The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

USGS Participation in the Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition and 

Reflections from the ~1,000-mile Journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers

Circular 1475

Version 1.1, December 14, 2020

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Photographs by Annie Scott, U.S. Geological Survey.

Title page: Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Wyoming. 

Photograph by Janis LeMaster, U.S. Geological Survey.

Back cover: John Wesley Powell Memorial, located at Powell Point on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The 

2019 commemorative plaque was added later. Photograph by Annie Scott, U.S. Geological Survey.

Cover: Grand Canyon, Arizona, from Powell Point and plaque dedicated for the Powell Memorial, May 19, 2019. 
The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

 USGS Participation in the Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition and 

 Reflections from the ~1,000-mile Journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers

By Annie Scott and Eleanour Snow

Circular 1475

Version 1.1, December 14, 2020

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

DAVID BERNHARDT, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

James F. Reilly II, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

First release: December 3, 2020, online 

Revised: December 14, 2020 (ver. 1.1), online and in print

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living 

resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. 

For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, 

visit https://store.usgs.gov.

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the 

copyright owner.

Suggested citation:

Scott, A., and Snow, E., 2020, The 150th anniversary of the 1869 Powell expedition—USGS participation in the Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition and reflections from the ~1,000-mile journey 

down the Green and Colorado Rivers (ver. 1.1, December 14, 2020): U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1475, 88 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1475. 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

https://catalog.loc.gov/

ISSN 1067-084X (print)

ISSN 2330-5703 (online)

ISBN 978-1-4113-4396-2
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On May 19, 2019, I joined USGS staff from Reston, Virginia, and Flagstaff, Arizona, 

along with staff from the National Park Service, in the dedication of a 150-year-anniversary plaque on the John Wesley Powell Memorial, located at Powell Point on the 

south rim of the Grand Canyon. As a fellow veteran, geologist, explorer, and USGS 

director, it was my honor to provide remarks at this event along with Sarah Creachbaum, Acting Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park, and Theresa McMullan, 

CEO of the Grand Canyon Conservancy, to honor Powell and his exploration.

Standing in that spot, I thought about Powell and his words the first night of his 

long journey: “Standing on a high point, I can look off in every direction over a vast 

landscape, with salient rocks and cliffs glittering in the evening sun. ...clouds and 

mountains and snow fields and forests and rocklands are blended into one grand 

view.” Powell knew he would have to conquer the great canyon but he didn’t really 

know its size and scale. I was impressed when I first saw the Grand Canyon as a 

child, but when I saw it from space, I truly understood its grandeur.

When Powell came through the Grand Canyon, he had only simple mapping tools 

and a strong desire to explore its varied landscapes and winding reaches. A lot has 

changed in 150 years in the tools we use to do science. I wish Powell could see 

the GPS satellite technology, Landsat imagery, and lidar data we use today. The 

2019 modern version of his epic expedition was led by our partner, the University of 

Wyoming-based Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition (SCREE). USGS 

personnel representing all mission areas and regions joined SCREE, with 28 in total 

floating the river over eight segments. USGS scientists and science support staff conducted sampling activities, took photos, and made observations from the field so that, 

through them, we have eyes and ears on the 2019 expedition. The USGS Youth and 

Education in Science (YES) team is using the observations and data collected from the 

river to engage K-12 students through a range of educational resources. In this way, 

we hope to encourage a new generation of future scientists to get out, explore, and 

see the science that is all around them. I joined the expedition for two and a half days 

on the Lake Powell section and had the opportunity to connect with USGS employees 

and hear about their science under the stars.

Foreword

Walking past John Wesley Powell’s portrait on the way to my office in the building 

that bears his name just outside Washington, D.C., I think about Powell’s early days 

of exploration. As I sit at the desk Powell once used, I often reflect on how he used 

the tools he had at the time to characterize the composition of the land, and how 

the 8,000-plus USGS employees today continue his legacy 150 years after that first 

scientific voyage down the “Great Unknown.” As it was for JWP, it remains for us: to 

push out the frontiers of our knowledge and expand our capabilities to understand our 

remarkable planet.

James F. Reilly II

Director

USGS Director Jim Reilly gazes into the depths of the Grand Canyon at Powell Point after 

delivering the keynote address at the John Wesley Powell Memorial to present the 150th 

anniversary plaque commemorating the 1869 expedition. 
Acknowledgments

iv 

We extend sincerest thanks to Kristen Hamilton, National Science Foundation, for her leadership, dedication, and innumerable contributions to the Powell150 project during her temporary 

detail at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). We appreciate the professionalism of our partners from the Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition (SCREE) at the University 

of Wyoming (Thomas Minckley, Patrick Kikut, Jessica Flock, Ben Kraushaar, Cody Perry, and 

all other SCREE members and participants), their willingness to include USGS participants 

on their expedition, and their cheerful fielding of countless pre-expedition phone calls. The 

National Park Service (NPS) (Jan Balsom, Ronda Newton, and Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes) was 

instrumental in helping to secure permits and inviting Director Reilly to deliver the sesquicentennial plaque dedication keynote address at Powell Point in Grand Canyon National Park. We 

acknowledge the Smithsonian Institution as the original supporter of John Wesley Powell’s expeditions, and we thank the National Museum of American History, Division of Culture and the 

Arts (Kay Peterson and Joan Boudreau) as well as the Smithsonian Libraries (Erin Rushing) for 

arranging the photo shoot of the original woodblocks with Powell’s 1875 publication. We extend our thanks to the National Museum of Natural History (Igor Krupnik) for inviting the lead 

author to speak at a sesquicentennial seminar attended by the Powell family descendants. 

Also, our gratitude goes to the Department of the Interior Museum (Tracy Baetz) for arranging 

permission to include an image of the historical artwork. We appreciate engagement from the 

Bureau of Reclamation (including expedition participant Jim Prairie) and the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM). Our gratitude is extended to all who provided scientific advice, logistical 

planning (USGS Office of Accounting and Financial Management), communications training, ethics guidance (USGS Ethics Office), and contract preparation support. We especially 

appreciate the assistance given by the members of the USGS Safety Review Team (Cynthia 

Duffield, Scott Vanderkooi, Bill Simonds, Cory Stephens, Brent Sigafus, and Timothy Frick), 

who were awarded the 2019 USGS Safety and Occupational Health Award of Excellence for 

their work on this out-of-the-ordinary endeavor, and without whose help the USGS could not 

have participated in the expedition. We thank USGS detailees Tina Solomon, Anna Glover, 

William Banks, Brenda Densmore, Harper Wavra (student intern), and Debbie Warner Gordon 

for their contributions, along with the members of the participant selection panel. Through 

the Department of the Interior, Marina Conner (NPS) and Jaci Wells (BLM) joined the team for 

short details and helped with social media and educational products. Kristen Hamilton and 

Anna Glover were pivotal in the development and editing of the Then and Now series articles, 

which were originally published on our website and have been re-edited for this publication, 

along with other Then and Now articles written by guest authors. We thank our colleagues at 

the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (Ted Melis, Todd Wojtowicz, David Lytle, Scott 

Vanderkooi, Theodore Kennedy, Ryan Crow, Paul Grams, Joel Sankey, Jeff Muehlbauer, Sasha 

Reed, Anya Metcalfe, Meredith Hartwell, Camile Diab, Erika Geiger, Michael Duniway, Hilda 

Smith and all others who participated in science conversations and helped us with equipment) 

and the USGS Astrogeology Science Center (including Greg Vaughan and Railyn Stokes), all of 

whom made us feel at home during our visits to Arizona. We acknowledge the USGS Denver 

Photographic Library staff for their help with compiling online libraries specific to the second 

Powell Expedition. Our thanks also go to USGS National Museum Curator Bruce Geyman for 

overseeing art installations related to the 150th anniversary celebration and to the USGS Office of Communications and Publishing (Heidi Koontz, Jennifer LaVista, Stacy Curtis, Melinda 

Nash, Elizabeth Stewart, Kristina Sussman, Scott Horvath, and the social media team). We 

acknowledge the noteworthy assistance from USGS reviewers Rick Moscati and Graham Lederer; James Estabrook of the Science Publishing Network (SPN); and Susan Meacham (SPN) 

for her creative layout and design. Additionally, we thank our families for their tremendous 

support and patience. Finally, we thank all our colleagues in the USGS Office of Science Quality and Integrity for their many contributions which helped make this project successful.
 v

We are grateful to each of the USGS expedition participants and their respective Science Centers for their involvement in the sesquicentennial project. This publication was inspired by their 

post-trip debriefing calls and would not have been possible without their amazing photographs, personal vignettes, and science stories. Most important, their willingness to represent the USGS 

in a positive, professional manner, to share their scientific expertise with new colleagues across the bureau, and to engage their local communities about USGS science and their own river 

experiences across the Nation is a testimony to their continued commitment to public service.

Jason Alexander

Hydrologist

Cheyenne, WY

Anne Ballmann

Wildlife Disease Specialist

Madison, WI

Genevieve Barron

Geographer

Denver, CO

Robert Barth

Administrative Services Supervisor

Rolla, Missouri

Sharon Borland

Chief, Office of Policy and Analysis

Reston, VA

Breton Bruce

Scientist Emeritus

Denver, CO

Christina Bryant

Hydrologic Technician

Albuquerque, NM

Jessica Lucido Buren

Deputy Program Manager 

NWIS Modernization Program

Middleton, WI

William Burton

Research Geologist

Reston, VA

Kathy Conn

Hydrologist

Tacoma, WA

Jaime Delano

Geologist

Golden, CO

Mitchell Eaton

Research Ecologist

Raleigh, NC

Nicholas Hammond

Hydrologic Technician

Charleston, SC

Tess Harden

Hydrologist

Portland, OR

William Harmon

Hydrologic Technician

Little Rock, AR

Heather Kerkering

Science Coordinator

Honolulu, HI

Graham Lederer

Physical Scientist

Reston, VA

Janis LeMaster

Hydrologic Technician

Charleston, SC

Melissa Lombard

Hydrologist

Pembroke, NH

Anya Metcalfe

Ecologist

Flagstaff, AZ

Richard Moscati

Geologist

Denver, CO

David Nail

National Map Liaison

Rolla, MO

John Parks

Information Technology Specialist

Guaynabo, PR

Nigel Pepin

Hydrologic Technician

East Hartford, CT

Jim Reilly

USGS Director

Reston, VA

Russell Sherman

Hydrologic Technician

Tacoma, WA

Katie Walton-Day

Research Hydrologist

Denver, CO

Dee Williams

Deputy Director

Anchorage, AK
Then

Now

Bowknot Bend, Utah 

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Contents

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................iii

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................................iv

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1

Historical Background ..................................................................................................................................4

Then and Now: Women in Science ...................................................................................................6

Before the 2019 Expedition...........................................................................................................................8

Then and Now: Art..............................................................................................................................12

The 2019 Expedition.....................................................................................................................................14

Segment A—Green River, Wyoming, to Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah...........................................16

Then and Now: Green River, Wyoming..............................................................................18

Segment A Personal Vignettes ...........................................................................................20

Segment B—Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, to Gates of Lodore, Colorado ....................................24

Then and Now: Food.............................................................................................................28

Segment B Personal Vignettes ...........................................................................................30

Segment C—Gates of Lodore, Colorado, to Split Mountain, Utah .............................................34

Then and Now: Flora and Fauna.........................................................................................38

Segment D—Split Mountain to Sand Wash, Utah ........................................................................40

Science Story: Aquatic Insects ..........................................................................................42

Segment D Personal Vignettes ...........................................................................................43

Segment E—Sand Wash to Green River State Park, Utah..........................................................50

Science Story: Sediments....................................................................................................52

Segment E Personal Vignettes............................................................................................53

Segment F—Green River State Park to Dirty Devil River, Utah...................................................54

Science Story: Microplastics..............................................................................................56

Then and Now: River Travel.................................................................................................58

Segment F Personal Vignettes ............................................................................................60

Segment G—Lake Powell: Dirty Devil River, Utah, to Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona ..................62

Then and Now: Mapping......................................................................................................68

Segment G Personal Vignettes ...........................................................................................70

Segment H—Grand Canyon: Lees Ferry to Pearce Ferry, Arizona.............................................72

Then and Now: Geologic Time ............................................................................................76

Segment H Personal Vignettes ...........................................................................................78

After the 2019 Expedition—and into the Future .....................................................................................82

References Cited..........................................................................................................................................84

Additional Background Information .........................................................................................................85

Photograph Credits......................................................................................................................................86

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June 7, 1869: “This evening, as I write, the sun is going down, and 

the shadows are settling in the canyon. The vermilion gleams and 

roseate hues, blending with the green and gray tints, are slowly 

changing to somber brown above, and black shadows are creeping 

over them below; and now it is a dark portal to a region of gloom the 

gateway through which we are to enter on our voyage of exploration 

tomorrow. What shall we find?” ~JWP
In late spring 1869, John Wesley Powell headed down the Green River toward 

the mighty Colorado, with nine other men in four boats on an exploration into the 

“Great Unknown.” That journey, which we commemorated 150 years later, led to the 

founding of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and, for Powell and so many others, 

to a lifelong passion for these rivers and their canyons. 

As the science bureau within the Department of the Interior (DOI), the USGS 

provides unbiased scientific information about the Nation’s natural resources, ecoIntroduction

system and environmental health, and the impacts 

of climate and land-use change. Founded in 1879 at 

the urging of Powell and by an act of Congress, the 

USGS is well-known for topographic and geologic 

maps and for collecting and monitoring data about 

natural hazards such as earthquakes and floods. 

Originally focused on mapping and characterization of the land and its resources, the USGS mission 

has expanded over time to include water, hazards, 

and ecosystems. The USGS works closely with 

States and other stakeholders to provide data and 

scientific analyses, informing decision making for a 

changing world. 

John Wesley Powell, the second director of 

the USGS, completed some of the earliest recorded 

scientific explorations of the West, especially in the 

Colorado River Basin. The anniversary of Powell’s expeditions to map the land near the untamed 

waters of the Green and Colorado Rivers 150 years 

ago provides an opportunity to reflect upon the role 

Photograph of the 1871–72 Powell expedition 

preparing to embark on their second exploration 

from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory, on 

May 4, 1871. No photographer was present on the 

1869 journey.

