Down the Colorado: Diary of the First Trip Through the Grand Canyon
by John Wesley Powell
On This Page
Description
Contains Major John Wesley Powell's dramatic journal of 1869, when he led an epic journey over rapids considered impassable, to chart the unexplored Colorado River and its surrounding canyons.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This book serves as a nice companion to The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, but not as a substitute, unless you are solely interested in Powell's Diary of the First Trip Through the Grand Canyon.
This large format book is broken up into three main parts: Foreword by Don D. Fowler, Diary of the First Trip Through the Grand Canyon 1869 by John Wesley Powell, and The Canyons of the Colorado - Past and Present 1969 by Eliot Porter. Interspersed throughout the book are illustrations from the second expedition in 1871, both engravings and photographs. Also Porter's own color photographs from around the time of this books publication, circa 1960's.
Fowler's foreword is quite useful as a brief chronicling of exploration of show more the Canyon lands. He also goes at some length to explain the historical inaccuracies of Powell's own diary. Powell apparently blended events of both expeditions into one account to make more of an exciting tale to reproduce for the Scribner's readers back east at the time. His hopes were to excite the public and build momentum for Congress to fund further exploration. This fortunately worked. There is also a fair bit of negativity hinted at the creation of Lake Powell, thus flooding Glen Canyon, one of the rivers in which Powell journey through.
The Diary account is the same as can be found in the Penguin or Dover edition more commonly found in bookstores. The main exception, and a helpful one at that, are a few added footnotes in which it is pointed out where Powell supplemented the first expedition diary with events that occurred in his second expedition. There are also a few quotes taken from some of the other member's diaries, and I dare say, might be more interesting writing than Powell's. Particularly that of Bradley's, which apparently at times contradicts directly what Powell writes, but not on any points that bear importance.
Lastly, there is Porter's Epilogue, which sounds more like Edward Abbey rant than anything, but I can sympathize seeing that this is written only a few years after the damming of Glen Canyon. Porter's photo's are nice and large and focus on the close and intimate side of the canyons. No large landscapes here. show less
This large format book is broken up into three main parts: Foreword by Don D. Fowler, Diary of the First Trip Through the Grand Canyon 1869 by John Wesley Powell, and The Canyons of the Colorado - Past and Present 1969 by Eliot Porter. Interspersed throughout the book are illustrations from the second expedition in 1871, both engravings and photographs. Also Porter's own color photographs from around the time of this books publication, circa 1960's.
Fowler's foreword is quite useful as a brief chronicling of exploration of show more the Canyon lands. He also goes at some length to explain the historical inaccuracies of Powell's own diary. Powell apparently blended events of both expeditions into one account to make more of an exciting tale to reproduce for the Scribner's readers back east at the time. His hopes were to excite the public and build momentum for Congress to fund further exploration. This fortunately worked. There is also a fair bit of negativity hinted at the creation of Lake Powell, thus flooding Glen Canyon, one of the rivers in which Powell journey through.
The Diary account is the same as can be found in the Penguin or Dover edition more commonly found in bookstores. The main exception, and a helpful one at that, are a few added footnotes in which it is pointed out where Powell supplemented the first expedition diary with events that occurred in his second expedition. There are also a few quotes taken from some of the other member's diaries, and I dare say, might be more interesting writing than Powell's. Particularly that of Bradley's, which apparently at times contradicts directly what Powell writes, but not on any points that bear importance.
Lastly, there is Porter's Epilogue, which sounds more like Edward Abbey rant than anything, but I can sympathize seeing that this is written only a few years after the damming of Glen Canyon. Porter's photo's are nice and large and focus on the close and intimate side of the canyons. No large landscapes here. show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
127+ Works 1,750 Members
Powell was born in western New York. His family later moved to Ohio and then to Wisconsin, where he began his adult life as a teacher. For about nine years, he taught and took time to study at colleges in Ohio and Illinois. When the Civil War began, he enlisted and quickly rose to the rank of major, laying out roads and designing bridges. Powell show more was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and lost his right arm. Because of these events, for the remainder of his life he was referred to as Major Powell or One-arm Powell. After the war, he organized several expeditions down the Colorado River, which heretofore had not come under scientific study. It was during these trips and others that he formulated the concept of base level and antecedent streams. Although his ideas and observations are noteworthy, Powell was not a prolific writer, and his writings were not scholarly in style. Powell became the president of the U.S. Geological Survey, a position from which he lobbied congressmen and senators for funding for topographic mapping and technical reports. He was a strong proponent of developing the American West on a sound and realistic foundation. Powell died in Maine during the summer of 1902. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Work Relationships
Is retold in
Has as a commentary on the text
"Down The Colorado: One hundred years ago John Wesley Powell set out to explore the Grand Canyon of the Colorado —something no man had attempted before. His official report of the voyage remains one of the great adventure stories in all the literature of the American West," by American Heritage Magazine
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Down the Colorado: Diary of the First Trip Through the Grand Canyon
- Important places
- Colorado, USA
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Travel, Art & Design
- DDC/MDS
- 917.91 — History & geography Geography & travel Geography of and travel in North America West Coast U.S. Arizona
- LCC
- F788 .P886 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history New Southwest. Colorado River, Canyon, and Valley
Statistics
- Members
- 173
- Popularity
- 188,753
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.23)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 8
