1901: A Canyon Odyssey Lyrics - Infamous Stringdusters

1901 

There beneath the August sun 

A daring survey undertaken on the fly 

Colorado would request 

Divert the river water west 

For The Uncompahgre Valley was too dry 

There'd been one attempt before 

and they needed to know more 

Than what Bryant saw from base camps on the rim 

When the challenge whet their thirst 

two men planned to be the first 

to take the canyon floor route cut from deep within 

There's only one way the water flows 

Through a passage no one knows 

Heading down the Canyon Black 

They could never turn their back 

Staring down the Barrel of the Gunnison 

The Journey started as they planned 

with support from a third man 

who hiked the the old trail high above the river's hood 

'til they came upon a Narrow 

at the jaws of the Falls of Sorrow 

with one way out, they took the only way they could 

Diving deep into the churn 

maybe never to return 

The pair could only hope to breathe the air again 

The angry river turned and tossed 

and the two might have been lost 

Deep below the surface of the Gunnison 

There's only one way the water flows 

Through a passage no one knows 

Heading down the Canyon Black 

They could never turn their back 

Staring down the Barrel of the Gunnison 

Gunnison! 

Now the story has been told 

and while the river still runs cold 

The water gets to where it once had never been 

As for whether they escaped 

they made it out just bruised and scraped 

The two men never would forget the Gunnison. 

There's only one way the water flows 

Through a passage no one knows 

Heading down the Canyon Black 

They could never turn their back 

Staring down the Barrel of the Gunnison