Mile 216.3, The Confluence, Across Canyon View from River Left (Stake 2706)

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30 May 1889
This view across the Colorado River shows the cliffs and hillslopes that tower over the Confluence. The combined rivers are in flood, but a line of native riparian vegetation is apparent in the foreground and across the river. The species that are present are a mixture of netleaf hackberry, desert olive, coyote willow, and a few peachleaf willow, including one that is small but directly across the river. A few Mormon tea and four-wing saltbush are visible in the boulder pile that is just visible at the bottom of the view.
Photo credit: Franklin A. Nims, 57-RS-27, courtesy of The National Archives

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21 July 1992
Most of the riparian vegetation visible on both sides of the river are tamarisk, although native species – notably the peachleaf willow that towers above its neighbors across the river – are also present within the sea of non-natives. Several of the desert shrubs in the foreground have persisted since 1889, although what likely was a Mormon tea has died back, exposing more rocks in the foreground on the right. A large sandbar extends from the near shoreline; this sandbar is seasonal but can cover a large area after some spring floods.
Photo credit: Robert H. Webb

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29 July 2010
The peachleaf willow towers over dead or dying tamarisk trees across the river, and coyote willow appears to be thriving at the expense of the decimated tamarisk in the foreground. Desert shrubs continue to persist within the pile of boulders in the immediate foreground, and the few perennial grasses present in 1992 appear to be either dead or subdued in this view. The sandbar at center is of more typical size for what generally is present at this site at this time of year, and the sandbar across the river is typical for what generally is present at that site.
Photo credit: Helen A. Raichle