Relief map of Powell’s pioneer river voyage, 1869, from 

U.S. Geological Survey (1970).

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of USGS science today, both along Powell’s historic route and across the Nation. 

The modern Colorado River Basin is very different from what Powell experienced in 

the mid-1800s. The basin today is heavily managed and highly subdivided. The terrain through which these rivers flow includes Tribal lands; private lands; and public 

lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The river water itself is managed by 

multiple water districts following numerous laws and compacts. Powell would likely 

find the modern governing of the Colorado River Basin to be very complex. His 

vision for the area, laid out in multiple government reports in the late 1800s, suggested that the land should be divided by the natural watershed boundaries, not by 

arbitrary lines. He envisioned that water would need to be diverted for irrigation and 

that assigning homestead plots of equal squares would not work in an arid setting. 

The USGS continues to conduct important science along this river system and 

contribute information to decision makers who are working to manage the river 

basin as a resource for water, recreation, and hydroelectric power. The focus of the 

education and outreach efforts surrounding the Powell150 expedition was to engage 

the public around the geology and ecology of the desert Southwest landscape and the 

hydrology of rivers and to raise public awareness about USGS science. While the 

USGS marked this occasion as an opportunity to highlight the science of the Colorado River Basin through the lens of an exciting and historic river expedition, it is 

important to note that indigenous people have inhabited the area for over 10,000 

years and Tribes in the 19th century had a great deal of knowledge about the river 

and the ecosystems of their homeland. Westward migration by white settlers brought 

conflict and devastating consequences to native peoples and their natural and cultural 

resources. In acknowledgment of this, we listened to Native American perspectives 

on river science, including traditional cultural practices, during community outreach 

events and discussions throughout the expedition. 

The USGS marked the centennial of John Wesley Powell’s historic journey with 

a river trip, a film in partnership with Grand Canyon National Park entitled “John 

Wesley Powell: Canyon Geologist,” and several publications about the historic expeditions (Rabbitt and others, 1969; Fowler and others, 1969; U.S. Geological Survey, 

1970; Rabbitt, 1974; Stephens and Shoemaker, 1987). Some of the centennial events, 

including the river journey, took place the year before the centennial because the 

Arizona-based USGS scientists knew they would be very busy in 1969 training the 

Apollo astronauts for the first lunar landing in July of that year (Schaber, 2005, for 

example; see also https://www.usgs.gov/centers/astrogeology-science-center/science/

lunar-legacy-usgs-astrogeology-science-center). 

2 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

Photographs of Powell’s 1875 book, “Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its tributaries,” with the original woodblocks carved to create the illustrations, from 

Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, and the Smithsonian Libraries. In the 19th century, before photography was 

widespread, highly skilled artists used fine tools to engrave details into small blocks of wood, which were then coated with ink and pressed to create photographic-quality 

images for reproduction. (Left: Green River; right: Grand Canyon of the Colorado.)
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The 2019 sesquicentennial provided an opportunity to communicate USGS 

science in new ways. The USGS Youth and Education in Science (YES) team seized 

the rare opportunity to partner with the Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring 

Expedition (SCREE), based at the University of Wyoming, who planned to travel the 

length of Powell’s original route 150 years later. Although SCREE’s vision focused 

more broadly on the current state of water and environmental policies within the 

Colorado River Basin, the USGS focus was on science and on public outreach. As 

on Powell’s expedition, data were collected to help document the modern conditions of the river. Gathering of data by the USGS and SCREE included sampling 

sediments for lithology, trace metals, and microplastics; collecting aquatic insects; 

recording bird and bat sounds; documenting riparian (river-edge) vegetation; and 

measuring water quality indicators for nearly 1,000 river miles. Each USGS participant, regardless of his or her area of expertise or current job, took part in the daily 

science experiments using easy-to-follow sampling methods. Each segment transition allowed time for the crew coming off the river to teach the incoming team how 

to conduct the science experiments. Over time, the USGS plans to use these data to 

create K-12 educational resources emphasizing data interpretation. 

Naturally, many of the people who applied for a place on the Powell150 river 

trip showed a strong interest in the outdoors and a taste for adventure, but many had 

never been rafting before, and this experience was not a routine part of their normal 

duties. Many, but not all, of the USGS participants are scientists. Of the approximately 8,000 employees at the bureau, about half are engaged in science support 

roles, without which the science could not be done. The USGS employs people with 

various professional backgrounds, including expertise in business, computer and 

information technology, administration, communications and publishing, public 

affairs, and more. USGS staff participated in the SCREE community outreach events 

along the way and shared their experiences with their own communities and colleagues when they returned home. At the time of this publication, there have been 22 

post-expedition outreach events, reaching more than 1,600 people across the country. What the participants gained was immeasurable—working together to navigate 

strong rapids or solve problems, sharing their perspectives during quiet stretches and 

structured dialogues, learning new things about themselves, their colleagues, and the 

USGS. The partcipants came away changed in ways that sometimes surprised them. 

Their reflections are recorded in this publication, but a comment from SCREE leader 

Tom Minckley stands out: “During this expedition, I believe I have met the future 

leaders of the USGS.” 

In addition, the USGS YES office launched a series of campaigns to engage the 

public in the expedition and in USGS science. These included— 

• Participation in community outreach events with local stakeholders, held at the

following locations. All events were free and open to the public.

◦ Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

◦ Green River, Wyoming

◦ Dinosaur National Monument, Utah

◦ Moab, Utah

◦ Page, Arizona

• Then and Now – a series of articles comparing 1869 to 2019, published online in

2019 and updated for this report.

• Powell in the Parks – a series of information sheets about public lands along the

expedition route comparing what John Wesley Powell would have seen to what

visitors today will see.

• Find-A-Feature Challenge – a photographic challenge to search for analogs to

Earth science features.

• Paper Powell – the mascot for the journey.

• Educational resources – a curated collection of new and previously existing

educational resources related to the science of rivers and basic geology.

• Be an Explorer – connecting Powell (Grand Canyon - 1869) to Dorothy Vaughan

and Neil Armstrong (Moon - 1969) to a future explorer (perhaps Mars - 2069)

and inspiring curiosity and adventure in kids.

Introduction 3
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Historical Background

4 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

Several geographic surveys of the West during the late 1800s and early 1900s, 

led by C. King, F.V. Hayden, J.W. Powell, G. Wheeler, and C.H. Birdseye, provided 

the baseline science of the geography, geology, and hydrology of the region (Rabbitt, 

1974). The early surveys defined the scientific understanding of this region and laid 

a strong foundation for the systematic USGS fieldwork that continues today. In the 

late 1800s, the rivers were still wild, not yet used for the generation of hydroelectric 

power or harvested for agricultural irrigation and booming populations. Unobstructed 

by physical barriers, fine sediment traveled down the rivers freely, depositing along 

the outer, curving edge as sandbars and as mud in a delta at the Colorado River’s 

end. Today, dams impede the sediments’ flow. Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah, Glen 

Canyon Dam in Arizona, and Hoover Dam in Nevada now sit along Powell’s 

route, creating the large, still-water bodies of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Lake Powell, and Lake Mead behind them. The presence of 

dams prevents a true-to-1869 re-creation of Powell’s exact route; 

motors were used to transport the rafts across the slow-moving 

reservoirs, and a ground crew portaged the rafts around the 

dams on roads that, of course, did not exist in 1869. 

On May 24, 1869, John Wesley Powell—a 35-year old 

educator and Civil War veteran—launched the Powell Geographic Expedition from southern Wyoming, a mere seven 

years after losing his right arm at the elbow from an injury 

sustained during the Civil War’s Battle of Shiloh. Powell’s 

personally designed boats were shipped by train from Chicago 

to Wyoming, a route made possible by the completion of the 

Transcontinental Railroad just two weeks before the start of the 

expedition. A decade later, Powell was instrumental in founding 

the U.S. Geological Survey and would become its second director, 

serving from 1881 to 1894, among other posts. But on that day, in 1869, 

he was an explorer and self-taught geologist, determined to map the rivers 

May 24, 1869: “The good people of Green River City turn out to see 

us start. We raise our little flag, push the boats from shore, and the 

swift current carries us down.” 

 ~John Wesley Powell

and to document the canyons, resources, and people he met 

along the way. 

Powell’s expedition set out down the Green River to pinpoint its confluence with the Colorado River (known in 1869 

as the Grand River north of its confluence with the Green) and 

to complete the region’s maps, including the ominous depths 

of Grand Canyon in Arizona, which Powell called “The Great 

Unknown.” He and his crew were the first known people of 

European descent to make this journey by river and to document 

the details of the topography, geology, hydrology, and ecology along 

the route. Powell’s journals detailed the changing landscapes as well as 

the people, plants, and animals he encountered. 

June 6, 1869: “At daybreak I am awakened by a chorus of birds. It 

seems as if all the feathered songsters of the region have come to the 

old tree. Several species of warblers, woodpeckers, and flickers above, 

meadowlarks in the grass, and wild geese in the river.” ~JWP
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Historical Background 5

Powell’s 1869 crew included his brother, Walter Bramwell “Bram” Powell; 

George Y. Bradley; William “Billy” Hawkins; Andrew Hall; Oramel Howland and 

his brother, Seneca Howland; John “Jack” Sumner; William “Billy” Dunn; and Frank 

Goodman, an Englishman who joined just before the launch, eager for the adventure. 

The expedition faced many challenges, including running aground on a sandbar just 

a mile or two downstream from the launch, breaking and losing oars overboard. 

Within the first two weeks, they had lost one boat to the power of the river, along 

with many of their scientific instruments and rations. In mid-June, a campfire went 

awry, engulfing their clothing and gear that had been left out to dry, and leaving their 

supplies further depleted. Three weeks later, Frank Goodman walked away, having “seen danger enough.” Of the nine men in three boats who carried on, only six 

emerged from the Grand Canyon on August 30. 

After securing congressional funding and emphasizing the additional work 

needed to characterize the land and water of the Colorado River Basin, Powell 

returned to the river in 1871–72. This time his crew included experienced scientists 

and cartographers (notably geologist and brother-in-law A.H. Thompson), as well as 

artists (Thomas Moran) and photographers (J.K. Hillers and E.O. Beaman). Powell’s 

book, “Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its tributaries” (Powell, 

1875) includes journal entries describing the 1869–72 expeditions, along with details 

of the landscapes and stories about how he chose the names—many of which are still 

used today—for the rapids and canyons. 

Powell was instrumental in establishing the USGS in 1879, and he became its 

second director (1881–94). The USGS mission to characterize the Nation’s land, 

water, and natural resources has evolved since its founding to encompass geospatial 

mapping, natural hazards, and more. In 1996, the USGS added biological sciences to 

its mission with the addition of the National Biological Service, which was renamed 

the Biological Resources Division, and later established as the Ecosystems Mission Area in 2010. On August 27, 2019, Department of the Interior Secretary David 

Bernhardt declared August 30 as John Wesley Powell Day in recognition of the 

importance of the many scientific and historical accomplishments of Major John 

Wesley Powell and in observation of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of 

Grand Canyon National Park.

May 24, 1869: “We take with us rations deemed sufficient to last ten 

months; for we expect, when winter comes on and the river is filled 

with ice, to lie over at some point until spring arrives; so we take with 

us abundant supplies of clothing. We have also a large quantity of 

ammunition and two or three dozen traps. For the purpose of building 

cabins, repairing boats, and meeting other exigencies, we are supplied 

with axes, hammers, saws, augers, and other tools, and a quantity 

of nails and screws. For scientific work, we have two sextants, four 

chronometers, a number of barometers, thermometers, compasses, 

and other instruments.” ~JWP

John Wesley Powell’s other positions 

included: First Director of the Smithsonian 

Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology; 

Co-founder of the National Geographic 

Society; Member of the National 

Academy of Sciences; Founder and 

President of the Anthropological 

Society of Washington; Organizer of 

the Geological Society of Washington; 

Co-founder of the Cosmos Club; 

Co-founder of the Geological 

Society of America; Elected Member 

and President of the Philosophical 

Society of Washington; and President 

of the American Association for the 

Advancement of Science.
Then and Now

Women in Science

Then

At the start of the Civil War, 27-year-old John Wesley Powell married his 25-year-old 

cousin, Emma Dean. She proved her character from the very beginning of their marriage, joining then-2nd Lt. Powell at Camp Girardeau near St. Louis, where he was in charge of fortifying 

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s camp. Only weeks later, then-Capt. Powell was injured during the 

Battle of Shiloh and had his arm amputated below the elbow. Emma was at the battlefield 

hospital and nursed him back to health. When Powell returned to service, Emma joined him. 

After the war ended and Powell returned to teaching, Emma accompanied him and 

his students on their geologic and natural history field trips during the 1860s and 70s. She 

was not listed as a scientist or recognized for her work in the field; however, she was likely 

involved in the scientific enterprise. For example, in 1867 she ascended Pikes Peak, a 14,115-

foot (ft)-high mountain in Colorado, and she was the lead ornithologist during an 1868 expedition, identifying and cataloguing 175 species of birds 

that were collected. 

Powell’s sister, Ellen “Nellie” Thompson, also 

accompanied the group on some of his expeditions. 

She was married to Almon Harris Thompson, a 

surveyor and geologist who was second in command of Powell’s 1871–72 expedition. Nellie was 

Emma Dean Powell

Ellen Powell Thompson

an accomplished botanist, and in 1872 described 

many of the plants she found in Utah. In the winter 

of 1871–72, both Nellie and Emma, with newborn 

Mary Dean Powell, joined the expedition at its winter 

camp. Little notice was afforded women in science 

before the end of the 19th century; it was common for 

women, like Emma and Nellie, to contribute to their 

husbands’ scientific work without attribution. 

The USGS was established in 1879 and hired 

its first woman scientist in 1896. Florence Bascom 

was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from Johns 

Hopkins University (1893) and only the second American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the geosciences. She 

worked at the USGS as a geologist through 1936. 

