By ZEKE SCHER

PART 1

N UNLIKELY band of 12 in­ Little did Powell realize at this time September and all returned to Illi­ house, and camped outside town for One par ty member suggested they tellectuals, following the Ore­ that his Colorado visit would lead to nois, except the Powells. two weeks while attempting to break put one of Powell's "limestone bis­ Agon Trail into Wyoming and filling in the last voids of the Ameri­ Accompanied by several "moun­ the wild mounts they bought. The cuits" in a can as an everlasting can map, revising U.S. thinking on taineers," the Powells returned to noncowboys bit a lot of dust , chased memento on the peak. Powell the prairie road south, arrived in agriculture, and eventually remak­ Denver on horseback and in mule­ the mountains that September and a lot of runaways and, if they didn't thought this below the dignity of the ing-and saving-the West. Thanks October, visiting Middle Park and know before, learned how to cuss. occasion, and offered a serious George c drawn covered wagons on July Life on the Colorado River for both humans and boats is tenuous in large part to his trip, within two for the first time observing the They came through Denver in speech. The climbers remained on t oday as it was 100 years ago this week when Powell's trip began. 6, 1867. The leader was a one­ decades P owell would be termed the headwaters of the Grand River. mid-July and went into the moun­ the peak for three hours, making armed professor who had pro­ m ost powerful man in the United (The Colorado Legislature changed tains to collect plants, animals, observations and enjoying the ex­ moted this summer field trip for States and the world's leading scien­ the name to Colorado in 1921. Before birds, insects and geologic speci­ hilarating view no man had seen be­ his geology students. tist. that the Colorado began at the junc­ mens, and to make barometric ob­ fore. The prof e s so r was 33-year­ In Denver the real western edu­ tion of the Grand and Green in Utah.) servations. Plans and prepar ations Longs Peak was incidental to Pow­ old John Wesley Powell, a self­ cation of the professor began as his The Major, as Powell was most for river exploration were still form­ ell's r eal purpose but it did give him taught midwestern farm boy, a com­ group of Illinois dudes contemplated often referred to, later wrote that ing in Powell's fertile mind. additional inspiration to follow the bat major in the Union army during • the mountains before them. The this 1867 fall trip to the Grand Lake, At Empire, west of Denver, they river canyons west. At-Hot Sulphur the Civil War, a science instructor group-Powell; his wife, E m m a Colo., area kindled his desire to ex­ met Jack Sumner, mountain man Springs Powell met a party that in­ at I 11 in o is Industrial University Dean; four educators and a minis­ plore the canyons of the Colorado and guide with whom the Powells cluded Schuyler Colfax, speaker of (now the University of Illinois at ter; and five students - decided to River. It led to the last great ex­ in 1867 had discussed future explora­ the U.S. House of Representatives Champaign). scale Pikes Peak. But to see more ploration of the American "un­ tions. Sumner, a brother-in-law of and destined to be Grant's first vice He had all the inadequacies of an of this new country, they avoided known" two years later and the William Byers, Rocky Mountain president, and Samuel Bowles of the erratic frontier education and the the beaten trail south and chose a first scientific study of the West's News founder, was anxious to ex­ Springfield, Mass., R epublican, a brashness of the half educated. But route through Bergen Park west of major river system. plore the Colorado River. He didn't prominent journalist. he also had the strengths of a border Denver. Back in Denver, the Powells think much of Powell's party, how­ Powell told Bowles of his explora­ upbringing: independence, con f i­ The gran eur of the towering sorted and packed the many speci­ ever. " They were about as fit for tion plans and the journalist \fas im­ dence and the practical ability to Maj. John Wesley PoweUJ peaks and enclosed valleys in mid­ mens collected for the Illinois mu· roughing it as Hades