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Whipple describes the route to their camp
on January 2:
"We then followed Leroux in search of the
main stream, to a point which he recognized as being near
Capt. Sitgreaves’ Camp No. 21. Here we saw the ravine [Hell
Canyon]
in
which the creek flowed south, and followed a branch [Devil
Dog Canyon]
about
four miles to a point of hills, where we again encamped."
They must have reached Hell
Canyon near where the Bill Williams Loop Road now crosses because
at this point the canyon turns southwest. If they had reached
it much farther upstream the creek would be flowing magnetic
west. Four miles west on a sinuous trail along the edge of
Hell and Devil Dog Canyons would bring them near Nagiller
Tank.
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At this point Whipple
will be looking for a good observation point to see if this
creek will take him west or southwest to the Colorado River.
I first assumed that he would have traveled to the west edge
of the plateau via the open prairie (north half of section
29, T21N, R1E). This would have brought him to Nagiller tank
from the north or more likely to a different campsite a mile
or so north of Nagiller. To investigate this possible alternate campsite we
climbed the 6671 ft. peak about a mile north of
Topographical Hill and above Flat Mesa and found an
extensive view to the west but no view of the course and
mouth of Hell Canyon to the south. The campsite to the
north, and its corresponding hills therefore, do not fit
Whipple's description.
I now believe that Whipple stayed right at the edge of, or
even in the canyons on his four-mile jaunt to the west,
approaching the neighborhood of Nagiller tank from the south. The tank
appears to be spring-fed but, strangely, neither of the
diarists mentions a spring at this bivouac. Judging from the
distances given to the hills south and west, they may have
camped a short distance below the tank. The proposed
Topographical Hill west of Nagiller tank is more or less at
the southwest corner of this part of the Colorado Plateau or
Mogollon Rim and thus makes a natural place for a view of the
country to the west and south. Whipple states:
"Ascending a hill half a mile south, we
saw an immense and beautiful valley, into which the creek
enters from the mouth of the canyon, about four miles
distant."
This hill to the south fits the 6775 ft.
southeastern extremity of the proposed Topographical Hill,
which is about ¼ mile south on the map but closer to ½ mile
in climbing distance. From here Whipple could see the course
of Hell and Devil Dog Canyons, and all the country to the
south and southwest.
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Whipple writes the next morning (January
3):
"A mile west from our bivouac No. 4, we
ascended a ridge called Topographical hill, where we had a
view still more extensive than that noted yesterday."
The base of the ridge of Topographical Hill is
a little over one half mile west of a their bivouac, assuming the camp
was below Nagiller Tank. Climbing to the north or south summit, however, would probably require closer to a mile of
travel.
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Lieutenant Tidball’s diary entry on
January 3 reveals that they were camped on a ravine with a
north-south orientation:
"First ascended for a mile up the westerly
base of the ravine upon which we encamped to the top of a
high hill or mountain from which we could see the whole
country round for 50 mi."
The Nagiller ravine is the only north-south
ravine in this area that is adjacent to hills that fit the
descriptions of Whipple and Tidball.
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Beale's and Whipple's maps show the party cutting
across the southern edge of a feature which may be Flat Mesa. This would require
that they descended from the plateau near the north end of
Topographical Hill. Comparing the two maps below,
however, it occurred to me that the feature that I labeled
"Flat Mesa" on the Beale map actually fits the
position of Topographical Hill better. Since Whipple's
diary does not mention Flat Mesa it seems more likely that
Beale (who had probably not personally visited the spot)
would depict Topographical Hill on his map. If Beale's map
shows Topographical Hill and Whipple's map shows Flat Mesa
(with a black dot on the trail about where Topo Hill would
be), then the two maps agree nicely with each other and with
the route Whipple described.
