After talking over the matter with two friends, Jehdeiah Bowen, a Free-Soil Democrat, and Amos Loper, a call was issued for a mass meeting to be held in the Congregational church in Ripon, February 28, 1854, with the object of ascertaining the public sentiment.
"A History of the Republican Party"
George Washington Platt
One of these claims was held by Bert Loper, one of the three miners who had gone down the river in 1908. Loper never finished, as his boat-a steel boat, by the way-was punctured in a rapid above Dark Canyon but was soon repaired.
"Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico"
E. L. Kolb
Loper spent many hard days working his boat, with his load of provisions, back against the current, and located a few miles below the Hite ranch.
"Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico"
E. L. Kolb