is for a pow­ pressed. Bowles wrote about it: accomplish things. In other words, circa 1879. summer enthralled the lowlanders. seum. He promoted free rail trans­ der house," Sumner wrote. "The whole field of observation he didn't know enough to be dis­ The back trail was arduous, delay­ portation for the specimens. The In mid-August while camped near and inquiry which Professor P owell couraged. ing but not deterring them. They Powells left Denver on Nov. 6, but the summit of Berthoud Pass, Byers has undertaken is m ore interesting An amateur naturalist with an in­ promised a military escort from Ft. reached Pikes Peak July 26. The they would be returning within joined them. An outdoors enthusiast, and important than any which lies satiable thirst for scientific knowl­ Laramie to the Badlands of Dakota, next day eight of the 12 made the eight months. Byers had failed four years before before our men of science. The won­ edge, Powell in that spring of 1867 Powell's first choice for exploration. climb, including Mrs. Powell. A In Bloomington, Ill., the State in an attempt to climb Longs P eak der is they have neglected it for so engineered a $1,000 grant from the The professor and his party rode member of the party wrote home: Board of Education was delighted (14,256 feet). No one had ever long. Here are seen the central Illinois Legislature for the Illinois into Denver that July as a second with the results of the expedition, reached the top and he wanted to forces that formed the continent." "She has uniformly borne the praised Powell for "indomitable Natural History Society museum­ choice. When they had reached Ft. hardships of the trip with a courage make it. Powell accepted the chal- . As autumn came on, most of the and then accepted the $1,500-a-year McPherson, Neb., on their westward energy and rare skill," and prompt­ lenge. Sumner, complaining that he party from Illinois returned home. and fortitude far beyond that usual­ ly appropriated $600 toward another job as museum curator. This en­ journey, Gen. William Tecumseh ly attributed to her sex." hadn't "lost" any mountain, fol­ Powell, with his wife, Sumner and couraged him to plan a summer ex­ Sherman urged Powell to head for trip in 1868 . With more time to "pro­ lowed reluctantly. some volunteers, planned to remain (Mrs. Powell was listed as the pedition to the West, and he got the peaceful Colorado Rockies rath­ mote," Powell obtained additional On Aug. 23, 1868, finding a way up in Colorado through the winter and some of the grant money to do it. er than risk stirring up the Sioux in fo urth woman to reach the summit. aid from other Illinois universities, continue preparations for explora­ The first was Mrs. Julia Archibald on the E stes P ark side of the peak, He then visited Washington, D.C., the Dakotas. Backing Sherman's the Chicago Academy of Sciences, seven of the p arty reached the sum­ tions in 1869. He began searching for Holmes of Kansas on Aug. 5, 1858.) to tap his old commander, Gen. suggestion, ironically, was Gen. the Smithsonian Institution in Wash­ mit. Someone (not identified) for an appropriate winter camp near Ulysses S. Grant, then secretary of George Custer, who would "disturb" Powell led the party up the South ington, the government and the rail­ two days struggling up the slopes the Yampa River in northwestern war, for expedition aid. The future the Sioux with fatal results nine Platte River to the headwaters, roads. had carried a bottle of wine and it Colorado. president authorized him to draw years later at the Battle of the Lit­ scaled Lincoln Mountain, and then An enlarged (20) party arrived at was now o p en e d for celebr ation. He paused to explore the rugged, army rations for the proposed 12- tle Big Horn. returned to Denver by way of Cen­ Cheyenne in late June 1868, ob­ Two (not identified) of the seven Smithsonian lnsltltu1tlorl narrow Gore Range through which The one-armed explorer's contact with Ute Indians i n northwest- man summer party. Grant also It was a fortuitous second choice. tral City. They disbanded in early tained supplies from the Army ware- were teetotalers. the Colorado cuts, climbing one of ern Color ado during t he winter of 1868 Ze d to a massive study.

