you want to get into the river business?

How did you go from swimming toŠ? Well, I liked it outdoors and I thought, "If I could only get some people, that¹d at least pay for the trips,² because then I was selling real estate in Los Angeles in the winter to support meŠto do all these [trips]ŠBut I always did a lot of crazy things, you know. I mean I biked, I did things other people didn¹t doŠand just did it if I wanted to do it. I just simply figured I could do it and usually managed somehow (chuckles) because I¹m made that wayŠpartially being born in Chicago where you were self-reliant. There, in the tenement district, why, it was up to you to survive, because we didn¹t know day-by-day where meals were coming from. So I was in that rougher element. But the training was sort of goodŠbecause I had a mother who wanted you to have spirit. She¹d always say, "You¹re on the bottom, but everything has to be up from here. So if you keep spirit, you¹ve got good health, why, you¹re lucky.² And so that was her thing, that you¹re already on the floor, you can¹t get any lower. So if you keep your health and have a good spiritŠShe was so terrificŠshe was something that the average don¹t haveŠ

How did you start talking people into coming down the river with you?

Well I talked my life away. I was selling real estate, but literally, as well as selling real estate, I [was] selling river trips‹trying to sell them. People didn¹t commit at first. You had to talk your life away, and then I decided, well, the only way I¹m ever going to get anybody is to take picturesŠthen I had started to take pictures, and the first ones were pretty rough, but they were pictures anyhow. Then I showed them at men¹s clubs and all that. Even those pamphlets, you couldn¹t get anybody, because river running wasn¹t popular, there was none of that stuff, nothing was here in America‹everybody went to Europe that had any money. You did have a very small group, who like the Sierra Club, climbed mountains and all, but you didn¹t have anybody on the river at all. It just wasn¹t the thing to do. But you know the people I got were the really tough pioneersŠI probably got the pick of the crop when it come to that.

The first time you ever ran a commercial trip, what was that like?

ŠI was always trying to do business, but it didn¹t turn out that way. It usually was "share the expense,² only I was paying the most of it at first (chuckles) with the boats and all. Because it took time‹you¹d be surprised how long it took. Like Katie Lee told you, when she had even went with the first hard boats there, like Nevills or when [Frank] Wright bought them and all‹they just couldn¹t get passengersŠBut the ones you did get were real pioneers, and they remained friends for life. Those people were something else: they took care of themselves all the way through. And they come back and back. A lot of them that I got was almost like a club that came back every year. But of course that still didn¹t make for a business, you knowŠYou¹d get 15­20 that¹d come back every year. But that only made so much, not what you needed. And that was when I even then started to take the film, and then I showed the film to all the men¹s clubs and everything, because then you sure weren¹t getting no womenŠI showed some colleges. But that didn¹t seem to get anything then. They liked the pictures, but you didn¹t get anybody to go. So it was mostly men¹s clubs that did more good. And you got more the professional type even then, oddly enough, rather than what you would think would be the ruggeder ones like the truck drivers and that. But you didn¹t get them at all. And you still don¹t get those type people that much, is the odd thing, because of course they do physical work when they¹re going, and they don¹t need that. So when they go, they go for something different entirely, that is not so physical. And the women you even got then, they were real pioneers. The ones I did have were really rugged. They were rugged for life. AndŠpeople laugh when I now say "they don¹t make them like they used to!² (laughs) Yeah, they don¹t make people like they used to‹they¹re always telling me this back because I¹m always saying it. Even the ranger repeats that, "They don¹t make people like they used to.² But the rangers help do this when they do so many things, not wanting people to wade out to wash their hands and all this stuff‹because it¹s supposed to be an experience‹it¹s not supposed to be a yacht trip. And if you can¹t wade out in the water to wash your hands‹it¹s sad, I think, but so it goes.

When you started running commercially, who else was down here doing it ?

