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 In
1869 ten men in four boats were about to embark on a journey that would cover
almost 1,000 miles through uncharted canyons and change the west forever. Three
months later only five of the original company plus their one-armed Civil War
hero leader would emerge from the depths of the Grand Canyon at the mouth of the
Virgin River.
Major John Wesley Powell was 35 years old when he led his first expedition
through the Canyon. He was a teacher, a geologist, and a one-armed veteran of
the Civil War after losing his right arm in the Battle of Shiloh. Powell was the
principal force in expanding geologic studies and topographic mapping throughout
the country and in stimulating investigations of soil, ground water, rivers,
flood control, and irrigation. He also had a great interest in the Indian people
of the west and learned 6 Indian languages throughout this lifetime of exploring
and charting both the land and the people of this new South western territory
and is considered to be the most famous explorer of the West since Lewis and
Clark.
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