Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

From June 28th through July 3rd, I had the privilege of being on a raft on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This was part of a family trip “for the guys.” On a trip put together by my father-in-law Allan, his two sons, me (a son in law), my three sons, two other grandsons, one grandson-in-law, and one great grandson spent five days and five nights on the Colorado River. These blog posts are part of the story.

One morning the river runners pulled the two rafts next to one another and stopped the engines. Andy, the river runner on our raft, stood and read a poem from a small paperback he had. The poem was about the Bureau of Reclamation, Floyd Dominy its director, and the Glen Canyon Dam.

People who live in the the Four Corner’s region often speak of the Glen Canyon Dam. They speak of the golden age of dam building in America in the 1960s. Some people have little good to say about dams. Some have little good to say about people in Washington D.C. deciding how people in the west should live. Other people have more good to say. Dams have shaped the economy here for the past half dozen decades.

Andy read a long poem about “the bureau boys” and Floyd and their dreams of calm water (lakes behind dams) and house boats. Then the poem turns dark or heroic depending on your point of view. The poem describes those who dream of using TNT to remove Glen Canyon Dam and create Dominy Falls.

The poem is called Floyd’s Void and was written by Vaughn Short. It is found in a book titled Raging River Lonely Trail, Tails Told by the Campfire’s Glow. I doubt you will see this book in a book store. You might see it in an outdoor supply store frequented by hikers or river runners in the Four Corner’s region. I found a copy through a used bookseller online – alibris.com.

Here are a few lines:

There’s a breed of men who sit at their desks
And they like their water tame,
They like to dam the rivers up,
Then give the lakes a name
They do
Then give the lakes a name

So give three cheers for the bureau boys
And a special rah for Floyd.
He built his dam and he built it well

…

But there’s a breed of men both hardy and few
Who lie at night on the lonely bars
And there beneath the glittering stars
They dream of TNT
They do
They dream of TNT.

…

They dream of a mighty boom and a quake.
They dream of a swirl in a vanishing lake.
They dream of a river wild and free,
Freed from its shackles by TNT
Sweet bliss
Freed from its shackles by TNT.

Now! Let’s have three cheers for the boys on the bars
Who dream their dreams ‘neath the glittering stars.
Who dream of a wild and wonderful treat –
A house boat running Dominy Falls at a million second feet
Ah yes
A house boat running Dominy Falls at a million second feet!

These lines are famous in a few circles of people who live in the region. My sons and nephews will never forget the three cheers for the bureau boys line. Perhaps they don’t appreciate the poetry, but they will share the memory.