I was almost clear when I was drawn over a dip, bow first, and struck a glancing blow against another rock I had never seen.  There was a crash, and the boards broke like egg-shells.  It was all done in a few moments.  The Edith was a wreck, I did not know how bad.  My brother had disappeared.  Lauzon was frantically climbing over some large boulders trying to reach the head of the next rapid, where the boat was held in an eddy.  My boat was not upset, but the waves were surging through a great hole in her side.  She was drawn into an eddy, close to the base of the wall, where I could tie up and climb out.  It seemed folly to try the lower end with my filled boat.  Climbing to the top of the rock, I could see half a mile down the canyon, but my brother was nowhere to be seen and I had no idea that he had escaped.  I was returning to my wrecked boat when Bert waved his arms, and pointed to the head of the rapid.  Going back once more, I saw him directly below me at the base of the sheer rock, in an opening where the wall receded.  He had crawled out twenty feet above the next rapid.  Returning to my wrecked boat, I was soon beside him.  He was exhausted with his struggle in the icy waves; his outer garments were frozen.  I soon procured blankets from my bed, removed the wet clothes, and wrapped him up.  Lauzon, true to our expectations of what he would do when the test came, swam out and rescued the Defiance before she was carried over the next rapid.  He was inexperienced at the oars and had less than two hours practice after he had joined us.  It was a tense moment when he started across, above the rapid.  But he made it!  Landing with a big grin, he exclaimed, ’Young fellows, business is picking up!’ then added, ’And we’re losing lots of good pictures!’”

     “These experiences were our Christmas presents that year. 
     They were not done up in small packages.”

“We repaired the boat on Christmas day.  Three smashed side ribs were replaced with mesquite, which we found growing on the walls.  The hole was patched with boards from the loose bottom.  This was painted; canvas was tacked over that and painted also, and a sheet of tin or galvanized iron went over it all.  This completed the repair and the Edith was as seaworthy as before.”

     This is Emery’s account of the “Christmas Rapid.”

I will add that the freezing temperature of the water and the struggle for breath in the breaking waves left me exhausted and at the mercy of the river.  An eddy drew me out of the centre of the stream when I had given up all hope of any escape from the next rapid.  I had seen my brother on the rock below the head of the rapid and knew there was no hope from him.  As I was being drawn back into the current, close to the end of the sheer wall on the right, my feet struck bottom on some debris washed down from the cliff.  I made three efforts to stand but fell each time, and finally crawled out on my hands