Emory's "Military Reconnoissance"

THE LAST DAY OF THE WAGONS

"The road was unbroken, obstructed by bushes, and so bad the wagons made only 11/2 miles.. it was determined to leave the wagons and send for pack-saddles.."

MOUTH OF NIGHT CREEK

"We feasted today on blue quail and teal, at night Stanley came in with a goose. 'Signs' of beaver and deer were very distinct; the wolf . . . was traced on the river."

JOHN HANCE Guide, Trail Builder, Miner and Windjammer of the Grand Canyon

BY LON GARRISON "How did you lose the end of your finger, Captain Hance?" a visiting "dude" asked John Hance many years ago as they stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon, with John pointing out the various interesting points and giving his own explanations.

"My finger?" John Hance looked at his right hand where the tip of the index finger was missing. Undoubtedly he had never before considered what capital he could make of this slight deformity.

"Why, ma'am, I wore it off in thirty years of standing here on the rim of the Grand Canyon, pointing to the scenery!" And with this improvisation a success, he strode off to try it on the next dude he met. Generations of you Arizonans have had their mouths washed out with soap for things like thatJohn Hance became famous!

Consider this entry dated July 2, 1897, in his visitors' book kept during the time he was guiding parties down the Hance trail: "Anyone who comes to the Grand Canyon and fails to meet Captain John Hance will miss half the show. I can certify that he can tell the truth, though it is claimed by his friends that he is not exactly like George Washington in that particular as he can do the other thing when necessary to make a story sound right. Long Live Captain Hance!"

One of his oldest friends, Mrs. Elisabeth B. Heiser of Flagstaff, reports the following comment, according to Frank J. Lockridge: "Heiser," he would say, "I've got to tell stories to them people for their money; and if I don't tell it to them. who will? I can make these tenderfeet believe that a frog eats boiled eggs; and I'm going to do it; and I'm going to make 'em believe that he carries it a mile to find a rock to crack it on."

He built the first trail into the canyon-was the first guide: advertising for tourists in the Arizona Champion, Flagstaff, Arizona, September 18, 1886. From then until his death in 1919, his interest in his mines within the canyon was gradually replaced by his love of sharing his whoppers with visiting dudes and he became an expert at it!

John Hance's humor was strictly of the windy, western