ADVENTURE BOUND!

[Music] we Americans are adventurers at Heart of course it is inconvenient for most of us to go sailing off to the South Pole or plot across the Arabian desert in search of bigger and better pyramids flying around the world is fun but you can't get very close to Nature that way there's always something new Under the Sea but what's the use the folks back home wouldn't believe your fish stories anyway and after all why go so far away there are plenty of Wide Open Spaces plenty of opportunities for adventure and exploration right here in America there is for example the Monument Valley area of the Southwest a fantastic Wilderness of Nature's gigantic sculpture a rock ribbed Storehouse of Secrets of Forgotten Ages of Men mysterious forbidding yet alluring with the challenge of the great unknown here is a world apart yet within motoring distance of all America indeed if your courage and your car can stand the rough goinging you may even drive through parts of Monument Valley never before crossed in an automobile each summer a selected group of University students and faculty leaders from widely separated schools unite under the banner of the Rainbow Bridge Monument Valley expedition to invade this American land of mystery books are left behind but education goes right on they learn by doing white collars have been laid on the show dress up clothes have been replaced by faded cocky pants battered hats and hob nail boots this is no PA our adventure these young fellas are on their way to an age-old but still New Frontier one of the least known areas in the United States to pry out the secrets locked in its Rocky Wilderness here in the land of the tacern Navajo lies one of Nature's Own great Laboratories vast Untold L is jealously guarded behind Jagged skyscraper ramp Parts batted by the elements through millions of years from farway points members of the Expedition converge on a camp at the edge of the Untamed reaches old friendships are gay renewed yet all are impatient to hit the trail to enter the field of exacting work and valuable achievement wrinkled suncar John Wetherill veteran trader is a gold B of information on the Monument Valley region leaders go into huddle with him to map a series of field trips meanwhile the expedition's traffic department confers with some uncooperative Burrows they are needed for pack Serv on a nearby Mountain looks as if the fellow on the truck doesn't have enough pull with the right Burrows in case you can't tell he's tried to get the burrow onto the truck burrows can't be used by this party however they need boats while they're going on a 3weeks cruise on the San Juan and Colorado rivers in tiny collapsible craft they will shoot Roaring Rapids and penetrate into Hidden Side Canyons seldom seen by white men bolts and men go to the San Juan by truck their route leads through Monument Valley where towering Giants of stone dominate the landscape agathla the mightiest is nearly as tall as the Empire State Building Kit Carson famed Indian Scout gave the monument a second name El Capitan when he was chasing the navajos back in the 1860s this must be the granddaddy of all the ows for millions of years this giant of stone has blinked down on the solemn Valley he surely ought to have the wisdom of the ages from a perch 600 ft above the surrounding terrain the owl peers over an outdoor Hall of statues of strange colors and stranger shapes what whim could have prompted nature to create this bizarre stage set with lifeless monsters as old as the owl are three solitary Sandstone Pinnacles Man dwarfed by their lonely massiveness calls them the three sisters standing erect and aloof is the totem pole a slender pillar of stone symbol of the scattered Indian families of the region for all its slimness it rises 600 ft Skyward as tall as a 50-story building on past The Monuments they go passengers on the truck get a thrill as it zooms over veritable stair steps of stone reeling and dipping hour after hour of this sort of going is a mighty severe test of stamina for the truck but it doesn't seem to mine it takes the beating and goes right on then it leaps out onto the smooth sand of a stream bed speeds along gay but suddenly the truck's rear end sinks deep trapped in the treacherous quick sand of an underground stream sand like lead is shoveled from the buried undergear until backs are ready to break after 2 hours of hard label a try is made not yet back to the digging boys now try again Ah that's more like it stairs Avenue and quicksand Boulevard call for the sternest stuff in cars and men but the real test comes on a steep hill that mother nature design with 35° grades and cork screw turns the road bed is loose and shaky and jutting rocks along the trail tear at the fenders these cars are the first to conquer this hill going down calls for safe certain breaking and the return trip demands plenty of brute power at last the level of of the San Juan has reached the Explorers are going to face the river surging currents and Rapids in these folding eggshell Craft river explorers travel light and packing is soon completed out into Midstream they go to be carried to New Adventures on the muddy San Juan as it everlastingly digs away at the canyon walls here's some wild west rough riding and without a horse too those swirling Waters know how to hand out to Thrill uhoh it looks as if they're no so here they come ready for the worst here are some of the promised