8 May 18, 1969 e EMPIRE MAGAZIN E The Denver Post • May 18, 1969 Longs Peak was just a step toward Powell's bigger goal Photography by GeoTge CTouteT

POWELL continued its highest pinnacles (13,534 feet). tie of Shiloh near Pittsburg Landing, A Colorado volunteer, Oramel G. Tenn., on April 6, 1862, Confederate Howland, gave the peak a name, troops surprised Grant's force. Dur­ Powell's Mountain. Located on the ing the fight, a Minie ball smashed Grand-Summit County line some 100 into the right arm of Captain Powell miles west of Denver, the peak is and three days later the arm was listed on modern maps as Mt. Pow­ amputated above the elbow. After a ell. brief leave, he returned to active (Ironically, the man who memo­ duty in the artillery, engaged in rialized Powell by naming the moun­ some two dozen more battles and tain for him would be one of three retired a major in 1865. to die on the epochal river journey So it wasn't surprising that within with Powell the next year. How­ six weeks in the spring of 1869 that land, 36, formerly was a R o c k y Powell was able to completely ar­ Mountain News printer.) range for one of the nation's most For the winter camp Powell chose dramatic explorations. On May 11 a small protected park just west of Powell and the boats came off the the White River Indian Agency, UP cars together at Green River. He south of the present town of Meek­ had again raised money from Illi­ er and scene of the Sept. 20, 1879, nois universities; obtained scientific massacre of 11 men by Ute Indians. instruments from the Smithsonian These same Indians were to prove and supplies from the War Depart­ of such interest to Powell in 1868 ment; and freeloaded on the rail­ that it led him into an unprecedent­ roads. He also plunged $2,000 of his ed study of the American Indian own money. and creation of the U.S. Bureau of His river crew was accumulating. American Ethnology. There were the Rowlands, Sumner, In what was later labeled Powell Bill Dunn and Billy Hawkins, all Bottoms, the party cut winter hay from the winter camp. There was for the stock and built three cabins Powell's brother, Walter, a Civil to house the Powells ; Howland and War captain. George Y. Bradley was his brother, Seneca; and the moun­ stationed at Ft. Bridger when the taineers. Thus Powell was within Powells met him in late March. hiking distance of the Yampa, White He'd go down the river if Powell and Green Rivers, and was 175 could get him out of the Army. miles from Green River City, a new Powell took care of that order while The Green River serenely cuts through Canyonlands north of i ts j unction with the Colorado. Union Pacific Railroad stop and the in Washington. logical point to begin the long river Two of the crew just happened by journey. Green River: Andy Hall, a husky 18- During the winter, in spite of year-old bullwhacker was enlisted heavy snow, Powell pressed his in­ on the spot when Powell saw him vestigation of the country surround­ resting on the oars of a homemade ing the camp. He climbed to high boat; Frank Goodman, an adventur­ places and saw the barren country, ous Englishman who was rattling difficult canyons and twisting riv­ around the west, volunteered with ers. The Indians "behaved them­ enthusiasm. (Goodman was the first selves" and Powell spent weeks with to quit on the journey.) them learning the language and col­ Three of the boats were identical- lecting artifacts. They had most of 21 feet long, 4 feet wide, 22 inches the attributes and culture patterns deep, double ribbed with double of the plains Indians but were a stem and stern posts. The fourth mountain people far less altered by was similar in design but only 16 contact with white men. feet long. Powell wasn't a novice at In mid-March 1869 they broke river running and had some back­ camp and started northward to ground for designing the craft. In Green River City, camping at Flam­ the 1850s he had gone down the ing Gorge (which Powell named) Mississippi River to New Orleans and arriving at the railroad depot and the Ohio River from Pittsburgh in early April. He and Emma left to St. Louis. He also ran the Illinois on the Union Pacific April 6, telling and Des Moines Rivers. (One of his his exploration party he would re­ first scientific efforts was the collec­ turn with boats sometime in May. tion of fresh-water shells.) Powell stopped first in Chicago to But he had little way of knowing order four boats that he had design­ what to expect on the Colorado. The ed for the Colorado River expedition. map was blank. There were tales of He continued to Detroit, where he falls and underground "sucks" that left his wife with relatives, and then would destroy anyone going down to Washington to promote more fi­ the Colorado. He was wise enough nancial assistance. to correctly surmise that a river During his lifetime there w e r e carrying heavy silt is unlikely to few obstacles lliat Powell failed to have major falls. overcome, and quickly. At the Bat- However, he failed to contemplate Brown, red, purple canyon walls, changing shades with the shifting sun, The confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers i s a beautiful calm before Cataract Canyon' s rage. dwarf the Empire Magazine team of river runners on the pontoon raft below.

10 May 18, 1969 e EMPIRE MAGAZIN E The Denver Post • May 18, 1969 II POWELL continued

Early-morning April sunlight bathes the Colorado River "explorers" on their sandy overnight camp amid quarter-mile-high sandstone canyon walls.