6 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

Dr. Florence Bascom

Dr. Elzada Clover
The first women to float the river through the Grand Canyon 

were, like Nellie Thompson, botanists. Dr. Elzada Clover, from the 

University of Michigan, and graduate student Lois Jotter, who 

would later earn her Ph.D. and teach at the University of North 

Carolina, conducted the first botanical survey of the river, along 

with a crew of five men, using three boats. Their survey covered 

600 river miles, from Green River, Utah, through the Grand Canyon. 

It was 1938, and times being what they were, in addition to 

conducting the scientific work, the women did all the cooking and 

other camp chores.

Now

Today, women are leaders in all fields of scientific endeavor. 

Although they have not achieved parity with men in many fields, 

a young woman today who aspires to be a scientist or engineer 

faces fewer barriers than her 19th-century peers (Aragon-Long 

and others, 2018). At the USGS, hundreds of women scientists and 

science support staff contribute to the Survey’s mission. Two of the 

last three USGS directors were women, and seven former and current female scientists have been promoted to senior scientist for 

their exceptional achievements. Nine USGS women have received 

the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and 

Engineers in the last ten years.

Then and Now 7

By Eleanour Snow and Annie Scott
In 2016, Dr. Thomas Minckley, professor at the University of Wyoming Department of Geology and Geophysics, envisioned a full-scale river trip to mirror the 

1869 Powell expedition with the goal of engaging the public in discussions about 

water in the West: history, science, culture, art, environmental law, and the future of 

the Colorado River Basin. Over the next three years, Minckley and colleagues from 

several western universities and other organizations developed the Sesquicentennial 

Colorado River Exploring Expedition (SCREE), putting together a team who would 

reflect upon the history, culture, science, and future of the river system 150 years 

after Powell. SCREE secured vital permits, rafts, supplies, off-river support, and 

funds for their planned 70-day trip that would follow Powell’s historic route. They 

assembled a group of regional experts, including professors and graduate students 

of geography, geology, law, history, archaeology, fine arts, and more—certainly a 

contrast to Powell’s first crew of mostly frontiersmen up for an adventure. 

In 2018, a USGS leadership course posed a challenge for participants to envision a national-scale educational project to highlight current USGS science. The 

group suggested using the upcoming 150th anniversary of the 1869 John Wesley 

Powell expedition of the Green and Colorado Rivers as an engaging backdrop to 

introduce the public and youth to the broad scope of USGS science using relevant 

21st-century technology such as social media. At the time, the USGS YES team was 

unaware of SCREE’s plans to recreate Powell’s river journey, but an introduction to 

SCREE leaders by USGS emeritus scientist Breton Bruce in September 2018 connected the two entities, paving the way for the formation of an official partnership. 

Existing educational materials relating to the hydrology, geology, and biology of 

the Colorado River Basin were collated and new materials were developed. USGS 

scientists working in this region, primarily based at the USGS Southwest Biological 

Science Center locations in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Moab, Utah, provided science 

briefings to the YES team to synthesize the current USGS projects in the region.

Nearly one hundred USGS employees applied for the opportunity to represent 

the USGS on the Powell150 expedition as science ambassadors. The YES team 

assembled a selection panel of seven rating members and one non-rating panel 

coordinator, who was the sole viewer of names and demographic information until 

the top-rated participants were chosen. Each participant responded to three essay 

questions related to their interest and abilities as science communicators and their 

willingness to support educational efforts to broaden and diversify the USGS YES 

Before the 2019 Expedition

8 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

audience. Applicants were also screened to determine those who demonstrated the 

skills, knowledge, and abilities that reflect well upon the USGS along with examples 

of self-sufficiency, a positive attitude about adventure, and a willingness to help 

and learn. The selection panel chair assigned a number to each applicant so that the 

committee members were unaware of the names of the applicants. Next, all applicants were rated by their responses to the essay questions, and the top-rated 50 were 

selected. The area of expertise (Mission Area), geographic location, and top choices 

for requested segments were noted and grouped to ensure equal representation across 

all careers and regions of the USGS. Twenty-eight participants were chosen, and an 

alternate list was created. Ultimately, all 28 were able to make their assigned segment, and the alternates were not called.

The months leading up to the 2019 expedition were full of intense planning and 

collaboration across multiple USGS offices. A Safety Review Team was developed 

to include experts on USGS safety protocols and people specifically familiar with the 

rough rapids of the Green and Colorado Rivers, vital during 2019 due to higher than 

average snowmelt. The USGS safety team closely monitored the flow of the rivers 

on specific days before the rafts were scheduled to access each major rapid. Backup 

plans were made to divert around the rapids by land if the flow was deemed to be too 

dangerous to travel by raft. Safety was the highest priority on the expedition and all 

USGS participants were required to wear a personal flotation device and to participate in USGS safety training and In-Over-Water training before their river segment. 

In addition, some USGS participants took Swift Water Rescue training, which proved 

useful later in Cataract Canyon. Current Wilderness First Aid certification was also 

required for at least two people on every segment, which the YES team coordinated. 

We also purchased a satellite communication device as an emergency contact so that 

in the event of an accident we could mobilize help as quickly as possible. Fortunately, no such accident occurred. All USGS participants received communications 

training by the Office of Communications and Publishing and met regularly with the 

YES office to coordinate travel logistics to remote areas, often requiring coordination by many people who had never met in person and who were heading to the river 

from opposite regions of the country. Every participant made it to his or her specified 

location at the appropriate time, which was a relief to the expedition leaders, especially because cell phone coverage is not always reliable in some isolated locations 

along the river system. 
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To prepare for the educational portion of this project, Paper Powell, who served 

as the mascot for the expedition, was created in consultation with the John Wesley 

Powell River History Museum in Green River, Utah, which has run a Paper Powell 

program for many years. Our version of Paper Powell was inspired by a circa 1869 

photograph. The shape of Powell’s right arm, amputated near the elbow, was drawn 

to be historically accurate in the hope that it would inspire and encourage explorers who may have physical limitations. This simple, low-tech, low-cost character 

was created to invite students, teachers, and the public across the 

Nation to follow the expedition and to take Paper Powell on new 

adventures. Each USGS participant received a limited-edition, 

laminated Paper Powell dressed for the river in a personal flotation 

device to travel the continuous route, the only USGS participant to 

do so. Paper Powell also traveled around the United States and the 

world, including far-away locations such as Antarctica; Stonehenge, 

England; the deep ocean; and India, with a little help from engaged 

members of the public and our colleagues. Explorers of all ages 

joined the fun online by printing out their own Paper Powell and 

learning a bit more about USGS science along the way, and they 

were introduced to a talking cartoon version of Paper Powell, called 

a memoji, on social media.

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Before the 2019 Expedition 9
One educational goal was to communicate with new and diverse 

audiences about current USGS science. To implement this goal, an 

online campaign known as the Find-A-Feature Challenge was developed 

to encourage students and the public to think creatively about real-life 

analogs in their own neighborhoods to natural features. Examples of 

geologic, hydrologic, and (or) ecological features were shared on the 

YES website and on social media, and students and the public were challenged to find something (building materials, shapes, people, and food, 

for example) that is similar to the feature. Find-A-Feature challenges 

tied to the Powell150 expedition included rivers, meanders, fossils, 

layers (strata), and red rocks. The Find-A-Feature Challenge was also 

included in the American Geosciences Institute’s 2019 Earth Science 

Week calendar as a classroom activity that was distributed to more than 

20,000 teachers. 

To honor artistic contributions and connect with non-scientists, 

Powell150 outreach activities included components of art and history. In 

May 2019, the YES team displayed historical photographs with quotes 

from Powell’s journals and a wall-size, painted river roughly to scale 

with the rivers’ path along one side of the art corridor at the USGS 

National Center in the John Wesley Powell Federal Building in Reston, 

Virginia. The other side of the art corridor featured modern photographs 

and staff profiles of each of the selected participants, along with a route 

map so employees and visitors to Reston could follow along the journey. 

The USGS Library compiled historical items from the 1869–72 Powell 

expeditions for display in Reston during April and May 2019 to coincide 

with National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. In the spring 

of 2019, the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) 

Center published an online geonarrative (story map) showing satellite 

imagery of the expedition route with historical notes. SCREE artists 

used historical and modern methods of photography, painting, sketching, 

sculpture, and multimedia art to document the expedition.

10 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Before the 2019 Expedition 11
Then and Now

Art

12 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

Then 

John Wesley Powell quickly leveraged his 1869 fame to start planning his 1871 trip. Art 

and science would be the justification for this second journey. The 1871 expedition was better 

organized and better equipped than the first. In contrast to the courageous yet ragtag crew 

that joined the first journey, the participants on the second journey consisted of carefully chosen artists, photographers, and scientists. The images of this journey we see today were composed by John Karl “Jack” Hillers (photographer), Francis Marion Bishop (topographer), Steven 

Vandiver Jones (topographer), E.O. Beaman (photographer), and Frederick “Frank” Dellenbaugh 

(topographer and artist). The science was conducted by Almon Harris Thompson (topographer, 

geologist), Frank Richardson (assistant geologist), and John Fletcher Steward (geologist). 

Dellenbaugh was assigned the role of lead artist, and the famed painter Thomas Moran, who 

was a late addition, was given the role of guest artist. Just 17 years old when they launched, 

Dellenbaugh learned wet plate photography and sharpened his topography skills on the river. 

The more seasoned Moran spent very little time, if any, on the water. Powell requested that 

Moran take an overland route via horseback from Salt Lake City to the Virgin River and then up 

to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, in the hope 

that Moran would create images of the Grand Canyon that would rival and complement his famous 

painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. To 

accomplish this, Moran and Dellenbaugh worked 

with graphite, watercolors, and gouache in the 

field to capture the colors and shapes of the river 

and the fantastic land formations found throughout 

the basin. Moran also spent a great deal of time 

working with young Jack Hillers, helping haul 

equipment and compose many of the photographs. 

He would later use these photographs in his studio 

to help him with the nuances and geological 

details of the canyon country. 

The goal of the second expedition was to 

gain a deeper understanding of the unique geology, 

to map the geography, and to capture images of 

the Green and Colorado Rivers. The tales, science, 

and images produced by the explorers fed the 

imagination of a curious public back East. The fantastic images created on the 1871 expedition played a huge role in selling the West and the concept of Manifest Destiny. Along with 

Powell’s popular (yet historically unreliable) journals, the photographs, drawings, etchings, 

and paintings that were produced helped turn the West from a blank spot on the map into an 

approachable and attractive space to settle. Together, the written words and images helped 

promote the West as a promised land to a country preoccupied with post-Civil War Reconstruction. Railroads were in place, most native peoples had been displaced onto western 

reservations, and the seemingly unlimited natural resources were there for the taking. 

Now

Working on the shoulders of John Wesley Powell and Thomas Moran gave me an 

understanding of how we got to 2019 and helps me think about the future of the West. My 

challenge was to find content in a landscape that is largely unspoiled, raw, and in a natural 

state. The “leave no trace” ethic on the river corridor gives us a landscape that feels to me as 

if it is in a bubble, frozen in time. Most of the land along the river is the kind of protected land 

that I have avoided in my 30 years of depicting the 

West, my belief being that Moran, Albert Bierstadt, 

Frederic Church, and many others did an excellent 

job of depicting the pre-Manifest Destiny landscape (and natural resources) of North America. 

With that in mind, I focused my compositions on 

the less protected lands. The interaction between 

our encroaching culture and the realities of nature 

is fascinating to me. I often set up and sketch on 

the outskirts of town, behind a truck stop, or on 

the side of the highway while travelers blow by on 

their way to embrace our pristine national parks. 

The canyons offered me the chance to face the 

land in a way that is not all that different from 

what Powell and Moran experienced. Ironically, the 

pristine character of much of the landscape today 

reflects the heavy hand of culture maintaining the 

appearance of primitive to the benefit of all.

The Chasm of the Colorado

Thomas Moran (1837–1926), 1873–1874

Oil on canvas, mounted on aluminum, 84.375” x 144.75”

U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, Washington, D.C.

INTR 03000
My role as lead artist had many facets. I was expected to educate 

myself, research the Colorado River Basin, select pertinent artists to join 

us on the river, produce original art, and organize numerous art exhibits. 

Long before the launch, I was committed to spend any free time seeking 

out locations along the river to camp, draw, and explore this new subject. 

Also, I was motivated to look deeper into the field drawings of Thomas 

Moran, whose work has been an inspiration for my studio practice for over 

ten years. My research into the Moran archives at the Gilcrease Museum 

in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and at Yellowstone National Park was a treat. Field 

drawing is a tough task. Even if an artist has all day in perfect conditions, it 

is a fool’s game to try to get it all rendered at once. In the field, Moran was 

a master of composition, line, and color. I was hoping to gain an understanding of how he was so successful at creating field drawings that hold visual 

economy yet feature finely tuned specificity. I still am stumped but will not 

forget my privileged days in the archives. 

Our expedition was composed more like Powell’s second trip down the 

Green and Colorado Rivers: scientists, 

artists, and writers worked together on 

the trip. SCREE was an outward-facing 

expedition. With that understanding, we 

were expected to produce and exhibit 

relevant work featured in an expanded 

art exhibit entitled “Contemporary Views 

of the Arid West: People, Places and 

Spaces.“ This expanded art exhibit was 

featured in museums in riverside communities during our journey. The roster 

of SCREE artists included David Jones 

(sculpture), Bailey Russell (photography), 

Will Wilson (photography), Erika Osborne 

(painting and drawing), and me (painting). Also, Ben Kraushaar (photography/

videography), a geography graduate 

student at the University of Wyoming, 

spent much of his shore time behind a 

video camera documenting the experience. There were no expectations 

that SCREE artists would respond directly to the science being done on 

the expedition, which allowed for artists to create images from their 

personal experiences. The idea was that the artists would make art in 

the field and that the scientists would collect data and discuss their 

research in an informal setting. If one practice influenced the other, it 

would happen in an organic way. 