Well, the commercial come in with the dam. ŒTil then, there wasn¹t no commercial. And a few got interested when they heard the word of the dam, because then they knew there would be a concession. When a dam come in, it usually meant concessions and all that, and park and all that comes with it. And I, not knowing as much as they did, didn¹t realize how big it would be. But my brother had said to me, when he was reading, he said, "Well, your day is over, you¹d better enjoy it. Because now with the dam coming in, why then it will begin to look different, because it will make the river 50 percent safer, and the Grand, being what it is for scenery, then it will become a tourist highway,² was the way he put it. "It will become a tourist highway through the water, because then it will be tamed down and it won¹t be like now.² And he spoke the words so absolutely true, because of course he was an engineer and he was up on everythingŠSo he read it just right, because that¹s just what happened. And I didn¹t believe him. I couldn¹t think it would ever be. When they first paved this road down to Lees Ferry, that was when it really hit me that things were changingŠputting that road into Lees Ferry made the big turning point. Because see even here, you used to have to go down, and they took people by truck from Marble Canyon, even if they came by bus out to here, because you had to ford the Paria River. That¹s the only way you ever got through‹there was no other way. You had to ford the Paria River. So you had to know just how to get across that all the time. And when you had floods or anything in the summer, rain showers, sometimes it was a problem. You had people wading, you had them doing everything to begin with, and then they rode down, the dust used to fly if it was dryŠSo your trips to start with wereŠruggeder than they are now.

So the dam really made a difference?

Oh, yeah, the dam coming in, why, then change came fast. And then that¹s when they got the rangers. First time you ever had rangers of any kind or description, and things really changed then, quick.

Do you think it really did make the river safer? Oh, naturally! Oh, sure. Now, you wouldn¹t have many river runners if you changed it back, and the reason being, even when they had the water in 1982 and 1983, all the boats were upsetting and they were flying people out by helicopter and all this stuff. Then you didn¹t have driftwood. You were only getting the water, and it¹s not as powerful as it would have been before all the dams, because at least it was slowed down with all these dams. It slows the water. It was a lot faster before you got all these dams. Even your smoother water was faster before you had all these dams inŠit just had more velocity to it. So they would not go if it was like it was, because then you had the real heavy silt in the water all the time‹it was permanent and forever. And the water was pure, you could drink it, but people had a hard time getting used to drinking that water. It used to be a real test of river rats to be able to just dip their cup inŠIt was pure to drink it, but because of the coloring of it, and it had wood chips in it, you know, and all. You¹d strain them out mainly, but nothing else. Let the wood settle all down and pour it off, and then just drink it. But I used to drink in the river all the time until the dam come in. Of course, nevermore, with all that civilization up there and you know. Then as it got for sure the lake up there, then you sure wouldn¹t drink it, with all the boats on the river and everything, because you can¹t keep from contamination, however you want to put it. And so that changed things in that way.
Oh, no, it¹s a lot safer. Heavens! And then you never dreamt of a thing like the water you have now at Nankoweap, that slow water. Because then when the water was slow at all, it was not like that; that big volume of water coming down picked up all the silt and kept it moving. You didn¹t get lakes like you got now in Nankoweap. AndŠnow when any silt is picked up by the up and down river of the peaking power, then it¹s put down into places like Nankoweap‹that¹s just where it drops itŠso that it makes it worse, makes fewer campsŠIn the old dayŠwater would keep coming up it would pick all the sand up, and it would drop in all these areas, so then it didn¹t matter that the storms washed it out from above. But it¹ll never be again, because there¹s nothing to put silt in, nothing gets back up there where your camps was, so camps will be your major problem. And no matter what they do, there¹ll still be the big problem, because it isn¹t as much peaking power as it is flood, and just the fact that a dam¹s a dam, and the dam¹s in.

How long do you think it will last?

Oh, the dam will last, but I think you¹re going to have trouble on camps going down the river, unless they blast out some camps in the rock that are up higher that you go to. You¹re going to have problems, because they¹ll slowly disappear one by oneŠThe dam just changed everything. It¹s not nature, never will be. You put dams in, well that¹s just what you got. You can just figure that you change foreverŠA lot hate it now because of course boatmen might have liked to experienced the day before. But as far as people go, they wouldn¹t be as interested if they had the muddy water all the time, and if it was that high all the time. Now the average probably wouldn¹t go, they get very many upsets. And then, of course, no matter where they went, they could upset pretty easy on that high water, as they found out even in 1983, which wasn¹t high to me. The 70 [thousand cfs] was not high to me, because I was used to havingŠ90,000 all the time. And so to me that was nothing, but to them it was somethingŠSo if you put it back now, people still wouldn¹t go too much on it.

How did you come to design your boat?