the Emma Dean for his wife. Sum­ ner and Dunn were his boatmen. Walter Powell and Bradley fol­ Within six weeks Powell lowed in Kitty Clyde's Sister; the Rowlands and Goodman in the No­ Name; and Hawkins and Hall in arranged lor the boats, Maid of the Canyon. After the ex­ tended period of waiting around non­ bustling Green River, everyone was supplies aru:l equipment anxious to get started. Still it took only the first roar of J water around a concealed bend for Powell to make note of the fnct that ne the many rapids that would require "the shadow of the pang of dread :g removing the boats from the river was ever present to the mind." er and carrying them around t h e Maps of the 1860s were mostly np perils. The boats were heavy and filled in from coast to coast. But clumsy. He prepared for a 10-month across the Colorado-Utah-Arizona r trip and supplies were weighty. At­ portions of the Grand, Green and tempts at waterproofing were unsuc­ Colorado Rivers was the neatly cessful. With all their shortcomings, printed word "Unexplored." only one would be lost and this one Actually, portions of the rivers shortly after the trip began. had been viewed and crossed-the One hundred years ago this Satur­ upper Green and the Colorado at day, the people of Green River-all Glen Canyon by Escalante in 1776; 100 or so of them-came to the river the northern and southern edges of bank (now called Expedition Island) the river in Utah by Fremont in 1844 to watch the fleet depart. Citizens and 1853 respectively; various parts speculated, joked, looked solemn. by Capt. J. N. Macomb who unsuc­ About 1 p.m. that day, May 24, 1869, cessfully sought the confluence of they saw Powell spin out into the the Green and Grand in 1859 (and current in the 16~foot boat, named predicted no man would ever get

May 18, 1969 e EMPIRE MAGAZINE awesome, is far below.

there); ·and others who plied the For· the inexperienced boatmen, half full of water from rapids above Uinta River (sit of present Ouray, lower Grand C an yon on to Cali­ handling the oars of the bulky craft and he couldn't control the craft.) Utah) and Powell went 30 miles up fornia. which were constantly taking on wa­ Powell's journal describes what that tributary to visrt the mta The real unknown lay in between, ter was an overwhelming physical happened: Agency for mail and supplies. Pow­ especially that mysterious portion chore. As the young bullwhacker "I feel that its going over is in­ ell recorded that Goodman ''has below the confluence of the Grand Hall swore, ''The boat won't neither evitable, and run to save the third concluded that he has seen danger and the Green in southeastern Utah, gee nor haw nor whoa worth a damn boat. A minute mor and she turns enough" and was leaving the party. some 70 miles below the present - in fact she wa n't broke at all!" the point and heads for the shore. With one boat gone and the others city of Moab. On leaving Flaming Gorge, the Then I turn downstream again and heavily load d, Powell didn't re­ It would take Powell and his men Gr en makes a wide easte ~ arc scramble along to look for the boat gret the departur-e. nearly two months to cover the 502 into the northwest corner of Colora­ that has gone over. The river trip resumed July 6 and miles from Green River City to the do through what is now Dinosaur · I pass around a great crag just a short distance below the Uinta confluence. In that time they would National Monument and through in time to see the boat stnke a rock they came to the head of a long face little of the ferocity that the what th y called the Canyon of Lo­ and rebounding from the shock ca­ island. Powell r call d tha a man river can muster in the often­ dore (for no reason other than that reen and fill the open compartment named Johnson, a hunter -Indian narrow, rapids-filled Colorado can­ Hall mentioned the word; and Sum­ with water. Two of the men lose trader. visited the winter camp and yon that Powell was to permanently ner later rapped the choice, "The their oars; she swings around, and said he planned to grow com, pota­ name as Cataract. idea of diving into musty trash to is carried down at a rapid rate, toes and other vegetables on this But from the very start of the ex­ find names for new discoveries on a broadside on for a few yards and island in the pring. ploration, the twisting Green River new continent is un-American, to strikes amidships on another rock "He invited us to stop and help provided a minute-by-minute chal­ say the least."' ) with great force, is broken quite in ourselves," Powell said. "We soon lenge. The crescendos of the water, It was here about noon on June 7 two, and the men are thrown into d iscover his garden bu it is in a sad rising from below made the heart­ that Powell directed the lead boat the river." condition, having receiv d no care beat quicken. The sounds, bouncing ashore to allow inspection of rapids The Rowlands and Goodman sur­ ince it wa planted. off canyon walls, confused and de­ ahead and to determine if portage vived the accident without injury. ''Hall suggests that potato tops ceived the boatmen into overempha­ were necessary. He saw the second The boat was a total loss. The inci­ are good greens and, anxious for sizing the danger ahead. The boats boat pull in behind him but then he dent, however, convinced the Eng­ some change from our salt-meat stopp d constantly so the explorers saw the No-Name sweep by. Either lish adventurer that this was a bit could walk ahead along the river the Rowlands and Goodman had not of the West a littl too wild for him. fare, we gather a quantity and take bank to investigate. Other times, the seen the signal or they failed to His first opportunity to leave the them aboard. At noon we stop and silence Jed them into overconfidence start for shore in tim . (Or m l expedition came June 28 when the cook our gre ns for dinner. and peril. Howland later said the boat was party reached· the mouth of the "But soon, one after another of