Thrills and it's no place for faint Hearts the river has its more pleasant moods now the men can rest on the Roars and Muse on the Majestic Grandeur of the canyon walls towering high above what's this has our Fleet been Shipwrecked no it's just an overnight camp by The River's Edge boats are turned over to serve a shelters without them the sun might Rouse the men so early they'd have to help get breakfast by midday it's 105 in the shade and no shade just to keep cool these fellas go to bargaining a sandill is their snowbank and an air mattress there sled guess the air mattress is a useful Gadget no Explorer should be without on a siesta alisan Juan it's just a thing but then there is a rude awakening and a quick cold shower to bargaining And siestas Delay the cruise only briefly the men look like a family of giant Beatles as they prepare to Launch launch their boats Giants one minute but pygmies the next from a massive Cliff overlooking the river the party suggests the toy Fleet as it emerges from a side Canyon onto the wider Waters of the Colorado while the river exploration continues the base camp is a beehive of activity field parties come and go on special scientific missions and a lot of newcomers have turned up meet General Grant the general doesn't have the familiar cigar and for the safety of his ERS let's hope he doesn't smoke several candidates for the House of David baseball team have appeared too if you think the men on the river face danger shooting Rapids how about this fellow who puts himself in the hands of an amateur Barber this fellow wants to prove that the fine Tan on his back is really tan and not dirt is there a washing machine in the house if someone decides to haul sand in the wheelbarrow this laundryman will have to close up shop the white man's ceremon is interest in novaj too brushing the teeth is on par with a dance to the Rain God some of the Indians come to offer rugs or blankets for sale and they are First Rate bargainers it looks like No Deal down through the generations comes the Indians love of jewelry the navajos get the most out of their money they not only spend it but they use it for buttons necklace pieces and in hatbands rings and bracelets of silver and turquoise are highly prized by men and women Alik FL the navajos lead a simple Carefree existence a shelter of tree limbs interwoven with twigs and leaves is their summer home their winter Hogan is formed of poles covered with bark and damp Earth it keeps them snug from winter cold as unchanging as the chocolate colored Cliffs above them are the navajos centuries before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Indians of the Southwest ground their meal with the stone mono and the Metate just as the navajos do today civilization's way of spinning and weaving on intricate machines is unknown to the navajos in the shade of a Pinon tree dexterous hands twirl a crude spindle while fingers form and draw the yarn Navajo rugs and blankets are known the world over they symbolize the age-old craft of the peoples of the Southwest the Vivid patterns are carried only in the minds of the women back into dimly remembered times goes the Navajo tradition that the back of the head shall be flat so each baby is strapped to the Cradle board SED in coverings but long ago Indians of another race roam these Bleak Rocky lands it is no easy task for the archaeologist to rest the story of these long dead peoples from The Towering Cliffs and the sun parched deserts in Monument Valley a driver must have strong hands on the wheel wow and a car that can stand bumps and more bumps but wait sharp eyes discover an unusual arrangement of stones there's excited digging and yet there is Extreme Caution this may be the grave of a basket maker Indian who lived 1500 years ago and it is see the dark rim of the Telltale basket surrounded by bones way back even before the Dark Ages an Indian doubtless sat near this very spot there is more excitement As Leaders find what is apparently the sight of another burial ground all all available shovels go into service and an arrow shaft is dug through a sandbank pots arrow heads ax heads scores of implements are uncovered to shed new light on prehistoric peoples one burial that of a woman is surrounded by Pottery jars another grave is that of a medicine man beside his bones are those of a fowl possibly a turkey proud he must have been of his innumerable turquoise Jewels which the archaeologist nearly 8 centuries later sifted out from the sand of his unmarked grave the burials are dated about 1150 ad in the next 100 years the Pueblo Indians more and more began to live in communities for defense against enemies a group of families often sought out a protected cave in which to construct a communal dwelling this great prehistoric apartment house was perfectly located defensively it is called betatakin meaning side Hill House when it was built 800 years ago it comprised 135 rooms stalwart Pueblo toiled over these steep rock walls hauling the stone slabs and the Timbers used for beans with their dwellings built these Indians had time for things other than work here is one of their art galleries human bones were found only a few rods from the dwellings uprights for Looms on which the Pueblo Indian women wo were set in holes dug in the Floor of living rooms in special rooms the women set up their crude grain mills Motorcars are called on again Expedition members here of a dwelling believe to