The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons

By John Wesley Powell and Wallace Stegner

One of the great works of American exploration literature, this account of a scientific expedition forced to survive famine, attacks, mutiny, and some of the most dangerous rapids known to man remains as fresh and exciting today as it was in 1874.

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, recently ranked number four on Adventure magazine’s list of top 100 classics, is legendary pioneer John Wesley Powell’s first-person account of his crew’s unprecedented odyssey along the Green and Colorado Rivers and through the Grand Canyon. A bold foray into the heart of the American West’s final frontier, the expedition was achieved without benefit of modern river-running equipment, supplies, or a firm sense of the region’s perilous topography and the attitudes of the native inhabitants towards whites.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: May 27, 2003
• ISBN: 9781101042588

Reviews for The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though plain spoken in describing the portages in such canyons the immensity of the landscape and the task undertaken by Powell and his men permeated the read. Truly an awesome undertaken. And his descriptions of side canyons and Indians that inhabited these areas in the early 1870s were very interesting and unsentimental. A very enlightening though sometimes tedious read.

[billsearth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This write-up by Powell of his trip down the rivers of the southwest is very good. The book is written in first person like a log of the juorney, complete with dates at the start of new paragraphs for each day.Powel writes very clearly and the excitement of exploration of a new unknown area comes through. Also coming through in his writing style are the apprehension of the dangers in following an uncharted river into areas they would not be able to escape from the water became impassible. Powell was awed by the majesty of the landscape and he does well in passing this on to the reader . There are many black and white photos and drawings throughout the book, almost every other page. The drawings seem very accurate to me, having been in the region. Tip-offs to the accuracy is the portrayal of iron stainings coming down some smoth sandstone surfaces in a way I have often seen them.This book gives the reader a feel for both the majesty of the landscape through which the Colorado and green Rivers pass and also the excitement of exploring an unknown area with its associated unknown dangers.Powell describes many active Indian villiages and abandoned zIndian dwellings, camps and towns, replete with abuntant arrowheads and petroglyphs. The photos actually go further at illustrating the Indian architecture and culture than the text does. What I like about the inclusion of the Indian culture is that at the time Powell witnessed the Indians living and working in their native environment, not having to describe just abandoned ruinsand infer from that.This book gives a good feel for what exploration of the west was like back when there was no form of communication with the known world until the expedition reached its end. It gives a good framework of what the untamed river and its canyons were like before dams and widespread agriculture affected streamflow and turbidity. it gives an accurate picture of the Indian's daily lifestyle and cautious attitude towards non-Indians.In summary, Powells book is a very good window into how the expedition went, how early expeditions went in general back then, the majesty of the southwest, particularly around the canyons, and the daily lives of the Indian before they became familiar with white-man culture.