The Denver Post • May 18, 19 69 ll Entering Cataract Canyon. the first rapids whip up the coffee-and-cream colored waters of the Colorado Riv er and put oarsmen on the alert.

After two months on the river, the worst was in store

POWELL continued the party is taken sick; nausea broken land flanks the river, canyon make barometric readings and geo­ One hundr d ears later the con­ first, and then severe vomiting, and walls without vegetation, crags and logical studies. fluence 1s st1ll as remote as in we tumble around under th trees, tower-shaped peaks in all directions. In mid-July th y left Desolation Powell's time. Bu today the mes­ groaning with pain, and I feel a lit­ Th y call it the Canyon of Desola­ Canyon and the unpredictable river sage is loud and clear: the worst is tle alarmed Jest our poisoning be tion. provided what the m en craved: yet to come. The U.S. Park Service sever e. Emetics are administered to Broken and lost oars are a daily swift water for 18 mil s into open has added an incongruous bit of those who are willing to take them. occurrence as are the drenchings. country. To the northeast they could civilization to he locale. In big red "About th middle of the after­ Driftwood of appropriate shape is se snow mountains, the Uncom­ lettering on a white background: noon we are all rid of the pain. honed into new oar s. The portages pahgre Range in western Colorado. "STOP- Ca aract Canyon. Haz­ Jack Sumner records in his diary, - carrying boats and sup p 1 i e s But there were more . . . and more ardous rapids.'' 'Potato tops are not good greens on around dangerous rapids- is bone­ . . . canyons. The expected union of Nearby ano her sign warns: the sixth day of July.' " wrenching labor. And through it all, the Grand and Green Rivers into the "Caution. Ca aract Canyon. Haz­ An increasingly b a r r en and Powell daily climbs the canyons to one Colorado s emed to be intermin­ ardous rapid Permit required from ably delayed by the meandering superintendent, Canyonlands Nation­ river. al Park. for boating beyond this "Late in the afternoon (of July 16) point. ' the water becomes swift and our WYOMING Beyond this point just 200 yards I boats make great speed," Powell down tream starts the first of 56 wrote. "An hour of this brings us to raptds that torture the 42 miles that I the junction of the G r a n d and Powell n am e d Cataract Canyon. I Ft. Bridger La ramie Green, the foot of Stillwater Canyon • Chey ne Whtle growing thousands are run­ as we have named it. ning the even-more-s en s a t i on­ ~ j_ __• - "These streams unite in solemn al Grand Canyon in Arizona, rela­ depths more than 1,200 feet below tively few- have ever been through the general surface of the country Cataract. In high water, it is never . .. We row around into the Grand attempted because it's too danger­ and camp on its northwest bank; Ui nta ous-and there's no way out, just . and here we propose to stay several down...... days to determine the latitude and Last month, as the spring runoff .. .. . longitude, and the altitude of the began, this w rite r and Empire ~ ..• walls." Denver photographer George Crouter re­ They camped on a spot probably searched John Wesley Powell by no man had ever se n, with beau­ following his trail from the conflu­ UTAH tiful c u r v e d, sandstone-layered COLORADO ence through Cataract Canyon to walls about them, a remarkably Im­ Lake Powell. posing butte overseeing the conflu­ As we entered the canyon, with ence. Just beyond, spires and domes Ron Smith of Salt Lake City piloting ari e from the top of the canyon the rubber raft, the roar of the up­ ... The Land of Standing Rocks. coming rapids filled the river and 1868- 69 Powell surveyed his losses and it did indeed-as Powell wrote--s ·r ···· ··POWEll'S ROUTE estimated that the party had two "the pang of dread." • months' supplies-if nothing more were lost. They hoped the worst was Next week: The boat that earned behind them. the jutu1·e of the We t.

The Denver Post • May 18, 1969 0