GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA - Illinois geology
professor John Wesley Powell heard stories of bizarre landscapes
in the uncharted regions of the West in the 1860s. His curiosity
and sense of adventure led to one of the most daring exploits in
American history. Powell was a noted explorer who had rowed the
entire lengths of the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois rivers,
sometimes by himself, before he ever ventured into presentday
Arizona. The New York native had served in the Union army and
lost his right arm during the Battle of Shiloh. He recovered,
rejoined the war and rose to the rank of major before the
conflict ended. Afterward, he worked as a professor and museum
curator at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill. He
traveled and lectured often. At some point, he heard
preposterous accounts from prospectors and trappers about a red
river and a miledeep gorge. Powell decided to lead an expedition
down the Green and Colorado rivers to verify or debunk the
claims. He and nine crewmen launched