The following article is reprinted from the Thursday, July 22, 1943m, Delta County Independent
Gordon Shipley Is Injured in Fall in Black Canyon — Lays Helpless for 24 Hours Before Rescue
Gordon Shipley, 27, of Rogers Mesa, had both knees and one elbow broken in a fall in Black Canyon, last Sunday, and lay helpless for 24 hours before rescuers could get him up from the bottom of the 2,000 foot canon.
Shipley was fishing in the canyon in the company with is brother-n-law, Carl Amsbury of Paonia, when he slipped and fell 15 or 20 fee t from the rocks at the side of the canyon. His companion went to Montrose for help, a rescue party succeeded in bringing him out of the canyon on a stretcher Monday.
It is reported he suffered no internal injuries, but was brought to the Delta County Hospital Tuesday for treatment.
Patrolmen James Copp and Neil Yarberry, together with park range,r George Stafford, and 14 other men, labored for more than two hours getting the injured man up from the bottom of the canyon. Ropes and an improvised stretch of canvas and poles were used to bring him up the rocky cliff.
The entire climb was dangerous as rocks loosened and tumbled to the bottom, and one false step would have meant death not only to the one falling, but to the others.
Georg Stafford, Leonard Frey, and John Patton had remained with Mr. Shipley during the night and until the rescue party could be outfitted and make the hazardous trip down into the canyon.
Linda
