John Wesley Powell

1. John Wesley Powell The One Armed Explorer

2. Exploring the Canyon • John Wesley Powell was an American geologist who became the first person to travel the entire length of the Grand Canyon. • He made the journey in 1869 with a crew of men and four row boats.

3. Loved Nature • Often called “Wes,” John Wesley Powell’s love for nature began when he was young. • He LOVED to explore the outdoors and learn anything and everything about it.

4. The Teacher • At 17, Wes began to teach and save money to enroll in college and explore the Midwest • He taught for 10 years and also went to college, learning about advanced math, engineering, and all natural sciences. • He also found time to explore the rivers around him.

5. The Soldier • In 1861, Wes became a soldier in the army to fight in America’s Civil War. • He married his love, Emma Dean and then 2 hours later, he left to fight. • On the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, Captain John Wesley Powell raised his arm to signal the gunners to fire when a minie ball struck his wrist and shattered his right arm. • Because of an infection, they had to amputate his arm.

6. The River • Wes decided that he would not let the • loss of his arm keep him from exploring • He was warned that a trip to the unexplored canyon lands of the Colorado River was impossible! He didn’t care and he felt that he must go down to the unknown river • His plan to explore the unknown canyon lands grew into a large study including mapping, natural history collection, and a geological survey of the entire area – a very hard, expensive project.

7. The Journey Begins • After seeking help with trip preparations, including earning money and building ships, John Wesley Powell and a crew of 9 men set out from Green River city on May 24, 1869.

8. Riding The River • The first 80 miles on the river passed without any serious problems. • Each day came a new set of challenges as they learned how to deal with heavy boats, shallow waters, fast-running rapids, and jagged rocks. • 16 days into their trip, they lost a ship and a third of their supplies at a spot on the river they called Disaster Falls.

9. The Great Unknown • Wes’s missing arm put him in danger sometimes. He almost died on a trip to measure the walls in Desolation Canyon. He was holding on the side with his one good arm and was saved by George Bradley who used his pants as a rope to pull him up. • When they reached the unknown Colorado, more boats were damaged, oars were lost, and they lost time because they had to stop and make repairs on the boats. Their food supply dwindled.

10. The Grand Canyon • On August 10, the group was a mile below the GrandCanyon rim. In the day, temperatures rose to 115 degrees! • At night, the temperatures were very cold and there were many thunderstorms, which drowned their fires. • They stopped exploring and mapping, and only focused on staying alive and racing against time to return.

11. Sad End • The group reached a terrifying fall above a rapid. 3 men decided to hike out of the canyon because they thought that it was too risky to keep going by boat, even though Wes urged them to stay because he thought they were close to the end of the canyon. • Wes never saw the 3 men again. A tribe that mistook them as murders they had been looking for killed them.

12. The End of the Journey • On August 30, 1869, 6 men came onto the shore from the Virginia River in the Arizona Territory (AZ was not a state then). • They found out that they were thought to be dead and people had been searching for their bodies. • After 99 days, 1,000 miles, and 500 rapids, John Wesley Powell and his group reached the end of the 1st recorded expedition to follow the Colorado River to the end of the Grand Canyon.