Episode 20: The Great Unknown

Major John Wesley Powell with his Paiute friend Tangu. The Paiute gave Powell the name Kapurats (one arm off) in reference to his missing limb, lost at the Battle of Shiloh during the US Civil War in 1862.

After losing his arm at the Battle of Shiloh, and recovering enough to return to work, General Grant sent Powell to Illinois as a recruiter for the Union Army... thought I am not sure how effective it was to have a recruiter who had lost an appendage in battle. Sometime in 1863, before returning to the front, Powell and his wife, Emma Dean Powell, returned to Detroit to visit family and sat for these portraits.

After the Civil War, Powell and Emma traveled to the American west and compiled much scientific and ethnographic data in the region. This is another photo taken of him and Tangu during his time among the St. George band of Paiutes.

In 1869, it was time to explore some of the major rivers of the the west, including the Colorado, flowing through the nearly impassable Grand Canyon. No cameras were brought on that expedition so it wasn't until a government sponsored return trip that the area was photographically documented. Everyone dressed up for the first photo of the trip but changed out of their formal suites before setting off.

Just as he had on his initial expedition in 1869, Powell named on of the 1871 trip's boats the Emma Dean, after his wife.

Green River, about 1/2 mile below the Union Pacific railroad bridge, showing the boats soon after they had been run down from unloading at the bridge (the river runs right to left).

Unlike many expeditions of the day, which featured porters, manservants, and long cargo trains, camp life was anything but luxurious in either the 1869 or 1871-72 trips to the region.

The Grand Canyon, looking down the Colorado River from the Toroweap Overlook area, toward Prospect Canyon and Lava Falls Rapid... during the second expedition, photographers would climb up the canyon walls to get photographs like this.

A shot from the same vantage point, but looking the other direction, toward the Red Slide area.

Flaming Gorge - Head of the Horseshoe Canyon

Deer Creek Falls

Northern Arizona University has a repository of 200 photos from the expedition if you would like to see more. The above are just a few of my favorites. In 1969, the US Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the 100th anniversary of Powell's initial Grand Canyon expedition.

After his Grand Canyon expeditions, Powell was a busy man. He lived in Washington, DC but still traveled west whenever possible. He was the first direction of the Smithsonian Institute Bureau of Ethnography, the second director of the US Geological Survey, and a founding member of the National Geographic Society. This is his official portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.

Powell's niece Maude, who gained interion acclaim for her violin skill and virtuosity - the first American violinist to achieve international rank - visited the Grand Canyon and its John Wesley Powell monument in 1918.

Both Powell and Emma are buried at Arlington in the prestigious Section 1, Grave 408. Their marker is a granite obelisk whose the upper portion highly polished, the lower portion left rough and unfinished. Affixed to the marker is a bronze plaque with his portrait. Under that is carved an inscription, reading “Solder. Explorer. Scientist.” The back of the monument gives his dates of rank as a second lieutenant, captain, and major.