Exploring the Colorado River: Firsthand Accounts by Powell and His Crew

by John Wesley Powell, John R. Cooley (Editor)

When geologist Powell and his party of explorers first assayed the Colorado in 1869, it was North America's longest stretch of uncharted river. This is the story of that three-month, thousand-mile excursion, told in the words of the men who negotiated and mapped the river, through their journals, accounts, and letters. Black-and-white illustrations.

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2004

About the author

John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was a U. S. soldier, geologist, and explorer of the American West. He is famous for the 1869 Powell Geographic Expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers that included the first passage through the Grand Canyon. He studied at Illinois College, Wheaton College, and Oberlin College, acquiring a knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin but never graduating. He was elected to the Illinois Natural History Society in 1859. Due to his deep Protestant beliefs, and his social commitments, his loyalties remained with the Union, and the cause of abolishing slavery. He enlisted in the Union army as a topographer and military engineer. In 1881 he became the second director of the U. S. Geological Survey, a post he held until 1894. He was also the director of the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution until his death.