One of the most venturesome on the river was William Manly.  A Vermont-born Yankee trapper, Manly headed for California in the Gold Rush in 1849.  Upon reaching the Green River in Wyoming, Manly and his companions looked at the easy-flowing stream before them and thought if they had a boat, they could simply float to California.

Finding an abandoned ferry boat along the river, the group quickly repaired it and cast off.  Shortly before Ashley Falls in Red Canyon, their awkward craft wedged against a rock and could not be dislodged.  The resourceful Manly spied some tall pine trees which the men felled and hollowed out.  Lashing their pine dugouts together, they continued down the river, swamping several times, losing guns and camp gear.

Reaching the Uinta Basin, they met Wakara, a Ute Indian war chief, who advised them strongly against continuing down the river.  Manly agreed, although two of his party chose to remain with the river.  They only went on to Desolation Canyon, where they, too, decided that they had had enough.

Manly went on to California via Death Valley where he and his group suffered terribly before finally arriving at the gold fields.