Thinking about the future is difficult. Painting it is even harder. I 

am unsure how my work will be received, and whether I have any new 

content to add to the multi-layered conversation. At this point, I can 

only hope that my work will serve future artists. I hope it serves as a 

voice for the lesser-known public lands. I am hopeful that the inspiration I have gleaned from Thomas Moran’s sketches can be imparted 

to the next generation of artists. Unlike the 19th-century expeditions, 

SCREE artists had drones, helmet-mounted video cameras, digital cameras, and sound-recording devices. This left me wondering, will there 

even be a future artist who will choose 

to use graphite and watercolors? Now, I 

expect there will be. After all, I’m using 

materials that are not that different from 

those used by the famed Barrier Canyon 

Style artists whose paintings are 10,000 

years old and can be seen today on the 

canyon walls. I suppose future river voyagers will carry sketchbooks, journals, 

pencils, and watercolors, along with harmonicas and acoustic guitars. I believe 

these materials will continue to be 

attractive to artists who are committed 

to making direct marks of expression. I 

hope my work can play some defense 

for drawing and painting in a world that 

is becoming saturated with landscape 

images that are digitally manipulated 

into idyllic, screen-saver perfection.

Then and Now 13

Used with permission.

Green River—oil on canvas: From personal collection of Patrick Kikut.

By Patrick Kikut
The 2019

Expedition

14 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
For two days leading up to the start of the expedition, scholars, USGS representatives, and people from many partnering organizations gathered for a public 

outreach event focused on John Wesley Powell and on history, environmental law, 

Western Expansion, and modern artwork capturing the rugged landscapes. Children 

painted their own landscapes, guided magnetic boats down a laminated map of the 

Green and Colorado Rivers, and more. The night before the launch, a snowstorm 

blew in, covering the layered rock pillars surrounding the city of Green River, Wyoming. Winds howled, and the participants braced themselves, wondering if they had 

brought the right gear to keep them warm and dry for the next four days. 

The next morning, May 24, 2019—exactly 150 years after the Powell crew 

launched here—a crowd of history buffs, families, scientists, city leaders, and even 

a John Wesley Powell interpreter gathered near the shore of Expedition Island in the 

Green River. A mostly cloudy, cold morning turned to sunny skies while the crowd 

milled. The expedition leader addressed the assembled group, thanking them for their

support. Clouds darkened the skies once more, and sleet began to fall just as the rafts

pushed off from shore. In the five rafts, fourteen explorers, including three USGS 

personnel, headed out, drawn by the lure of the river and the lore of John Wesley 

Powell. The SCREE flotilla pushed off with substantially more supplies, expertise, 

and ground support than the first Powell expedition, and over the course of the next 

70 days, the river crews would change eight times. In all, 63 adventurers would take 

part in SCREE: scientists, scholars, artists, filmmakers, and educators, including 

three SCREE leaders who made the entire journey and 28 USGS participants—14 

men and 14 women—ranging from their 20s to their 60s and coming from all geographic regions and areas of expertise at the USGS, who were selected to represent a 

snapshot of the Survey in 2019. Most had never met. As was done on Powell’s expeditions, they observed the landscapes, plants, and animals, and they also gathered 

new data during this unique opportunity to cover a nearly 1,000-mile river transect.

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UTAH

ARIZONA

UTAH

ARIZONA

NEVADA

Muddy River

Havasupai

Reservation

Hualapai

Reservation

Hopi Reservation

Kaibab-Paiute

Reservation K A I B A B P L A T E A U

San Juan River

Navajo Nation

Reservation

NEW MEXICO

COLORADO

Uintah and Ouray

Reservation

Horseshoe

Bend

Little Col orado River

Colorado River

Green River,

Wyoming

Flaming Gorge Dam

Gates of Lodore

Split

Mountain

Sand Wash

John

Wesley Powell

River History

Museum Green River

State Park

Dirty Devil 

boat launch

Lees Ferry

Glen Canyon Dam

(near Page, AZ)

Pearce 

Ferry, AZ Phantom Ranch,

Grand Canyon

Ouray

National

Wildlife Refuge

Dirty Devil River

U I N T A M O U N T A I N S

WYO MING RA NG E

UTAH COLORADO

WYOMING

Green River

GreenRi ver

Yampa River

Uintah

and Ouray

Reservation

Flaming

Gorge

Reservoir

Lake

Powell

Lake

Mead

Navajo

Bridge

Lava Falls

Separation Canyon

Redwall Cavern

0 10

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20 MILES

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Segment A May 24–May 27, 2019

16 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Green River, Wyoming, to Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah

The expedition traveled from Green River, Wyoming, to Flaming Gorge 

Dam in northeastern Utah, experiencing some rough weather the night before 

and on the day of the launch. The expedition managed to avoid the perils that 

Powell and his crew faced during the first few days of their 1869 journey. 

Safely guided through known waters by experienced boaters, they were able 

to engage in discussions with new colleagues and spend time fine-tuning the 

protocols for the science collections.

The river from Green River to Flaming Gorge is not wild anymore. 

Flaming Gorge Dam, built in 1958–62 and maintained by the U.S. Bureau of 

Reclamation, tamed the upstream waters. This dam, and others in the basin, 

provides hydroelectric power, water supply for communities and agriculture, 

and recreation. John Wesley Powell was very interested in water-use policy 

and advocated for the important role of science to inform water policy. Today, 

the USGS continues that mission by providing scientific data to policymakers 

through monitoring and researching water resources and conditions including 

streamflow, groundwater, water quality, water use, and water availability. During the Powell150 expedition, daily measurements of the water temperature 

and pH were recorded, and photographs of a glass of water were taken against 

a white background to show the clarity of the water. Boat operators also relied 

on USGS streamgages along the river and its tributaries to estimate discharge, 

typically measured in cubic feet per second, and to calculate the strength of the 

rapids. The USGS has been recording data from streamgages since 1889, and 

these data are used to document and predict floods and droughts and to inform 

recreational users of rivers through a variety of apps and data portals. Of 

course, Powell did not have that information on his initial voyage. He climbed 

cliffs to scout rapids, watched and listened to the river to find the roughest 

water, and portaged around rapids whenever conditions seemed too dire. 

Segment A 17
Then and Now

Green River, Wyoming

Then

Standing upon the banks of the Green River in 2019, 150 years after his departure from 

these shores, one wonders if John Wesley Powell would recognize the place he helped make 

famous. A person viewing the city, landscape, and environment today, where Powell launched 

his expeditions in 1869 and 1871, may think that little has changed since Powell walked these 

shores. In some ways, they would be right. The high mountain desert surrounding the Green 

River was peppered with sagebrush, shrubs, sedges, and native grasses covering rolling hills. 

Willows, cottonwood trees, and riparian shrubs crowded the riverbanks. The river ran through 

the valley unchecked by any human-made structures. Islands dotted the river, providing 

habitat for animal species including mule deer, pronghorn, beavers, various waterfowl, and 

many others. As with most rivers, unstable sandy shorelines were constantly eroding, causing 

persistent, if subtle, changes. The islands in the river near Green River Station in Wyoming 

Territory (Wyoming became a State in 1890) at the time of Powell’s journey were mostly 

devoid of human occupation. An occasional trapper or fisherman could be seen 

bobbing along the river visiting their various posts. 

The town of Green River was established in 1868 in a small valley, 

dwarfed by giant cliffs of layered sedimentary rocks on the east side 

of the Green River. Originally a small stagecoach station along 

the Overland and Cherokee Trails, the community around 

the station expanded with the news that the Union 

Pacific Railroad would be coming 

through the territory. The population of the town grew in anticipation of the commerce the railroad would bring, until the railroad decided to establish its switching station farther down the 

line, in the town of Bryan instead. This decision caused the population of the town to plummet 

from roughly 2,000 people to just over 100 people when Powell chose it as his launching point 

in 1869. 

Powell chose the town of Green River for his launch because that was the only place 

where the railroad crossed the river he wanted to explore, thus making it possible to transport 

his boats and supplies directly to the river. The railroad tracks crossed the river on the north 

side of town. The construction of the tracks and bridge across the river created a gentle slope 

directly from the tracks to the banks of the river. Powell’s crew could more easily carry the 

heavy boats and copious supplies directly from the railroad car to the river. 

Even though people had begun to settle along the banks of the Green River, it was still 

a wild river that would challenge Powell and his crew as they attempted to navigate its deceptively placid waters. 

Now

Cliffs of layered sedimentary rocks still stand watch over the city of Green River, 

Wyoming, today. With these resilient features of the landscape in place, Powell would 

likely feel right at home at the origin of his groundbreaking journeys. The city now extends 

from both sides of the river and the population exceeds 12,000. The rolling hills that were 

undeveloped at the time of Powell’s excursions are now lined with homes and other 

buildings overlooking the river. The Union Pacific Railroad 

still follows the same route through 

18 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
By Jaime (Jaci) Wells

the city as it did in 1869. Perhaps the most striking change to the natural environment would 

be the vegetation. The riverbanks are lined with cheatgrass, tamarisk, Russian olive trees and 

non-native grasses, all of which are invasive species. Land use, such as farming, ranching, 

irrigation, settlement, and other development has taken a toll by affecting the stability of the 

riverbank and riparian ecosystems. The local community today is working to restore the native 

vegetation to the shores of the river, but with the ability of the invasive species to outcompete 

the native species, it is a long battle. 

Most wildlife species that Powell and his crew observed in 1869 are still found along the 

river. Mule deer and pronghorn frequent the city and its islands, as do waterfowl. The most 

notable missing wildlife is the beaver, which was heavily impacted by the fur trade around the 

time of Powell’s journeys. 

Powell would also likely be amazed to see the landscape changes that the city of Green 

River has undertaken along the river. Concrete walking paths line the banks of the river and 

wind through the city. Several new pedestrian and automobile bridges span the river. The train 

yard has expanded significantly since Powell’s journeys because the switching station was 

moved to Green River after drought struck the town of Bryan a few years after the expeditions. 

Now, several tracks and warehouses line the river. 

The largest island within the city limits is known as Expedition Island—in honor of Powell—and many have come to believe it is the location where his expeditions were launched. 

The island is located just a half-mile downstream from the bridge where the railroad crosses 

the river. The citizens identified the island early in the history of the city as a good spot to 

recreate. Originally known as Island Park, it became the best location in the region for picnics, 

dances, and riverboat cruises on steamboats starting in the early 1900s. 

It is unlikely, however, that Expedition Island was the launch point for Powell’s 

expeditions. The island is downstream from the 

railroad crossing and was not easily accessible in 1869. It would have been difficult to 

remove the boats and supplies from the train, and then carry or float them down to the island. 

If the boats were on the island, that would have meant plenty of trips back and forth to the 

island hauling supplies. It is much more likely the launch point was farther up the river, just 

off the side of the railroad bridge. E.O. Beaman’s photograph from 1871 is a close match to 

the view today next to the railroad bridge. Furthermore, a 1908 article from the Green River 

Star newspaper discussed the steamboat launch point as being “above Railroad Bridge.” The 

easy access to the river and the gentler slopes on the banks there made it an ideal location to 

launch boats, and it became the official launch point of the Green River Navigation Company 

(Fowler, 2011).

Sometime in the mid-1900s, the citizens began to refer to the island as Expedition Island. 

The name was officially changed in 1969 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Powell’s 

expeditions. Today, the island hosts a community building, a parking lot, and a city park. It is 

lushly covered with Kentucky bluegrass and lined around the perimeter with trees, including 

cottonwoods. Walking paths cover the island and two bridges connect the island to either side 

of the river, providing a wonderful place for recreation for the citizens of Green River.

The city has taken measures to stabilize the banks along the shoreline of Expedition 

Island and on either side of the river to prevent erosion. Large boulders are held in place 

by concrete, guiding the river neatly around the sandy island. In order to further enhance 

recreation, the city has developed a small, sheltered cove on the west side of the island where 

visitors can swim without fighting the natural current of the river. Within the river, false rapids 

have been built in order to provide some adventure for those who seek to 

float or kayak.

It is doubtful Powell knew the impact his expeditions would have 

on the city of Green River when he chose it for his launching point. 

His ventures have left their mark in the place names across the region 

that he explored, and it all began in a small-stage station town, 

population 100.

Then and Now 19
Segment A—Personal Vignettes

I was fortunate to accompany SCREE from Green River, Wyoming, to Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, over the course of four remarkable days. The landscape has 

changed since 1869. The Colorado River Basin is no longer a continuous, natural 

riparian ecosystem. John Wesley Powell’s journal entries about the landscape and 

geology reflect my own experience. While I can’t be certain that the geologic features described by Powell are the exact features identified in the lens of my camera, it 

is certain that I am in the general vicinity of the gaze of the citizen scientist. 

Day 1—

Within his journal entry for Day 1, May 24, 1869, Powell provides a brief 

description of the sendoff from Green River Station, of the four boats, the supplies and equipment, and an introduction of the crew. As with his crew, I also must 

become accustomed to the river and our expedition-supplied equipment. Fortunately, 

the captain of my raft, Jessica Flock, is exceptionally experienced and prepared. No 

paddles break and no crew members are tossed overboard as in 1869. We do experience a similar, robust variety of spring weather. Early morning sunshine is followed 

by clouds, rain, and finally sleet until the skies clear later in the evening. We camp on 

a bed of silt, rather than a “gravelly bar.” Unlike the original crew, I enter my section 

of the trip without fear or trepidation. 

Day 2—

May 24, 1869: ... so I climb the cliffs, and walk back among the 

strangely carved rocks of the Green River bad lands. These are 

sandstones and shales, gray and buff, red and brown, blue and black 

strata in many alternations, lying nearly horizontal, and almost 

without soil and vegetation. They are very friable, and the rain and 

streams have carved them into quaint shapes. Barren desolation is 

stretched before me; and yet there is a beauty in the scene. ~JWP

Rather than paddling the rafts through the duration of the first leg, we receive 

a tow beginning midday through Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Powell’s journals note 

provisions of large amounts of coffee, and a hot cup of coffee at breakfast stands the 

test of time. Although unable to build a fire, like the Powell expedition we are “soon 

refreshed and quite merry” as we begin our day. Jack Frost had visited overnight, 

chilling the air to below freezing, with the stars shining like ice crystals. Toward late 

afternoon, artist Patrick Kikut finds solitude and solace among the rock outcroppings, 

sketching preliminary images. We establish camp near the Firehole Campground, 

away from the Memorial Day weekend revelers. 

