Mile 107.5 - Ross Wheeler Boat

The Ross Wheeler, built by Bert Loper; was left by Charlie Russell and others in the rocks above Bass Rapid in 1915. Russell, a sometime friend and sometime foe of Loper’s, was leading an expedition with the intent of making a motion picture of running the Grand Canyon by boat. After several other mishaps, Russell and company stranded their other boat more than once in the rocks of Crystal Riffle. Fatigued and battered, the boat named the Titanic II finally sank, along with much of the film, food, and supplies for the trip. Frustrated and worn down, the party parked the Ross Wheeler at Mile 107.5, and hiked out of the canyon never to return. John Waltenberg, thinking the boat might be useful to someone at some point, winched it up into the rocks past high water line. In 1984 the park service secured the Ross Wheeler with a chain.