stand at top a lonely Hill on a far away Mesa and a wild ride over untraveled areas is begun a ride that is a grueling test of an automobile stamina and strength the Indians call the hill Kili place of broken pottery and the archaeologists find thousands of chunks of broken jars and pots stwn about the hill was doubtless inhabited by skilled Pottery workers broken pieces were thrown into trash heaps and The Rains of the centuries washed them over the hillsides on the crest of the Hill High walls are standing walls that have withstood the fury of countless raging storms and the ravaging effects of the cutting blast of many Winters the Pueblo were good construction Engineers one sturdy wall still stands 13 ft tall after centuries of neglect the entire ruin comprises about 100 rooms many of them now Buried one of the inhabitants apparently thought his room needed decorating this is a Petroglyph made by pecking the stone with a sharp instrument Camp is made early and with reports completed on the newly found pblu Indian ruin there is cause for celebration so the chef stirs up a holiday Meal hot dog griddle cakes boy how's that for a three-point Landing Strike Up the Band Professor even though you're a th000 mil away let's have dance music and make this a festive occasion it's every man for himself folks walk don't run to the nearest exit the dance breaks up early and it's a mighty good thing it does there were no serious injuries fortunately anyway a good snooze has a desert dance beat all Hollow the men decide to visit the nearby Hy Indian towns where the next day finds them in the midst of the hopy country it is rugged and Rocky yet beautiful Hy Villages often are perched high on Stone maces dwellings are built of stones heun from nearby Cliffs historians say this town orbe is the oldest continuously inhabited Village in the United States hopes build much as the prehistoric poblo did they are the cultural descendants of the poblo inhabitants of this Village keep out of the range of cameras Indians of the Southwest believe there cannot be two things just alike because a picture is an exact copy they think it is the work of the evil spirit younger hopes are Freer from Superstition this girl proceeds with a daily duty of feeding a captive Hawk unconcerned about the grinding camera this Hawk a western red tail is kept and cared for so ceremonial feathers may be plucked from it when needed and here is a Hy Pottery Works going full blast this woman is President plant manager and sales director her name is pakan naha she forms and decorates her jars just as her ancestors did centuries ago Clay is taken from the hills jars are shaped by hand and Polished with stone paint is made from minerals or with pigments boiled from wild flowers on the bottom of each of her Pottery pieces this woman paints a frog her trademark has become her name for Paka in Hopi means frog shooted Mountain Burrows are called into service the Expedition leaves this country with regret turning from the hes creations of art to Mother Nature's Own picture painting Rainbow Bridge the party must make scientific investigations on Route and locate the bridge in its proper place on the map this necessitates an approach by way of rainbow plateau and skeleton Mesa on which there is no Trail the treack leads over bald rocks a bleak ston expanse Baron of grass brush or tree it is a wearing struggle for men and beasts alike the Burrows need help with their weighty packs over some well nigh impassible points on and on the way leads past yawning precipices into deep forbidding gorges and again out onto sunbaked lifeless stretches and then with breathtaking suddenness the great Rainbow Bridge comes into view there it stands carved by Nature from living rock with infinite patience chipping wearing smoothing through millions of years its Grandeur and its Majesty beggar description it is like some ancient treasure hidden behind a great bastile for only the hardiest adventures reach the vantage point from where it can be seen thus far only few white men have looked on it although geologists number its years in the hundreds of millions surveyors and Engineers scale the perilous walls of nearby rocks and cliffs to make maps of the bridge and its surroundings to their knowledge of mapmaking these men must add the courage and Agility of a circus performer the human flies of the party clamor and pull themselves to the crest of the arch they look like Toy Soldiers marching over the summit the hodge podge of stones and cliffs is so massive that the bridge seems small yet the capital building at Washington could be set beneath it the mighty Arch Rises 308 ft above the canyon floor what a climax to weeks of stirring adventure and fascinating life in the outdoors skin bronzed by wind and Desert Sun heart and mind refreshed by communion with nature in her grandest most impressive mood the little party of explorers lies down for a well-earned rest as day ends the bright clear stars appear one by one like lanterns in a deepening blue sky and Trail weary Wanderers go early to bed so The Saga of a modern exploration Journey ends but memories of The Sight and Sounds the color and the beauty of those days will last a lifetime and in the pages of science new lines will be written from the reports of these Adventures a little more light will be thrown across the dim ageless Shadows of this half forgotten land of tumblestones tall spires and endless Beauty pap