Day 3—

The landscape appears endless and we are the only ones within view until late 

afternoon. A quiet stillness upon the water provides a palette of reflected color of 

the beautiful formations as we venture south. The Uinta Mountains come into view. 

Unlike the 1869 expedition, we will not enter Flaming Gorge until Day 4. The clear 

air and limited light pollution provide the perfect backdrop for the Milky Way as 

buttes stand tall in the foreground.

May 26, 1869: “To-day, we pass several curiously shaped buttes, 

standing between the west bank of the river and the high bluffs 

beyond. The buttes are outliers of the same beds of rocks exposed on 

the faces of the bluffs -- thinly laminated shales and sandstones of 

many colors, standing above in vertical cliffs, and buttressed below 

with a water-carved talus; some of them attain an altitude of nearly 

a thousand feet above the level of the river.” ~JWP

20 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
Day 4—

Crossing the border between Wyoming and Utah, anticipation grows for what 

may be considered the hallmark geologic formation of the first section of the trip. 

Powell aptly named the gorge “Flaming Gorge.” The view is stunning and the red 

rocks glow like fire at sunset. 

May 26, 1869 : “The river is running to the south; the mountains 

have an easterly and westerly trend directly athwart its course, yet 

it glides on in the quiet way as if it thought a mountain range no 

formidable obstruction to its course. It enters the range by a flaring, 

brilliant, red gorge, that may be seen from the north a score of miles 

away.” ~JWP

While Powell and his crew spent the next few days in the area, we traversed 

the river to a camping spot above Flaming Gorge Dam in one afternoon. Powell 

endeavored to repair equipment and complete topographic and geologic work; we 

lounged in the sunshine taking in the sights. We pass Kingfisher Island Campground, 

which I can only conclude is in the vicinity of Kingfisher Creek, Kingfisher Park, 

and Kingfisher Canyon described in Powell’s journal. We also glide past various 

unusual sandstone formations that I believe are in the vicinity of Beehive Point and a 

vast amphitheater.

May 30, 1869: “Our general course this day has been south, but 

here the river turns to the east around a point which is rounded 

to the shape of a dome. On its sides little cells have been carved by 

the action of the water, and in these pits, which cover the face of 

the dome, hundreds of swallows have built their nests. As they flit 

about the cliffs, they look like swarms of bees, giving to the whole the 

appearance of a colossal beehive of the old-time form, and so we name 

it Beehive Point.” ~JWP

Swallows are not in abundance here, but there is an unusually high concentration of osprey. My adventure will end on Day 4. On Day 5 we will help transport 

rafts and equipment below Flaming Gorge Dam for the second leg of the trip. Crew 

members will be replaced, and the trip will go on. I am appreciative of John Wesley 

Powell and his contributions to science. I am also appreciative of those who planned 

the commemorative sesquicentennial trip to focus attention on the Colorado River 

and challenges for restoration. Like Powell, I too sometimes lie awake with thoughts 

of tomorrow and adventures yet to come. 

~Robert Barth

Segment A 21
After learning that I had been selected to participate in the Powell150 expedition, I quickly went out and purchased a book detailing John Wesley Powell’s 

journey and containing many pages from his journals. The enthusiasm and respect 

Powell had for the world around him as he ventured into the unknown was incredible, and as I climbed into the raft, surrounded by fellow USGS colleagues, professors, artists, experienced boatmen, and students, I was filled with my own sense of 

enthusiasm and awe. My time on the river was an exciting experience—viewing 

the rocks and canyons that Powell saw on his own journey, picking campsites and 

wondering whether Powell and his team walked near the same spots. Of course, the 

Green and Colorado Rivers today are very different from how they were in the past. 

There were no dams on the rivers in Powell’s day, and he didn’t have the equipment 

that we, spoiled in our advanced knowledge, are able to have. But the pursuit of 

science is ageless, and though the questions we ask may change over time, the drive 

to ask those questions never does. Powell wondered what dangers lay ahead on his 

initial journey. Today we wonder about our own effects on the river, such as the 

potential presence of microplastics or impacts on the availability and quality of the 

water, or impacts on the river ecosystem. But this expedition allowed me to catch 

just a glimpse of what Powell may have seen, and made me think about how things 

change. That will always stick with me. 

~Janis LeMaster

22 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
During my time on the river, I thought a lot about the differences between 

our trip and John Wesley Powell’s. The world is vastly different now in so many 

ways, it’s difficult to comprehend what life on the “Great Unknown” 150 years 

ago would have been like. Powell’s team set off in heavy wooden boats loaded 

with supplies including hundreds of pounds of flour, bacon, coffee, a few scientific 

instruments and no complete map, hoping for the best. Our modern expedition had 

the benefits of a meticulously planned itinerary, durable inflatable rafts, satellite 

navigation, lightweight and quick-drying clothing, waterproof containers, an entire 

portable kitchen and pantry stocked with pre-planned meals and snacks for each 

day on the river, and more. Crew safety was emphasized throughout every stage, 

from pre-launch training requirements to ensuring everyone was always wearing 

a personal flotation device on the water. Plus, we had the benefit of knowing that 

we could use a satellite communications device to request an airlift evacuation to a 

hospital if any major emergency were to occur. 

Of all the hardships the Powell expedition endured, the most challenging 

may have been the unknown itself—he and his crew never knew what they were 

going to encounter around the next bend. Thanks to hand-drawn maps created by 

the Powell expedition and the technology that has continued to evolve and improve 

since, navigation was a problem we didn’t have to deal with. The spread of our modern society and technology, however, has created a host of new problems unknown 

in Powell’s time that we will have to deal with, such as the environmental impacts of 

impounding a free-flowing river system behind a series of enormous concrete dams 

and pollution of the water, land, and air. Even in seemingly wild areas, far from any 

population center, we encountered streambanks littered with trash, free-floating garbage in the water, and noise and particulate air pollution. Like Powell’s expedition, 

however, our journey included scientific instruments to record and document specific 

conditions (such as water temperature and pH, samples of beach sediment and 

stream water for microplastics content, and surveys of invertebrates, bats, and birds) 

that will, I hope, help us create new “maps” that will lead us toward a better future. 

Everything about this journey was epic: the landscape, the weather, the preparation, 

the logistics, the scope, and, of course, the dedication and teamwork of the people 

who made it all happen. 

~Russell Sherman

Segment A 23
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Segment B May 28–May 31, 2019

24 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment B 25

Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, to Gates of Lodore, Colorado

As seen from above, the Green River follows a dramatic path on the 

next stretch of the journey. Just south of Flaming Gorge Dam, the Green 

River flows eastward across the northeasternmost corner of Utah as it is 

forced around the Uinta Mountains, a long east-trending range in northern 

Utah. The river continues southeastward through Browns Park National 

Wildlife Refuge in Colorado. Established nearly 100 years after John Wesley 

Powell passed through the region, this nearly 40-mile-long wildlife refuge, 

managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is home to over 200 species 

of birds and nearly 70 mammal species. 

Flaming Gorge Dam to the north has changed the river dynamics here 

since Powell’s time. Hydroelectric dams trap water, and everything within it, 

behind a large concrete barrier, and prevent natural flooding events. The lack 

of natural floods after dam construction and the deepening of the channel has 

decreased native species such as cottonwood and willow trees and increased 

competing species such as tamarisk, pepperwood, and Russian olive. The 

erosive power of rivers and natural floods also allows sediments to flow 

freely downstream. As rivers meander, water moves faster on the outermost 

edge of each bend, removing sediment from the bank. Fine sediments such 

as silt and clay become suspended in the water, moving downstream within 

the channel, and settle out downstream where the velocity is slower. Coarser 

sediments such as sand and gravel bounce along the bottom of the channel 

and pile up along the inner bend of meanders where the water moves more 

slowly, forming point bars, or more simply, sand or gravel bars. These piles 

of sediment are very important, not just for vegetation to take root, but also 

for recreational boaters who use them as campgrounds. Controlled flows, or 

high flow experiments (HFEs), carried out by the USGS and the Bureau of 

Reclamation downstream from Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, 

are one way to mimic natural floods (Hadley and others, 2018, for example). 

These flows replenish nutrient-rich, fine sediments and allow for the formation of sand and gravel bars downstream; they also allow aquatic insect larvae to travel downstream, increasing their chances of survival to adulthood.

The route then follows the Green River’s path back toward the southwest and into Dinosaur National Monument, where the Green is joined by 

the Yampa River before flowing westward again, back into Utah.
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26 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment B 27

June 4, 1869: “We start early and run through to Brown’s Park. 

Halfway down the valley, a spur of red mountain stretches across the 

river, which cuts a canyon through it. Here the walls are comparatively low, but vertical. A vast number of swallows have built their 

adobe houses on the face of the cliffs, on either side of the river. 

The waters are deep and quiet, but the swallows are swift and noisy 

enough, sweeping by in their curved paths through the air or chattering from the rocks, while the young ones stretch their little heads 

on naked necks through the doorways of their mud houses and clamor 

for food. They are a noisy people. We call this Swallow Canyon.” ~JWP
Then and Now

Food

Then

Adequate food supply was one of the biggest hurdles for the 1869 Powell expedition. 

The crew started the trip assuming a relatively leisurely pace and packed enough food supplies for 10 months. The explorers had to rely on food preserved by drying (like flour, rice, 

beans, and dried apples) or salting (like bacon). Cooking relied on fires fueled with collected 

branches and driftwood.

Although the boats had adequate space for a long trip, proper food storage turned out to 

be more of a challenge than the explorers anticipated. One boat, the No Name, was destroyed 

three weeks into the trip and a third of the food was lost. Within the salvaged wreckage, 

Powell was thrilled to discover that the barometers had survived. The crew was more excited 

that a smuggled keg of whiskey, until then hidden from Powell, had made its way through 

the rapids unharmed. Not long after losing the No Name, an out-of-control campfire caused 

the men to lose nearly all their kitchen equipment except for a camp kettle and a few cups 

and bowls.

To supplement their preserved food stores, the men would hunt, fish, and gather wild 

plants (like currants). The crew also occasionally stole from others’ gardens near the river. One 

stolen bounty proved to be a mistake—root vegetables pilfered from a garden weren’t mature 

enough to eat, so the men cooked and ate the plant greens instead, including potato greens. 

Potato greens contain moderate levels of the toxin solanine and several of the men became 

violently ill. 

Early in the trip, game was more plentiful (waterfowl, fish, beavers, wild sheep, and 

deer) but the latter part of trip provided little opportunity for fresh meat because of the steep 

canyon walls and scarce game. Fish were harder to catch in the lower basin, too, due to a 

combination of swift currents, muddy waters, and poor understanding of the local species.

The boats were frequently flooded and splashed by water, wetting the food and causing 

it to spoil. Wet, spoiled flour was either thrown out or sifted with mosquito netting. The sugar 

dissolved into the river. The bacon became rancid, apples frequently had to be re-dried, and 

supplies ran low. The crew often commented on provision scarcity and how it degraded their 

morale. One day, while subsisting on half-rations in the Grand Canyon, the explorers happened 

upon a Native American garden. They stole some squash, which raised everyone’s spirits. 

With the exception of the stolen squash, the explorers only ate biscuits made from spoiled 

flour and dried apples for the last month of the trip. With two weeks left, the baking soda 

was lost in the river and the men had to eat unleavened biscuits. Luckily, coffee was plentiful 

throughout the trip and would help warm the damp explorers and lift their spirits, when they 

could find enough wood to boil water. The crew emerged from the river with only “about 10 

pounds of flour, 15 pounds of dried apples, but 70 or 80 pounds of coffee” left.

28 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

July 6, 1869: “At noon we stop to cook our greens for dinner; but 

soon one after another of the party is taken sick; nausea first, and 

then severe vomiting, and we tumble around under the trees, groaning 

with pain. I feel a little alarmed, lest our poisoning be severe. Emetics 

are administered to those who are willing to take them, and about 

the middle of the afternoon we are all rid of the pain. Jack Sumner 

records in his diary that “potato tops are not good greens on the 6th 

day of July.” ~JWP
Now

Food preservation has come a long way since the first Powell expedition. Canned and 

other shelf-stable foods are readily available and much more varied than Powell’s provisions. 

Well-insulated coolers allow fresh and frozen food to last as long as the crew has ice. For long 

trips, meals are pre-planned and staged in date-specific, labeled coolers to reduce ice loss 

from repeated opening. The biggest advancement is our ability to keep things dry in waterproof bags and sturdy bins, all securely fastened to the rafts. The menu is limited only by the 

creativity and determination of the group. 

The Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition was well-provisioned, using 

a professional river outfitter. Fresh supplies and ice were brought in coolers and bins at each 

segment switch. Food was cooked with propane and charcoal on grills and stoves, without 

having to rely on driftwood as a fuel source. The menu was varied and flavorful, and included 

dishes such as fried eggs, oatmeal, and French toast for breakfast; sandwiches, cookies, and 

snack mixes for lunch; and salmon, steak, and fish tacos for dinner. Like Powell’s men, the current crew did not always have such great luck fishing, and also like the 1869 Powell expedition, coffee remained an essential part of the morning ritual. In addition, SCREE located seeds 

of 10 Hopi heritage bean varieties and reached out to Native American elders in the region to 

recognize the stolen squash from the historic expedition. 

Then and Now 29

By Jaime Delano
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Segment B—Personal Vignettes

June 8, 1869: “Lying down, we look up through the canyon and see 

that only a little of the blue heaven appears overhead—a crescent 

of blue sky, with two or three constellations peering down upon us. 

