Legacy

Hello, my name is Peter La Rue.  What I’m about to relate to you I will short term it and simply say, it’s about the Canyon Light.

I’d worked for a major hospital most of my working life.  Unfortunately the hospital closed when I was only 58, and I was thrust into an early retirement.

Fortunately I’d accumulated enough points to get my full pension.  Added to that was enough sick and accumulated vacation time to equal a years salary.  My wife still worked so that also helped.  Then a years worth of unemployment benefits also helped.  Altogether that pretty well covered my end of the family income contribution for two years.

That would leave two lean years before my Social Security would kick in on top of my other pension.   We did have a little vacation money saved from not taking vacations because knowing the hospital was going to close I saved my vacation time up.  So we decided to take a motor trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona as I’d always wanted to see it.

It was a pleasant drive that took about three days.  Could have been less, but we liked to take a leisurely pace so as to stop and look or a little side sashay here and there to see a point of interest.

I can’t help but mention one of the places we ate lunch in.  It was a nondescript truck stop called the Black Kettle.  I never knew how names were selected for places, but that was a cute name.

I can’t remember what the wife ordered, except she said it was good.  What I had was Shrimp Scampi.  I had always liked that and had it at a number of Seafood specialty places.  Now bear in mind, this was not, I repeat, not a seafood place.  Just a truck stop.  But tar and feather me in Maple Syrup if I’m lying; it was the best most fantastic Scampi I ever had eaten.  I salivate every time I remember it.

Well, now having got that commercial plug for the Black Kettle out of the way; let me say the next day we were at a rim point on the canyon enjoying the sunrise that was behind us and painting the canyon walls in a great variety of gorgeous colors.  It was indeed breathtaking.

As the sun continued to rise I witnessed a brilliant flash of light on the opposite canyon wall.  It was probably around two miles across at that point; and the flash I was guessing maybe a point forty or fifty feet below the rim.

I put my binoculars on the spot and it appeared to be coming from something near the entrance of a small cave.  I couldn’t quite make out what it might be.  Now as a hobby I was an avid rock hound.  I’d heard of the fabulous crystal cave in Mexico, so I immediately let my imagination wonder if that could be a really big quartz crystal.  If it was it would be worth a pretty piece of change.  I had to find out.

My wife said with her usual grin,” really! and what are you going to do, sprout wings and fly over?”  I said no, I’m going to drive over.  She was still being silly I guess as she said   “oh! on what bridge?”  However, I was serious.  I told her we would backtrack and go to that side of the canyon.  She then became a bit irritated and said “Peter that’s at least 80 miles out of our way for nothing  more  than a lark.  I said maybe so Dear, but indulge me please.  She consented but was none to happy about it.

In my younger years I’d worked for a County Surveyor and I hadn’t forgotten what I’d learned.  I knew finding that spot from the other side would be next to impossible unless I narrowed the odds a bit.  I did a 180 degree turn on my heels, pulled out my compass and looked at a couple of pines tall enough to be spotted from the other side.  I took a reading and noted what the 180 degree opposite  would be.

We took off and half way there I spotted what I knew I’d need.  That being an outfitters store.  I went in and bought a hammer, rock pinions, and climbing rope.  Plus safety harness. When I came out my wife started getting real unhappy about it all.

I got more lectures about danger, my age and a whole lot of other stuff, all implying I was a hard headed stubborn fool, even though she didn’t come right out and say it.

We got more or less to where I thought we should be.  There were no roads there but the ground was flat and hard.  I’d stop and take a reading and then say, not there yet, this I did several times and then I took another reading and said whoops!, to far.  Went back a bit and took another reading, and announced it’s just about right.

My plan was since I was a cautious fellow, even though my wife had doubts about that, was to get close to the edge, lay down and scootch  my head over to see if I could see that spot.

You can imagine how amazed I was when I got close to the edge and seen and noted two large iron rods had been driven deep into the rock and that there was a rope ladder hanging down from them.  I said to myself, well I must have found the right spot, but apparently I’m not the only one.  I decided to descend, but for safety’s sake I rigged the rope and harness to me even though there was a ladder, and I tied it off to one of the  iron stakes.

I went down about forty feet and landed on a slightly protruding ledge about four feet wide at the entrance to a cave.  I was immediately able to ascertain what the sun had shone on to make such a brilliant flash.  It appeared to be some sort of rough crystals of various sizes in a mesh bag.  Didn’t quite seem like quartz, but obviously belonged to someone.

I decided to explore and stepped into the cave a few feet.  I could see those whatever they were, crystalline like rocks studding out of the cave walls everywhere.  Breath taking it was.

I hollered hello, anyone here? I got a response, but it was an unexpected kind.  It was “help, help.”  I turned on my flashlight and proceeded toward the sound.  I found a middle aged man laying there propped up on one elbow.

I asked him what was wrong.  He replied, “I got clumsy and tripped over my own feet, I think I broke my ankle.”  “I’ve been laying here for three days, only able to crawl a bit.”  “I have my canteen and a few candy bars that kept me going, but I knew they wouldn’t last long.”   “It’s a miracle you found me.”

His name was John Mason, an amateur spelunker.  He’d noted the cave and wanted to explore it.  He was surprised at what he’d found.  Apparently the cave was loaded with Danburite, which was once called Mexican Diamonds back in the 1880’s when it was first discovered.  Actually sold as diamonds for a couple of years until testing noted a couple of points less in the hardness scale.  So then it got renamed.  Still it was  a stone of value.

John said he’d made several trips back and forth getting about a forty pound bag each time.

I asked him if he’d filed a claim and he said no.  Apparently since it was in a National Park it would be confiscated by the government, or so he thought.  I assured him that this was something I had knowledge about and that wasn’t totally the case.

I explained to John that under the law that the  discoverer is entitled to fifty percent of what’s found on government property.  It would be in his best interest to disclose his find.  Then the government would take over the operation more efficiently and he’d not have to make any more hazardous descents.  That sounded good to him.

Now to the matter of getting him out of there safely.  With me supporting him  I got him back to the cave entrance.  I put my safety harness on him and scrambled back up the ladder.  Between his two good hands and one good foot and my pulling him up, we got him topside safely.

I said we need to get you to a hospital.  He said he’d do that himself if we would just get him over to his airplane.  I said what airplane?  He pointed and said that one.  I said John that’s just a big rock.  He said look closer.  I did and under a camouflage net was an ultra light one man mini airplane.

I said but you have a broken ankle.  He said no problem, it took one hand for the switches, one hand for the stick, and one foot for the acceleration pedal.  He’d fly to his nearby ranch, taxi up to his doorstep and holler for his wife who would take him to a place of treatment. And in any case he wouldn’t leave the little airplane behind.  He was very adamant about it.

He also insisted I have the bag that was responsible for the flash that saved him.  I thanked him.  As he flew off I said to my wife, there were two miracles today.  One saved a life and the other offset the anticipated two lean years several times over.