The Adventures of John Wesley Powell

No one of european descent had successfully descended the gargantuan and turbulent grand canyon. Nowhere else on earth was there such an opportunity. To the eyes of powell, seeing these features up close would be like gazing into a hidden history of the planet. All his life, he had pondered the mysteries and learned more about america's geology than nearly any other person alive. So it made perfect sense in his mind. He'd take a crew of men down the river, draw some maps, observe the deep cuts in the earth for clues and spend hours on the steep shores and steeper walls of the canyon collecting specimens for study. They wished him luck, and then