I do not sleep for some time, as the excitement of the day has not 

worn off.” ~JWP

30 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

When I first saw the announcement advertising the Powell150 expedition in the 

USGS e-newsletter, I couldn’t believe that such a unique opportunity would be open to 

anyone in the bureau. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to raft down portions of the Green 

and Colorado Rivers, camp under the stars, share with and glean knowledge from a multidisciplinary group, and educate the general public? So, needless to say, I was thrilled to 

be chosen as a representative of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center to participate 

in a four-day, 46-mile-long segment of the trip through northern Utah and northwestern 

Colorado from below Flaming Gorge Dam to the Gates of Lodore, and felt only a transient 

pang of guilt that my family couldn’t join me on this adventure. There were many memorable moments on this journey. First, there was driving from Vernal, Utah, to our starting 

point at Flaming Gorge Dam on May 28 and running into a snowstorm at high elevation. I 

hoped I had packed enough warm clothes. Next, there was my introduction to the groover, 

the river runner community’s word for the one shared toilet. There was the peaceful lapping of water at the sides of the raft and the steady splash of the oars propelling us forward 

on flat water compared to the noisy rush of water over hidden rocks that could be heard 

before being seen. Thankfully—since I’m only a whitewater novice—there were none of 

the treacherous wild river encounters that the Powell crew endured on their 1869 journey, 

but the water lines on the canyon walls were a sobering reminder of what the dam holds 

back. Here are some of the memories that will stick with me: traveling past towering walls 

of red rock and through swarms of cliff and barn swallows foraging for insects over the 

river; watching a mature bald eagle struggle to get airborne with a massive fish in its talons; mule deer poised like statues at the river’s edge; a rainbow of flowering plants awaiting photo identification when I returned to Internet connectivity; and unexpectedly calling 

upon my veterinary medical training to assist a wary, four-legged companion in a remote 

setting, to the great relief of its owners. Nothing, however, compared to leaving the cozy 

confines of my tent in the middle of the night to step out into the crisp air and gaze upon 

a dark sky alight with what seemed like trillions of stars—a poignant reminder of how 

fragile and precious planet Earth is. It was hard to say goodbye to the river and camaraderie after only four days, and I wished I could have continued longer, although that first hot 

shower back in civilization never felt so good. I have also come to realize that the legacy 

of John Wesley Powell means being a tenacious, lifelong learner and a strong believer in 

the value of sustainable land stewardship, science as an important tool to inform government policies, and respect for Native American cultures and knowledge. Many thanks to 

those who conceived this idea, and to all those behind the scenes who made this incredible 

trip possible. Thanks also to my USGS crewmates Jason, Melissa, and Sharon for sharing 

this adventure with me. Moreover, an extra big thank-you to the commander of our raft, 

who was genuinely encouraging at my laughable attempts to briefly guide the raft. 

~Anne Ballmann
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As I reflect on my opportunity to participate in the Powell150 river trip, some of the most memorable experiences were provided by the birds I saw along the river. I expected to be dazzled by the geology and landscape, 

which were stunning, but did not anticipate seeing a variety of such interesting birds. I would not consider myself 

a birder, but perhaps I should become one. There were many types of ducks including mallards, mergansers, and 

wood ducks. The swallows in Swallow Canyon, aptly named by John Wesley Powell and his crew, were nestled 

in their mud nests along the canyon walls until we floated down the river in their vicinity and scared them out 

of their cozy homes. Some were reinforcing their mud nests with materials from the riverbed. Many of the same 

birds flitted along the surface of the water in front of our boats looking for insects. I was astonished to see a flock 

of pelicans in the river, because I thought they only inhabited warm-weather locations, and it was not very warm 

when I was on the water. The most amazing moment happened on the morning of our first sunny day, with mist 

coming off the river and the promise of blue skies ahead. We were drinking coffee and making breakfast when a 

bald eagle swooped down, grabbed a fish out of the river and flew off. That was truly spectacular!

~Melissa Lombard

Segment B 31
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I grew up in the Midwestern United States and, like John Wesley Powell, spent 

my spare time playing in rivers, lakes, and creeks. When I moved to the West at the 

age of 19, access to the vast and wild public lands kindled a sense of freedom and 

adventure that made me never want to leave. I imagine Powell felt the same when he 

first visited the West to collect fossils. Nowhere is his legacy more apparent than in 

the Western United States, and this is particularly true of the Colorado River and its 

tributaries, where many features on the landscape bear the names Powell assigned. 

Putting my hands on a pair of oars and floating down the Green River reconnected 

me with Powell’s legacy. The segment of the Green River from Flaming Gorge Dam 

to Gates of Lodore is representative of the various public lands and their abundant 

resources in the American West. The segment began where the Green River flows out 

of the power turbines of the dam (managed by the Bureau of Reclamation), through 

the lands of Ashley National Forest (managed by the U.S. Forest Service), Browns 

Park (managed by the Bureau of Land Management), and Browns Park National 

Wildlife Refuge (managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), before coming to 

the Gates of Lodore in Dinosaur National Monument (managed by the National Park 

Service). Powell understood the challenges posed to society by the arid lands of the 

West, and he poured the foundation for scientifically informed planning and management in his vision of the USGS as a provider of accurate, impartial Earth science 

information for the Nation. I joined the USGS to be part of that mission. Over campfires and standing in places where Powell and his crews surely stood, I was inspired 

and energized to hear the stories of my fellow USGS colleagues who, despite a wide 

diversity of education and backgrounds, had joined the bureau because of a belief in 

the same mission. It was an honor and a pleasure to be on the river with the group 

of scientists, artists, writers, historians, and others organized to honor and highlight 

Powell’s legacy and contemplate the future of the American West—a beautifully 

messy melting pot of people, ideas, and landscapes. 

~Jason Alexander

32 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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This expedition along the Green and Colorado Rivers sought to commemorate 

the expedition of discovery and science by John Wesley Powell. At the time of the 

first Powell expedition in 1869, the Nation had just come through a painful chapter 

dominated by the Civil War. There was a need to map and observe the rivers and 

lands in the West. The original expedition conducted a great deal of scientific 

research and mapping, and the commemorative expedition also pursued scientific 

studies and promoted public engagement.

I was on the Green River leg from Flaming Gorge Dam to the entrance to 

the Gates of Lodore. I had never done anything like a river journey with camping 

before. I expected to see new vistas, raft through white water and participate in 

some scientific activities. This journey greatly exceeded my expectations. The rapids 

portions were tame, but still exciting. However, I didn’t just see amazing vistas, 

I experienced my surroundings deeply, using all my senses. I felt the wind and 

gentle rain rush past me as we floated on the river, I heard the echoes of birds 

on the banks and I smelled the rustic perfume of sage. I had the privilege of 

learning about geology, birds, and swift river hydrodynamics directly from 

University of Wyoming (UW) Professor Tom Minckley and other UW 

and USGS scientists while rowing down the river. I enjoyed 

meeting the artists and writers from UW and its partners. 

The value of teamwork was demonstrated every 

moment of each day in the conducting of daily survival tasks, unloading and loading 

of boats, staging of experiments, doing videography and photography, setting up 

camp, purifying water, and preparing food. The expedition had a diverse and talented 

group of dedicated individuals sharing common interests in the history, lore, and 

nature of the West. I participated in the collection of sediment samples and helped 

set out the collection box for insects, which reminded me of my early days as a 

researcher.

The natural world inspired explorers and scientists in Powell’s day with 

promises of rich resources, new lands, and seemingly infinite possibilities. This 

journey showed me the continuing need for reliable scientific data that can help 

us improve sustainability of the natural environment for future generations. The 

experience has helped me develop a deeper understanding of how science 

informs policy for managing dwindling natural resources. This expedition’s 

science and outreach efforts will continue to articulate the importance 

of USGS science information to our stakeholders, including state 

and local governments, academic institutions, and the public 

at large.

~Sharon Borland

Segment B 33
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Segment C June 1–June 4, 2019

34 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Gates of Lodore, Colorado, to Split Mountain, Utah

This relatively short segment of the Green River through Dinosaur 

National Monument tested John Wesley Powell and his crew, and the ominous names they selected for features on the landscape remain today. While 

Powell was scouting the rapids from the banks of the river, their boat, the 

No Name, with the Howland brothers and Frank Goodman aboard, struck a 

rock and broke into pieces. All three men swam to safety, but many supplies 

were lost, and the party had to continue the journey in the three remaining 

boats. They named the rapids Disaster Falls and the canyon Lodore. The 

Green River was not done challenging them. A few days after the loss of the 

No Name, their cooking fire, whipped up by the wind, engulfed their camp 

and burned clothing, bedding, and other supplies that had been laid out on 

the rocks to dry. They stopped at the confluence of the Yampa and Green 

Rivers and spent three days working on their maps. It was near this location 

that Powell recorded a dramatic rescue. Powell was climbing a cliff face, 

not an easy task with one arm, and became stuck on a ledge with seemingly 

no way up or down. Lacking a branch or rope to reach him, George Bradley 

removed his own pants, or perhaps long underwear, lowered them to Powell, 

then pulled him to safety. 

June 18, 1869: “I gain a foothold in a little crevice, and grasp 

an angle of the rock overhead. I find I can get up no farther, 

and cannot step back...Standing on my toes, my muscles begin to 

tremble. It is sixty or eighty feet to the foot of the precipice. If I 

lose my hold I shall fall to the bottom, and then perhaps roll over 

the bench...At this instant it occurs to Bradley to take off his 

drawers, which he does, and swings them down to me. I hug close 

to the rock, let go with my hand, seize the dangling legs and, with 

his assistance, I am enabled to gain the top...” ~JWP

Segment C 35

As a geologist, Powell paid a great deal of attention to the large-scale 

geologic features and made note of the plants and trees he observed. The 

Powell150 expedition made observations about the riparian vegetation along 

the way and SCREE created artful cyanotypes, a method of preserving 

leaf images that was created by botanists in the 1840s before photography 

became common. Powell noted the cottonwoods, willows, and other native 

plant species, many of which were previously undescribed. Today, scientists 
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at the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center monitor and study invasive 

and non-native plants, such as tamarisk, which have colonized the banks of the 

river, altering the original ecosystem and outcompeting native species. 

Before hydroelectric dams, natural floods periodically drowned plants 

near the river with nutrient-rich, sediment-laden water, and only those having deep, strong roots thrived. Building a dam obstructs water flow, creating a 

reservoir upstream of the physical barrier. Sediment carried within the water is 

also obstructed and settles out in the slow-flowing water behind the dam. Water 

released at dams is clear, because sediment has settled out, and cold, because it 

is generally released from well below the surface of the reservoir. This fundamentally changes the ecosystem of a river below a dam. 

Segment C ended at Split Mountain in present-day Dinosaur National 

Monument. Here, the uplift of the Uinta Mountains drove the sedimentary rocks 

nearly straight up into the sky (Hansen, 1969, for example). Steep, rugged cliffs 

of tan-colored, sparsely vegetated sandstone line the river. Powell did not document the abundant Mesozoic dinosaurs recorded in the sedimentary layers here, 

though today one can visit the amazing, in-situ assemblages of sauropods, therapods, and others, very close to the Green River that winds through the park.

June 24, 1869: “The river wheeled to the right at the foot of 

Whirlpool Canyon in a great curve through Island Park. At the lower 

end, the river cut into the mountain, creating a gorge that split 

the mountain ridge for six miles. All this we could see from where we 

stood on the summit at Mount Hawkins. We named the gorge Split 

Mountain Canyon.” ~JWP

36 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment C 37
Then and Now

Flora and Fauna

Then 

Imagine a vast wilderness, and the fascination that people back 

East had for the exotic wildlife of the frontier. Physical specimens, 

preserved either by taxidermy or by other means, were an exciting 

way to study these species. 

John Wesley Powell had experience collecting specimens 

from a young age, when he would learn about natural history 

through field exploration. As he traveled the Ohio and Mississippi 

Rivers, he amassed a collection of fossils and mollusk shells. 

Later, when he was a professor, he became the head of the 

Illinois Natural History Society and curated 

its collections. One of the objectives of his 

early field surveys with students was to add 

to the museum’s collection, as well as to 

identify and characterize new taxa. Powell’s wife, Emma Dean Powell, served as 

an ornithologist during his academic field 

trips and described 175 species of birds.

At that time, it was understood that 

fossils reveal a history of faunal succession, by which species become extinct 

and are replaced by new species, and 

that assemblages of fossils can therefore help us to infer the relative ages of 

the rock layers where they are found. 

During the river expedition of 1869, 

the crew collected whatever small, 

transportable fossils they could find, 

such as those of trilobites, leaves, and fish. 

Through the journals of Powell and crew members 

Jack Sumner and Billy Hawkins, we have descriptions 

of not only the geology and terrain, but also the riparian 

vegetation and wildlife that they observed during their 

three months traversing the Colorado River Basin. 

They referenced making camp near cottonwood groves and hackberry bushes, and noted the 

presence of mesquite in the arid portions of the basin. While the men observed, with seeming 

fondness, kingfishers, songbirds, and cliff swallows, the majority of their written references to 

wildlife relate to its potential as a meal for the hungry explorers. They hunted geese, mountain sheep, mule deer, ducks, grouse, beavers, and rabbits, and they fished the productive 

waters of the Green River (and, with less success, the Colorado River) for mackerel, sucker, 

“Colorado salmon,” and whitefish. Powell noted, while in the upper basin on the Green River, 

that “Mule deer and elk abound; grizzly bears, too, are abundant; wild cats, wolverines and 

mountain lions are here at home.” In his report of their first week on the river, Jack Sumner 

noted, “Passing by the falls, we leisurely rowed down and camped in about the middle of 

Brown’s Hole, a fine camp, where we enjoyed ourselves to the limit, fishing, shooting ducks 

and geologizing.”

As shown by these descriptions, wildlife at that time was largely 

viewed as a resource to be exploited, with scientific efforts mostly 

focused on identification and classification of organisms, and it was not 

until the following century that the more integrated field of ecology developed, leading to such subdisciplines as population dynamics, restoration 

ecology, and ecosystem services.

38 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
Now

The Green-Colorado river system has been fundamentally altered since Powell’s time, 

with the addition of three major dams on the portion that he traveled (and many more 

throughout the main stem and tributaries), hydropower generation, and irrigation infrastructure. Through monitoring, experimental research, and modeling, USGS scientists study 

this ecosystem to inform decisions about how to manage natural resources, such as fisheries, 

riparian vegetation, and streamflow. 

