The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons

Rating:
Summary: Bears comparison with Lewis and Clark
Review: Even if you are illiterate, the drawings in this book are frequently incredible. While true, that the drawings don't always fit with the adjacent text, this will neither lessen the impact of the journal nor irritate the enjoyment of its descriptions. Like Lewis and Clark, Powell suffered great hardships on the way, going so far along known courses, and then emerging into the great unknown. His account of his last ten critical days on the Colorado River is compelling, his descriptions of the Grand Canyon and other canyons are frequently better than the illustrious drawings, and his geographic and geologic explanations of the basin's creation help shape a broader view of one of America's most visited places.

I highly recommend this as a reference book, a history book of the area, an adventure story, and an art portfolio.

Rating:
Summary: Bears comparison with Lewis and Clark
Review: Even if you are illiterate, the drawings in this book are frequently incredible. While true, that the drawings don't always fit with the adjacent text, this will neither lessen the impact of the journal nor irritate the enjoyment of its descriptions. Like Lewis and Clark, Powell suffered great hardships on the way, going so far along known courses, and then emerging into the great unknown. His account of his last ten critical days on the Colorado River is compelling, his descriptions of the Grand Canyon and other canyons are frequently better than the illustrious drawings, and his geographic and geologic explanations of the basin's creation help shape a broader view of one of America's most visited places.

I highly recommend this as a reference book, a history book of the area, an adventure story, and an art portfolio.

Rating:
Summary: Adventure or just descriptions?
Review: I read adventure non-fiction. I can't go explore myself, so I read about what other people have done. And, I've read a fair amount of these types of books. But this particular book was a disappointment. Powell's accomplishments were certainly worthy of being considered a great exploration, and it made Adventure Magazines Top 100 list (and made it in the top 10 I believe) but the resulting book falls far short of putting that adventure into readable text.

Roughly, I'd guess that 90% (maybe more, not less) of the text describes the scene... the height of the canyon walls, the color of the rocks, the speed of the water, the methods used to portage or "line" a boat over a set of falls or through rapids, and so forth. Only 10% discuss the attitudes, thoughts and emotions of the participants. This turned out to be a "matter of fact" book, largely devooid of the human element (although not entirely).

A reader can certainly put himself in Powell's position, and imagine the perils, the emotions and so forth. But, you have to work at it.

If you want "an accounting" of the exploration, this hits the mark dead on. If you want to feel the human element in the exploration, don't waste your money.



Rating:
Summary: An epic narrative by an epochal figure
Review: John Wesley Powell, for better or worse, made the American West what it is today. He was the primary founder of the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that has vandalized the West, and of the United States Geological Service. He also completed the last great feat of exploration on American soil when he and his cohorts undertook the voyage that is the main subject of this book. That the book combines two voyages into one epic adventure is not widely known, but it does not detract from the narrative to any meaningful extent.

Powell's narrative of the so-called Grand Canyon voyage is simply, yet powerfully, written, even carrying touches of the poetic. It is easy to sense his feelings of awe and wonder, particularly in exploring the canyons themselves. Powell never put his main function, scientific discovery, out of mind until the race through the Grand Canyon became one against the calendar as well as the power of the river. Even then, his writing evidences a sense of charity and concern toward his men.

Powell's narrative evokes many vivid memories of the beauty and timelessness of the country he explored, particularly his writings on the now-vanished Glen Canyon. It seems a pity, somehow, that much of what he saw is buried under stagnant, polluted reservoirs, the worst of which ironically carries his name. Would this brilliant, feeling man approve? I do not think so.

The growing recognition of the role native Americans have played in our country's history and development would find a more sympathetic vein with Powell, and his studies of ethnography and acclimatation to the arid habitat by native Americans may prove a more lasting memoir. These parts of the book should be read with equal care.

As to the canyons themselves, Powell would be the first to tell you that the artificial plug of stone at Page, Arizona, is only temporary, and that, as with the volcanic debris at Lava Falls, the river will soon have its way again.

Rating:
Summary: An epic narrative by an epochal figure
Review: John Wesley Powell, for better or worse, made the American West what it is today. He was the primary founder of the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that has vandalized the West, and of the United States Geological Service. He also completed the last great feat of exploration on American soil when he and his cohorts undertook the voyage that is the main subject of this book. That the book combines two voyages into one epic adventure is not widely known, but it does not detract from the narrative to any meaningful extent.