Well, to get people to go, I started out with a single boatŠAfter swimming probably, because of my being of the rougher type, I didn¹t think like other people did. So to me, I didn¹t think it was that bad to upset and hang onto the boat and ride it and get in. But of course you had to admit all this, and people wouldn¹t go. So I¹m trying to get people. So then I thought about the three boats together. Then I got the three boats tied together and it worked so well with those little Navy ones, I knew I had something. But I still couldn¹t convince people, because they looked so small, because those boats are small‹I mean smaller than the average rowboat now. So then somehow when I got those three, they first come out, those three big ones, why, boy, I didn¹t hesitate a minute and I put three of them togetherŠI even had the motor on the outside of the middle one, and that was something, because you couldn¹t get to it. And it would hit everything, all the rocks and all. You couldn¹t afford to have that. So I knew I had to do something about getting the motor on the inside. So I¹m the first one to get the motor onŠand to cut the bottom out. You weren¹t too sure at first about cutting the bottom out of a rubber boatŠAnd just tying a tube in, you weren¹t sure how this was going to work. So everything was very experimental, believe me‹your ties and everything‹I didn¹t have them down right at first. I didn¹t have them tied together right‹a whole lot of things weren¹t right. And it was just through time that eventually I got it down to where then it was good. Of course now they make the boats without the bottomŠBut this was all experimental in that high-water day. And then I only used a ten-horse motor to begin with, which is nothing with three big boats. I mean, that¹s a laugh if you think about it. But it¹s what I had and it¹s all I could afford. (chuckles) Then I found on the little bitty boats, though, with the oars, I never used a motor up until after the dam. But then I did put a little motor on the middle, and it was real hard because then they hit so much with that motor. But you could use it, and it was good that way, but too expensive to be any good commercially. Well, I used those boats though [the little thrill boats], up until about four years agoŠ

Have you seen the boatmen change over the years ? What kind of people were running the river aside from you?

Well, in the old days, I told you, there weren¹t many people running‹you only had a couple of adventurers that you never hardly seen. So you didn¹t have other boatmen as suchŠThey just didn¹t go, and it¹s hard for you to think now, but this was when they just didn¹t do these thingsŠThey were different. But I don¹t see that you get that much total change. You mainly get younger kids in now, more college, which you didn¹t have at all thenŠIt was usually somebody that was a little bit more yet of a pioneer, a prospector, something like that, that liked to be outŠusually about twenty-five or thirty years old, rather than in collegeŠ

The passengers: what do you think they used to get out ofŠYou say they don¹t make passengers like they used toŠ

Well in those days you went because they liked rapids. It was rough, and it was tough, and your trips were long. They were all eighteen days and there was no way out, and there were no other boats and there weren¹t helicopters or anything like that. There wasn¹t anything, so that you were out and totally dependent on surviving yourself and getting through. In so many words, on our boat, we were dependent on one another, and right there, that¹s what you got. What you¹re going to do and how you¹re going to get outŠit¹s up to you to get through anything‹rocks or punctures or anything. And what you got is right there, and that¹s it. And so you do have to improvise on different things. You know, it isn¹t like you can do now at all. And you didn¹t have drinks or anything then, either. No way you were hauling beer down or anything in those days, because it was impossible‹too long, you didn¹t have the room, and you kept everything soft, so when you go through these rapids they didn¹t hit nothing. You didn¹t have frames, and you wouldn¹t have had frames, because they can¹t take it, they don¹t bend, the boats don¹t give. The frames take away from the boats giving when it comes to really bending around really terrific rapids. And my rowboats only had little wooden mounts about that high for the oars to go into, because you didn¹t want some big long thing sticking up there that could kill you if it hit you in the head if the boat turned over. And I still, to this day, personally don¹t like frames of any kind. I personally just don¹t like frames up where people are. See, my big boat doesn¹t have that‹it¹s all soft, so that I am not bothered to this day. I could take that boat across the ocean, actually. I¹m positive it¹d go right acrossŠIf you could keep in gas‹no problem. And I wouldn¹t be afraid of the storms or anything in that boat, because it¹s one that can survive. It¹d take some people to hang on, though. You¹d have to be able to hang on, and you¹d have to have the heart for it. (laughs) But it could be done. (laughs) That¹s for sure.