One such research topic relates to a fish that would have been abundant during Powell’s 

time, the humpback chub (Gila cypha). Now an endangered species, this fish is being studied 

by the USGS for its population dynamics in the Grand Canyon, downstream from Glen Canyon 

Dam. Declines in the population during the 1990s are believed to have been caused largely by 

decreased water temperature (from deep-impoundment dam releases), which impacts reproduction, and by competition and predation by non-native salmonid species such as rainbow 

trout. The humpback chub population grew during the late 2000s, when drought conditions 

resulted in warmer (shallower) water being released at Glen Canyon Dam, leading to lower 

salmonid numbers. The population since then has been stable, and the USGS is using markand-recapture studies and population modeling in order to predict how the humpback chub 

could respond to potential management strategies, such as control of invasive species or flow 

modification. 

Another area of study relating to altered flow regimes has to do with tamarisk (Tamarix 

ramosissima), also known as saltcedar. This non-native, invasive riparian shrub succeeds in 

areas of low water availability, high salinity, and streamflow 

altered by dams and irrigation infrastructure. Unlike in Powell’s 

time, it now lines the Colorado River in many places. Because of 

its rapid spread and ability to alter its habitat, it displaces native 

woody plants such as cottonwoods, willows, and western honey 

mesquite. Local, State, and Federal entities have tried a variety 

of control methods, including biological control by the northern 

tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata). The USGS uses remote 

sensing techniques to measure tamarisk biomass in areas where 

the beetle has been introduced and studies ecosystem changes 

associated with biological control of tamarisk, which will help to 

prioritize management actions and methods, facilitating restoration of native plant communities. 

River runners and fishermen are assisting the USGS in one of its ecosystem 

studies in the Grand Canyon. Through Citizen Science Light Trapping in Grand 

Canyon, the USGS has collected far more data on insects that emerge from the 

river than otherwise would have been possible; these insects are a critical component 

of the aquatic and terrestrial food webs. An important finding from this study is that the 

abundance and diversity of aquatic insects are constrained by hydropower operation at Glen 

Canyon Dam (Kennedy and others, 2016). The USGS is studying the effects of experimental 

flow releases on aquatic insects to better understand this relationship and inform decision 

making. USGS participants on SCREE used the same light-trapping technique each evening at 

camp, so that the expedition could provide additional data to complement this important area 

of study.

After Powell completed his two scientific expeditions on the Colorado River, he published his findings, enlisted artists and photographers to portray the stunning landscapes, and 

engaged with the public and policymakers to inform them about western resources. The USGS 

hopes that the story of the 2019 expedition, as told 

through artwork and photography by our partners and 

through the results of the USGS’ sampling and data collection, will likewise inspire curiosity in and stewardship 

of the unique resources of the Colorado River Basin.

By Anna Glover and Kristen Hamilton

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Segment D June 5–June 10, 2019

40 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Split Mountain to Sand Wash, Utah

Segment D

The beginning of this section of the Green River meanders through the 

Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Utah and features picturesque landscapes, with lush foliage along the riverbanks. Here, the canyon 

walls widen, and the landscape is dominated by low hills of flat-lying, soft 

sedimentary rocks. It was near this location that Frank Goodman left the 

1869 journey. He had lost most of his clothes and supplies by this point and 

decided to stay in Utah, where he lived for many years. 

Powell150 participants observed and recorded bird songs every morning and bat acoustics every evening. Although humans cannot hear many of 

the frequencies made by bats, special software installed on an accompanying 

tablet allows the sound signals to be recorded and bat species to be identified. These data are being analyzed to give understanding about how the 

abundance and types of species change along the river and how this may 

play a role in local and broadscale food webs. It is hoped that the knowledge gained will yield a better understanding of the ecosystem health of the 

Colorado River Basin.

The types and amounts of aquatic insects that emerge from the water 

at dusk tell scientists about the health of the river food web, because these 

insects are food for fish, birds, reptiles, bats, and other animals. During the 

Powell150 expedition, USGS participants followed specific protocols to collect aquatic invertebrates within an hour of dusk every evening, guided by 

aquatic ecologists from the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center in 

Flagstaff, Arizona. These samples are being analyzed and will fill a significant data gap in this part of the watershed for an ongoing citizen science 

project about aquatic invertebrates in the Colorado River Basin.

Segment D 41
Aquatic Insects

Aquatic insects are fundamental components of a 

healthy river ecosystem. Most aquatic insects spend their 

juvenile life stages (egg, larva, pupa) in the river and their 

winged adult life stage flying along the riparian corridor. 

Throughout these metamorphoses, they are important prey 

for fish, birds, bats, lizards, and even other invertebrates. 

They are also important bioindicators of stream health. In 

most rivers, scientists sample for juvenile aquatic insects 

by wading into rivers and collecting specimens from the 

river bottom. The swift currents, great depths, and large 

rapids in many sections of the Green and Colorado Rivers 

make traditional river-bottom (benthic) sampling dangerous to impossible. Each night of the Powell150 expedition, 

participants set out light traps that are designed to sample 

aquatic insects in their winged adult life stage. Light traps 

are plastic containers (having a 17- x 28-centimeter (cm) 

Science Story By Anya Metcalfe

opening, and 7-cm depth) with a fluorescent light placed on 

the short edge of the container. At dusk, collectors placed 

light traps within three meters of the river’s edge, poured 

250 milliliters (mL) of 95 percent ethanol into the trap and 

turned on the fluorescent light. After one hour of deployment, collectors turned off the light, transferred the contents into a plastic bottle, labeled the sample, and recorded 

sample location and duration on an associated data sheet. 

This sampling protocol was developed by researchers at 

the USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center 

in Flagstaff, Arizona. By equipping river runners as citizen 

scientists, the USGS has collected thousands of samples 

of aquatic insects from the Grand Canyon and throughout 

the Colorado River Basin since the project’s implementation in 2012. 

42 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment D—Personal Vignettes

More than Integrated Science...Integrated Scientists. Growing up, I recall that 

my father had more than a thousand books on his shelves and encouraged us to look 

at them anytime we chose to, even when we were very young. One of the books on 

his shelves was the Seventh Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey 

(USGS) to the Secretary of the Interior, published in 1888 by John Wesley Powell. 

In that book were a number of pen and ink drawings that much more resembled 

black and white photographs, from all corners of the United States. This book, and 

others from my father’s library, likely guided me down the path of becoming a 

geographer and finding work with the USGS, a Department of the Interior bureau 

dedicated to science. John Wesley Powell embarked on his Colorado River expedition 150 years ago to explore the unknown and gain an understanding of the geography of the region. While much is known today about the Colorado River Basin, 

we do not understand everything about it, and our scientific investigations are not 

complete. As the West was settled and increasing use made of the water and land, 

our need to understand our impact on it, and our ability to properly manage it, have 

evolved. Our need to more thoroughly understand the complex relationships among 

the geological, hydrological, and ecological processes in the basin is greater now 

than ever before. 

As I started my six-day segment from Split Mountain Campground near 

Jensen, Utah, to the Sand Wash launch point downriver, I understood the benefit of 

integrating various science topics to better understand the complex ecosystems and 

processes found in the Colorado River Basin. What I had not considered was the 

value of integrating the scientists and educators themselves—bringing them together 

from wide-ranging backgrounds so they could quickly and easily engage in a broad 

and extensive exchange of information. Experiencing this rapport and collaboration among the members of the expedition was inspiring. Discussions flowed from 

quantitative work on endangered, threatened, and invasive species, bird counts, 

bat detection, discharge measurements of the Green River, and numerous remotely 

sensed datasets, to more qualitative topics such as wildlife encounters along the 

river, spectacular sunrises and sunsets, stunning vistas, and the simple fact that we 

are permitted to use the river and nearby lands to enjoy and study. Integrating our 

scientists with one another, with stakeholders in the public and private sectors, with 

artists, with conservationists and educators, helps us better understand the complex 

needs of the Colorado River Basin and provides valuable information essential to 

maintaining it as a beautiful natural resource for us all. Involving youth offers the 

opportunity to share in that future, much the way my own father did.

~John Parks

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It was the end of a long day of rowing, and I sank deeply into a folding canvas 

chair. Reddish-gold sunlight bathed the stratified cliffs across the river. Austin and 

Tall Ben had already set up their portable kitchen and were preparing dinner, while 

Pat was off sketching the landscape. “Who can assist with the stream sediment sampling?” asked Jaime. I sank further into the chair, lamely hoping my status as the oldest member of the Segment D team—who had, after all, voluntarily rowed 10 miles 

that day—would exempt me from this necessary scientific chore. Our daily datagathering, which included sampling of sediment, aquatic invertebrates, and riparian 

vegetation; measurements of temperature, pH, and dissolved solids; and acoustic 

monitoring of bats and nocturnal insects, was, after all, in the spirit of the original 

Powell expedition. “I’ll help!” Graham and Nick each cheerily called out, and the 

three of them disappeared up the streambank, Jaime bringing her cyanotype as well 

to make old-fashioned images of streamside leaves. Ah, the energy of youth! At the 

other end of the technology spectrum, our leader Tom was setting up his state-of-theart bioacoustics monitor, which can analyze the sounds of bats and insects to identify 

both species and number of individuals of each species. My scientific contribution 

to the Powell150 expedition was to keep track of the bird species we were seeing 

along the way, using binoculars. Yellow-breasted chats, a species I rarely see in the 

East, did their rapper imitations from the Russian olives about every 100 yards as we 

floated along. Three sandhill cranes circled high up in the sunlight. A golden eagle, 

perched on a rock, kept a wary eye on us as we moved by. Once, we sidled up to a 

bluff to admire the cliff swallows that flitted in and out of their bulbous, mud-daubed 

nests on the underside of a ledge. Suddenly, a peregrine falcon soared out from a 

higher ledge, screeching as it wheeled around, trying to chase us intruders away 

from its nest. These high-quality avian encounters compensated for the low total of 

species—49, due to high water level and submerged shoreline habitats—that 

we eventually logged during our five days on the Green River. 

“Time to go do something, like everybody else!” my mind nagged at me, still in 

the chair and feeling guilty. I got up and headed toward the hills behind the campsite. 

We were in the flat-lying mudstones of the Uinta Formation, of Eocene age, which 

here formed gentle purple- and green-colored slopes. My geologist instinct told me 

there might be vertebrate fossils eroding out of those slopes. The first clue that they 

held promise was a rock riddled with nickel-size holes; these looked like the burrows of some type of tubeworm, drilled into a shallow-water mudflat some 40 to 50 

million years ago. Just beyond, on the next slope, was pay dirt—pieces of white bone 

littering the hillside. I picked one up and examined it: flat and thin, with fine cracks 

crisscrossing the smooth enamel-like surface on one side and little golf ball-like 

divots on the other—a shell fragment from a softshell turtle. Then the dinner bell 

rang. “You got to check this out,” I told everyone as we headed back to the fossil site 

after dinner, our bellies full of delicious homemade tacos. Soon everyone was finding 

bone fragments in the fading daylight. Anya picked up what looked like part of the 

legbone of a small deer, and Filmmaker Ben showed me the femur ball joint of an 

elk-size ungulate. I looked around carefully, and finally picked up a small, irregularly 

shaped, tan-colored fragment. There were little gray nubs sticking out of the bone—

a mammal jaw with teeth! Teeth are the best identifiers of fossil vertebrate species; 

since we did not have a collecting permit for this BLM land, I photographed the 

fragment carefully, and the finds of everyone else, before we redeposited our finds 

and headed back to camp. The star clouds of the Milky Way were becoming visible 

in the gathering darkness as I eventually crawled into my tent. Content that I had 

finally made a sufficient contribution to the great Team D effort that day, I soon fell 

fast asleep.

~Bill Burton

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I’m an experienced river runner and have descended all the exciting and spectacular whitewater segments of Powell’s 1869 journey that remain today. However, 

the segment of the Powell150 journey I was most interested in joining was the slow 

and winding 103-mile segment of the Green River that flows through the Uinta Basin 

in northern Utah, notable for being the lowest gradient river segment in the Colorado 

River Basin. Most boaters find themselves avoiding this mosquito-haven flatwater, so 

I didn’t hear many firsthand accounts. I was intrigued mostly because it was a blank 

spot on my map. The Green River through the Uinta Basin doesn’t match my typical, 

somewhat romanticized, notion of western rivers. It doesn’t have gnarly rapids or 

towering canyon walls. Instead there are grazing cattle, green fields of alfalfa, and 

tire tracks in dry drainages. I woke up to the sound of pumpjacks thumping in the 

morning and often had cell phone reception. We saw people along the river working 

the land every day. The Green River is a working river that likely fits Powell’s vision 

better than any other river segment in the Colorado River Basin, a river corridor that 

provides the fuel, water, and agriculture that the West relies on. The Uinta Basin 

is also a wildlife sanctuary and refuge. We saw sandhill cranes, peregrine falcons, 

beavers, and pronghorn daily. We were fortunate to ride a pulse flow release from 

Flaming Gorge Dam that flushed larval razorback suckers (an endangered fish) into 

edge habitat where managers hope they will prosper. Rivers truly are the lifeblood of 

the West, and the Green River was the perfect place during the Powell150 expedition 

to reflect on the vital role of America’s public lands and waterways in our country’s 

past, present, and future. 

~Anya Metcalfe

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As I was preparing for the Powell150 expedition, I experienced some ambivalence about what to expect. On one hand, I was incredibly excited to be participating in this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. But on the other hand, I knew that my 

designated section of the expedition was in the Uinta Basin. This is purportedly the 

lowest gradient section of river in the entire Colorado River Basin, containing none 

of the legendary rapids and dramatic canyons for which other sections of the river 

are known. Instead, it gains its infamy among rafters for its pernicious hordes of 

mosquitoes and comparatively lackluster scenery. I must admit that the adventurer in 

me was disappointed that I would not be rafting one of the wilder sections of river, 

such as the Gates of Lodore or Desolation Canyon. I had to remind myself that my 

purpose on this expedition was not to have an adrenaline-fueled, swashbuckling 

experience, but rather to learn about and engage in the myriad scientific, social, and 

political issues that surround the Colorado River Basin. This was not an expedition 

just for the sake of adventure, although that was inevitably a part of it, but one that 

sought to generate science, dialogue, artistic creation, and new perspectives on a 

complex topic. 

