Grand Canyon 'muled' in 1924

My grandparents, Kate and Darwin Morse, 'muled' the Grand Canyon in 1924! At the bottom of the Canyon, they had to walk across a wire suspension bridge to the other side of the river and catch their mule that was sent across by the guides. If you didn't catch your mule, you had to walk back up out of the Canyon!!

Mule crossing the bridge over the Colorado River in 1926.

The bridge today.
More pix of the bridge

Driving to CA in 1924

My Grandfather, Darwin Morse and my Grandmother, Kate Winthrop, eloped in 1924 along with my Grandmother's sister, Emily Winthrop, and her husband, Corey Miles. Darwin was working on Grenville Winthrop's estate, Groton Place, as an electrician and caretaker of the birds. Corey Miles was the family's chauffeur. They stole their father's car, got married in the near by Interlaken section of Stockbridge, Massachusetts and drove up to Montreal the same day. Shortly thereafter, they all drove to California in 1924. I believe that is Darwin at the wheel.

From Test Barn to Stable

This what my stable looked like in the late 1940's when it was home to my grandfather's heard of Guernsey cows. It was known as the "Test Barn" where the best milking cows were milked. There is a room in my house known as the 'hired hand's room' where the head milker slept. He milked cows twice a day, 7 days a week, for ten years and never missed a day.

By the time I was old enough to actually remember anything, the Test Barn had been converted into a stable for horses. The stall fronts are where the gutter is on each side of the center aisle and there is a wide garage door at the far end.