Do you think the river teaches people anything? Even today?

Oh yes, I think it¹s good for people today, different things do occur. Because people really are so well-spoiled todayŠI won¹t say "spoiled,² because it¹s possibly good they have a good life, but still it¹s good for them to know a little bit about how things are when things don¹t go right. You know, they have to learn that on the Canyon‹it¹s the person themselves, and not how much money they got or who they are, that counts, if they¹re with a regular group. They come in‹in so many words, everybody on my boat is the same no matter what they do in life. It doesn¹t matter to me what they do. So if you¹re the president or the ditch digger, I don¹t care. And nobody else cares either. It¹s just how you get along and all this type of thing. You do have the heat and cold and you can¹t predict thingsŠSo it¹s kind of good for them to get out where they can¹t turn a button and have everything just so-so. (laughs) Once in a while it¹s good to wake ¹em up. Then they know they¹ve been somewhere. If you just go and stay in good hotels and everything, I mean, when you get back you really haven¹t did anything that differentŠAnd where they have problems and allŠPeople used to come outŠat the end of the trip they¹d laugh and say, "Let¹s see, what was I worrying about so much?² They couldn¹t even remember it. (laughs) It had gone so by the wayside, you know, what they were worrying about before‹it wasn¹t really that important. And so that¹s the thing. If you can make itŠI like it a little rougher, because it gets people away from their every-day life.

Did you ever keep count of how many trips you¹ve done?

Oh no! See, I didn¹t count in my day‹you just got who you could take. And I was out there all year. For years, you never thought of such a thing. That came in, really, when they started to make so many trips for a boatman, so many trips for a leaderŠI never thought of keeping track of anything. And of course, I, much more than the average, don¹t like to write, don¹t like any detail. When my sister was living, she handled any businessŠand I never even wrote a check, because I didn¹t have to be bothered to sign them. I didn¹t do any of that. And that was wonderful, because just since she passed away now, of course I do, and pay the bills. But I miss that because I had become accustomed to being‹she helped me be very carefree, because I didn¹t have to do none of that. I have never claimed to be that all-out commercial‹even though the Grand Canyon tries to make me so. (laughs) They¹re having a hard time, and they know it!

Well, they¹re kinda trying to make us all....

Yeah, they¹ve been trying to work this. Of course I have to go with them, like the [table argument], because I was a pioneer and I liked my little table down on the ground, my wading pool [what Georgie used for a table in the old days]. I didn¹t see anything wrong with it. But I had to change, because they told me so. So I got the table, and I really got a fancy one when I got one. I said, "Oh well, if I gottaŠAnd so I got one, you know, that has a place to put all the spoons and everything, to hang them. I had the fanciest little table on the river since I had to go for itŠI don¹t like those big old square tables.

Too hard to handle?

What I have is low, and you have to set it up, have to put pieces together, but it sure is a handy little thing, I have to admit, once you get it up. But I had to change. I never did hear of anybody complain about bending down to the sand. But the park rangers said people didn¹t want to, so I had to change.

Bet you¹ve seen a lot of changes.

Well, I had to change, because I was told so! (laughs) Not that I wanted to, but I was told toŠ The first ranger that went with me, I had to get a special permission out of Washington, and I was trying to do it so they wouldn¹t sit up and talk about Powell, talking about people drowning with silt in their clothes, because I said that was not true, and I¹m trying to get passengers. So I got the first one and had to have a special permit out of Washington, who was Dan Davis. [Sr.] (laughs)

Washington didn¹t want to let them come down?