Powell's narrative of the so-called Grand Canyon voyage is simply, yet powerfully, written, even carrying touches of the poetic. It is easy to sense his feelings of awe and wonder, particularly in exploring the canyons themselves. Powell never put his main function, scientific discovery, out of mind until the race through the Grand Canyon became one against the calendar as well as the power of the river. Even then, his writing evidences a sense of charity and concern toward his men.

Powell's narrative evokes many vivid memories of the beauty and timelessness of the country he explored, particularly his writings on the now-vanished Glen Canyon. It seems a pity, somehow, that much of what he saw is buried under stagnant, polluted reservoirs, the worst of which ironically carries his name. Would this brilliant, feeling man approve? I do not think so.

The growing recognition of the role native Americans have played in our country's history and development would find a more sympathetic vein with Powell, and his studies of ethnography and acclimatation to the arid habitat by native Americans may prove a more lasting memoir. These parts of the book should be read with equal care.

As to the canyons themselves, Powell would be the first to tell you that the artificial plug of stone at Page, Arizona, is only temporary, and that, as with the volcanic debris at Lava Falls, the river will soon have its way again.

Rating:
Summary: Best book ever
Review: makes you feel like you are there, check out the song mr. powell by the ozark mountain daredevils.

Rating:
Summary: Exploration of the Last Unmapped Part of Continental U.S.
Review: On May 24, 1869, Major John W. Powell, a one-armed veteran of the Civil War, along with nine others (geologists, geographers, scouts and adventurers), set out from Green River, Wyoming to explore the last great unmapped and unknown portion of the continental U.S. No man had ever descended the Colorado river as it cut its way through 1,000 miles of incredibly rugged badlands. However, Powell and his band of men completed a remarkable journey of exploration through this country.

A passage from Powell's narrative of the expedition, after they had been on the river nearly two months, conveys very well a perspective of the challenge Powell and his men faced, the courage they demonstrated and Powell's matter of fact, but powerful writing style.

"We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, chafe each other as they are tossed by the fretful river. They ride high and buoyant, for their loads are lighter than we could desire. We have but a month's rations remaining. The flour has been resifted through the mosquito-net sieve; the spoiled bacon has been dried and the worst of it boiled; the few pounds of dried apples have been spread in the sun and reshrunken to their normal bulk. The sugar has all melted and gone on its way down the river. But we have a large sack of coffee. The lightening of the boats has this advantage--they will ride the waves better; and we shall have but little to carry when we make a portage. We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth and the great river shrinks into insignificance as it dashes its angry waves against the walls and cliffs that rise to the world above. The waves are but puny ripples. We are but pigmies, running up and down among the sands or lost among the boulders. We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not. What rocks beset the channel, we know not. What walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever. To me, the cheer is somber and the jests ghastly."

This book is a classic tale of exploration and discovery!

Rating:
Summary: Better than "In Thin Air".
Review: One of the most enthralling and astonishing adventure books I've ever read. Powell was an ace geologist, a pretty good naturalist, a fearless explorer, and a very good writer. Add the unexplored waters of the Grand Canyon -- they truly didn't know what they were getting into when they started down the Canyon -- and you have a great book. The illustrations are first-rate as well.

Rating:
Summary: This is a basic reference, not an intro to the Colorado Rive
Review: This is a review of a 1961 paperback edition that I purchased in Madison, WI at a used book shop for five dollars in December of 1998. The book is extremely well illustrated, although, not always of pertinent figures. The illustrations are unorganized and often leave you wondering how a perticular image relates to the text. This book is not a wildly descriptive representation of Powells struggles on his journey, but rather a dry direct account from his scientific journal. If you are looking for a good easy descriptive read to aquaint you with the Colorado River I would suggest you look into some of the works published by Wallace Stegner. For a more experience individual, this book is an excellent reference regarding the historical account of how the physiographic features of the area recieved their names and what the landscape looked like prior to dams, lakes, National Park roads, the removal of the Native Americans. Its also an account of people exploring before the glorification of the"wilderness" leading to east-coast city slickers (like myself) persuing expditions to places the dont belong. Let us all throw away our synthetic North Face fleece (100% Crude Oil) and read deeply about a region before we go. If we go at all and trod on someones stolen lands (i.e. Navajo, Ute,...).