Oh, no. No rangers were allowed on the river before the dam. Then when I put in for it, I said flatly, "Don¹t give me a desk clerk, now, give me someone who is a little ruggeder.² Yeah, I put it flatly, "Don¹t you give me a desk clerk.² But I got the right fellow, he was great! No complaints at all. He was just wonderful. Then he had heart problems, or some kind of problems I think early, and then they sent him back to Omaha and he set up parks. And then I had a good picture of him and this book was coming out and I had his permission, but I wanted to be sure it was still okay. I called back, and somehow they transferred me and I didn¹t know it, to the hospital. I talked to him, and lo and behold I¹m talking to him at the hospital and he¹s in for a heart operation the next day. So then he said when he was okay, he would call me, which he did. So then, he could take an early retirement or he could have some kind of a job there for some time where he¹d get more pension. And his kids were grown and everything, and he said, "I don¹t know what to do.² I said, "Are you kidding?ŠYou were always crazy about Arizona, and you mean to tell me you don¹t know what to do?! When you don¹t know‹let¹s put it flatly‹how long you¹re going to live?! Why, boy, what are you hesitating about? Take that lesser money and get back to Arizona, for heaven¹s sake, and you can pick up part-time something!² So he said, "Really?² And I said, "I wouldn¹t even think about not quitting, if it was me. You don¹t have the kids, you don¹t have that responsibility no more.² So then he called about a week later and said, "You know, I decided to go your way.² (laughs) And he did! He come out to ArizonaŠthen he got a part-time job in that living museum. So then this was fine too because he was good at this sort of thing, and it followed with the line of what he had liked originally. And then the main fellow retired, and he¹s in full charge down there now!

Great!

Yeah, I hear from him off and on. So, of course he¹s my friend for life, for sure. He said he¹s so glad. Somehow he was just thinking money. When I told him, "Well after all, when you don¹t know how long you¹ve got to live,² which is what I did, you know, "why, how can you be so foolish (chuckles), not to do what you want to?!²

Is there any one trip that you ever did that stands out as being your favorite? Well, the one I did, oddly enough, though, is not in the Grand Canyon‹it was in Mexico in the Rio Grande Santiago, because I hadn¹t been there, they were building a dam. And then when I decided to go after the dam was built, then I always went down in August and they were having big rains there. And then all the gates were open‹a big flood‹and they said they were going to close them all, which they did when I come in. And then we got the boats ready to go. But it¹s a long story to tell. But everything about that whole trip, from the beginning to end, was unbelievable‹even to me, and I¹m used to everything! And to me, it happened so fast, and with such speed, that you just couldn¹t believeŠAs I¹ve said, it¹s an unbelievable trip. And it was the first trip I ever took women on in Mexico, because of it being so rough and you have the alligators and crocodiles in some spots. And when I went in August, why your landings were not silt‹they were like mud. And women didn¹t like that. And you do have the bugs thereŠAnd so then I didn¹t take women. But after the dam, well of course then it was going to be changed, and so one of the men said, "Georgie, I¹m tired of this all-man trip down here. You¹ve been on this so many times now, it¹s a milk run to you, even before the dam. So now let¹s take some women.² So okay, this is the first time I had women! (laughs) And then this is when they turned the dam loose on us just when we were starting‹we haven¹t even got anywhere. Before we¹re a mile down the river we got all kind of problems, right then!‹ including me, because I¹m under with the motor, because I hadn¹t had the boat pumped up, and we weren¹t ready to go. A couple of the Mexicans threw the ropes in and shoved us and said, "You¹ve got to go, they¹re opening the dam.² We didn¹t have the boats tight enough, we wanted to do that the last thing. And I had the little bitty boats, but I had the motor on them I tried to start the motor and thought, "Well, I can get back to land to finish getting rigged here,² and then it turned me underneath because it was soft with the motor. And then one boat went up in the air onto the other boat and a girl went off. And this was within the first half mile! We were only 500 feet below the dam!ŠAnd of course there are no pictures of a thing like this, because we were just finishing getting ready and they threw the ropes in. And there¹s no nothing! All you do is hang on for life. So probably the trip that I can think of with no equal, [I have] no pictures, because there was no time, no nothing. And of course the camera got wet and everything else by this time, because you weren¹t prepared that you were going to have such a fast take-off! Not with the dam on top of you!ŠI told people on the trip, "Don¹t tell your grandkids anything about this, because they¹ll think you slipped a marble!² (laughs) So I said, "You¹d just better keep it to yourself, unless you¹re talking to somebody else that was on the trip,² because they can¹t believe the things that happenedŠAnd then I didn¹t get nobody else that went on that trip, for all they were all old-time river rats‹they¹d went on the Grand different times with me, and I called the one doctor up who¹d been on lots of trips, and I said to him, "You ready for another river trip?² the next year, for he survived just fine. Nobody got drowned or anything‹everybody survived. And he said, "Do you know what? When I even take a shower now, I wear a life preserver!² (laughter) But that is quite a long story on that, to really be fully told.

Lew Steiger