Looking back on my experience, I can frankly say that my expectations were 

exceeded, both in terms of the natural beauty I encountered and the profound insights 

I gained from this experience. What it lacks in breathtaking scenery, the Uinta 

Basin makes up in the complex intersection of the human and natural worlds, which 

provided an excellent backdrop for conducting scientific and artistic endeavors 

that grappled with important issues: water resource management in the arid West; 

balancing ecological integrity with resource extraction; and the relationship between 

indigenous people and the land. As we traversed the Uinta Basin, we passed through 

scenes reflecting the myriad relationships that humans have developed with the river 

and the land. We saw sections of the river that were dominated by agriculture—a 

seemingly unnatural phenomenon in the arid desert. Along many of the plateaus that 

flanked the river, we spotted the silhouettes of oil derricks, stark reminders of the 

widespread presence of extractive industries in the region. 

Although the Uinta Basin is sparsely populated, it was never hard to find some 

indicator of human presence. But we also passed through wild places, such as the 

Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, where dense galleries of cottonwood trees provide 

habitat for thousands of migratory birds. And although we did encounter the notorious hordes of bloodthirsty mosquitoes, we also discovered that they are an integral 

link in the riparian food chain, underpinning the resplendent diversity of birds, bats, 

and aquatic organisms that we reveled in. I gained a new appreciation for how much 

life can exist even in a human-impacted environment, as well as an understanding of 

the critical importance of these ecosystems. Unfortunately, although pristine natural 

places like the Grand Canyon are becoming exceedingly rare and receive a lot of 

attention, it is my hope that we also give proper attention to environments like the 

Uinta Basin—the unsung heroes of the natural world—which represent such a large 

portion of the modern landscape. In the field of ecology, there is much debate over 

whether the human environment should be considered a part of an ecosystem. To me, 

the answer is clear now: the two are indelibly linked, and it is impossible to study, 

manage, and preserve ecosystems without considering the human components. In the 

end, I am enormously grateful to have experienced the Uinta Basin; its lessons are as 

deep and profound as the mysterious, swirling waters of the Green River itself. 

~Nicholas Hammond

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The most notable takeaway for me from the Powell150 expedition was a sense 

of connection to the places and people I spent a week with on the river. On the flight 

home from the field, I had a bird’s-eye view of our route and could see through my 

tiny airplane window the entire 100-mile course that took us over five days to paddle. 

I noticed how the thin green ribbon of the river contrasted sharply with the warm-colored sedimentary rocks of the Uinta Basin. I saw the circular fields of green, irrigated 

cropland, the rectilinear footprints of oil and gas development, and the sinuous bends 

in the river that seemed so enormous as we floated by them. As the river threads its 

way through the surrounding landscape, it ties together the geology, ecology, agriculture, and industry of the region. But as amazing as it was to see from the air, the 

truest sense of place came from having been there on the ground and on the water. My 

time on the river was shared with river guides, artists, and academics as well as with 

six other USGS participants representing different mission areas, science centers, and 

States across the country. Although we each have different academic backgrounds and 

research priorities, we spoke a common language rooted in the natural sciences and 

could relate personally to the important issues affecting the Colorado River Basin. 

What’s more is that we found common ground and shared interests through our recreational activities, including fishing, birding, music, photography, and art. I even felt 

inspired to try songwriting. On a personal note, just a few weeks after I returned from 

the Green River, my wife and I welcomed our daughter into the world. We are now 

enjoying showing her and teaching her about the Earth and planning future adventures 

as a family. I trust that the opportunity to experience the Green and Colorado Rivers 

by raft will remain for many generations to come. 

~Graham Lederer

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I still feel incredibly lucky to have participated in the Powell150 expedition. 

I’m a field geologist, so I am used to experiencing wilderness, but I really gained an 

appreciation for new things on this trip outside of my normal scope of work. This trip 

highlighted the importance of establishing a connection between people and places, 

especially outside of regular routines. I knew very little about this part of the Colorado River Basin before joining, and even less about the connections among people, 

habitat, and history, but now I have a new connection to this part of the world. I 

loved being able to immerse myself into a trip so fully; the isolation and opportunity 

to focus allowed me to learn things I might have otherwise overlooked. I also made 

new friends whom I would never have met otherwise, and everyone had something 

unique to share. Mixing people from different backgrounds creates a richer environment for everyone involved. Overall, the Powell150 trip was a wake-up call to step 

out of our comfort zones and a reminder that engaging people firsthand is the best 

way to develop connections to important ideas and causes. 

~Jaime Delano

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June 8, 2019. On this, our fourth day of a 100-mile exploration of the Uinta 

Basin, we passed through Ouray National Wildlife Refuge and the Uintah and Ouray 

Reservation of the Northern Ute Tribe. Although the basin, situated between Lodore 

Canyon to the east and Desolation and Gray Canyons to the south, is better known 

for its farms, ranches, and pumpjacks than for red rock canyons and whitewater, 

our team was pleasantly surprised by the muted, sometimes striking, beauty of this 

stretch of the Green River. This region in particular is a candid representation of the 

balance between natural beauty, wildlife, Native American sovereignty, and human 

use of the land. Utah operates the fourth highest number of oil and natural gas leases 

on Federal land, and eastern Utah contains the largest oil sand reserve in the United 

States as well as some of the Nation’s largest natural gas and coalbed methane fields. 

The Uinta Basin is also among the State’s top producers of beef cattle, feed corn, 

and alfalfa, with numerous small farms and ranches. Nature-based tourism is now 

a major contributor to the local economy in eastern Utah, with Dinosaur National 

Monument and the Green River taking center stage. This region highlights J.W. Powell’s legacy of conservation, his scientific assessment of the use and carrying capacity 

of water resources in the arid West, and his interest in indigenous peoples. Failure to 

heed his recommendations for prudent development, water use, and farming practices is believed by some to have contributed to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Today, 

however, we rejoice in seeing bighorn sheep, pronghorn, several beavers, peregrine 

falcons, waterfowl, white pelicans, and a lone coyote—and even a curious porcupine 

that strolled through our camp in the middle of the night.

~Mitchell Eaton

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Segment E June 11–June 21, 2019

50 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment E

Sand Wash to Green River State Park, Utah

Here the Green River briefly meanders through the wetland-bounded 

banks of the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge before once again traveling 

through narrow, steep-walled, mostly treeless canyons. The section of river 

through Desolation and Gray Canyons, commonly known as Deso-Gray, is 

a scenic stretch of terraced canyons carved into the flat-lying sedimentary 

rocks. In places the canyon walls rise 5,000 ft above the river. This section, 

which requires several days of travel, is characterized by swift water, steep 

canyon walls, and cottonwood bottomlands. Stone ruins and petroglyphs 

were left by the indigenous people of these lands. There are also remnants of 

settlements attempted in the late 1800s to early 1900s, which did not endure 

because the land proved to be too isolated and wild. 

July 13, 1869: “At noon we emerge from Gray Canyon, as we have 

named it, and camp for dinner under a cottonwood tree standing 

on the left bank. Extensive sand plains extend from the immediate river valley as far as we can see on either side. These naked, 

drifting sands gleam brilliantly in the midday sun of July...Plains 

and hills and cliffs seem to be floating vaguely about in a trembling, wave-rocked sea, and patches of landscape seem to float 

away and be lost, and then to reappear...Just opposite, there are 

buttes, outliers of cliffs to the left. Below they are composed of 

shales and marls of light blue and slate colors; above, the rocks 

are buff and gray, then brown. The buttes are buttressed below, 

where the azure rocks are seen, and terraced above through the 

gray and brown beds. A long line of cliffs or rock escarpments 

separates the tablelands through which Gray Canyon is cut, 

from the lower plain. The eye can trace these azure beds and 

cliffs on either side of the river, in a long line extending across its 

course, until they fade away in the perspective. These cliffs are 

many miles in length and hundreds of feet high; all these buttes—

great mountain-masses of rock—are dancing and fading away 

and reappearing, softly moving about, or so they seem to the eye 

as seen through the shifting atmosphere.” ~JWP

July 12, 1869: “Just here we emerge from the 

Canyon of Desolation, as we have named it, into a 

more open country, which extends for a distance 

of nearly a mile, when we enter another canyon 

cut through gray sandstone.” ~JWP

Segment E 51
Science Story By Katie Walton-Day

Sediments

About 50 samples of beach sediment were collected, from almost every expedition camping beach, for analysis of trace-element content, determination of lithology 

(rock type), and analysis of microplastic content. Trace-element analysis looks for 

variation in important trace elements (such as uranium) which may be due to variation in geology and rock type, and possibly to human activities. 

Samples collected for variations in lithology were part of the Youth and Education in Science (YES) education activities planned for the expedition, with the goal 

of being included in classroom activities and educational resources distributed after 

the expedition. As a general rule, sediments are expected to vary over the length of a 

river in both lithology and size and shape of the sediment particles. If these changes 

are robust enough to be recognized by students, the samples will make a nice teaching collection of river sediments. 

Samples were collected into acid-washed bottles using a square-meter grid 

design with 36 collection points. Participants wore cotton clothing and used metal 

scoops to avoid contaminating the samples with microplastics. Consistent application 

of this sampling method allowed us to make robust comparisons of data from site 

to site. 

52 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment E—Personal Vignettes

I had the immense fortune to float Desolation-Gray Canyon for my first raft trip 

(of many to come, I hope). The grandeur and beauty of the landscape would have 

been enough for a trip of a lifetime. But, for nine days, I learned about the Colorado 

River Basin from new viewpoints, SCREE members who have dedicated their lives 

to its conservation: from scientists like Tom Minckley, possessing endless knowledge 

of flora and fauna; to academics like Dan McCool and Paul Hirt, who speak with 

persuasive eloquence on decades of history and policy; to communicators like Paul 

Larmer, Ben Kraushaar, and Patrick Kikut, who inform the public through journalism, documentary, and art, respectively; to unifiers like Daryl Vigil and Matt McKinney, who are helping to make the voices of the basin’s Tribal inhabitants heard; to 

Austin Alvarado and Ben Capelin, who give inspiration for the future of conservation. John Weisheit embodied all of those in one—a walking encyclopedia of science, 

policy, and advocacy—all while calmly navigating the rapids and providing campground entertainment. For nine days, while we paddled, talked, hiked, found petroglyphs, photographed, chopped veggies, washed dishes, ate brownies with whipped 

cream, carried the groover, counted bats, bugs, and stars...we also learned from each 

other. We learned that you need all the components—the science, history and law, 

purpose and partnership, communication, and inspiration—to, in John Wesley Powell’s words, “add a mite to the great sum of human knowledge” for the protection of 

the Colorado River Basin for generations to come. 

~Kathy Conn

Segment E 53

As I sit on the edge of a mountain stream in the bottom of a narrow bedrock 

gorge on the East Coast of the United States, my thoughts carry me back to my rafting trip through Desolation Canyon along the Green River as part of the Powell150 

expedition. Here, long-fallen pine trees bridge the moss-covered granite walls sprouting from the boulder-strewn banks of Bunnell Brook in northeast Connecticut. There, 

a tree this size would be cast off like a toothpick in one of the numerous eddies found 

between the towering stone curtains woven by millions of years of deposition and 

erosion. Everything about my surroundings here, compared with them there, could 

not be more different, or so I thought. 

When I close my eyes, the sound of a 15-ft-high waterfall fanning out over a 

scoured ledge of Connecticut bedrock transports me back to the sound of undulating rapids flowing over cobbles and boulders pushed from dry side canyons into 

the Green River by some long-gone rainstorm. The sights may be different, but the 

sounds remain the same. Just as the sound of water is similar everywhere, so too 

are the people who are drawn to it. It was inspiring to share this trip with a group of 

people so dedicated to the health, stability, and appreciation of the Colorado River 

watershed and watersheds across the country. I listened to professors, artists, journalists, water administrators, river guides, and scientists all express their ideas about the 

future of the river which carried us along our 80-mile journey and its vitality to life 

in the West. Hearing their concern and commitment regarding the issues surrounding 

the watershed in which they live only deepened the appreciation and commitment I 

have regarding my own. I will be forever thankful to those who went through Desolation Canyon with me, and I sincerely hope our paths will cross again. 

~Nigel Pepin
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Segment F June 25–July 5, 2019

54 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Green River State Park to Dirty Devil River, Utah

This section of the expedition moves through the steep-walled cliffs 

of red and tan sedimentary rock of the San Raphael swell, a geologic 

structure known as an anticline. The striking landscape in and near Canyonlands National Park is primarily the result of erosion by the Colorado 

and Green Rivers and their tributaries carving downward through the rock 

layers of the Colorado Plateau. Long before the Colorado River was here, 

the rocks in this region were formed over millions of years as layer upon 

layer of sand, silt, and mud were deposited by water in shallow seas, rivers,

and mudflats, and by wind during times when large swaths of the region 

were covered with massive sand dunes, as evidenced by thick deposits of 

crossbedded sandstone. As more sediment piled up, deeper layers were 

compressed and solidified, eventually forming sedimentary rocks such as 

sandstone, limestone, and shale. Later, tectonic forces caused the uplift of 

the Colorado Plateau, raising it above sea level even higher than its current 

elevation of 5,000 to 8,000 ft. 

The Green and Colorado Rivers and their tributaries flowed across 

the land during and after uplift, carving ever deeper into the landscape. 

Imagine slicing downward into a layered cake while also lifting the cake at 

the same time. The canyons seen here are still forming today, powered by 

the slow, persistent process of erosion. Another striking feature seen in and 

near the Canyonlands region is known as differential weathering, meaning 

that different rock types weather and erode differently, making distinctions 

between rock types easy to see. Sandstone, which is relatively hard and 

resistant to weathering, forms steep cliffs and ledges. Shale, on the other 

hand, is made of smaller, finer grained particles (clay and silt, or mud) and 

erodes more easily, leaving behind gradual slopes. Common colors of barren rock in the desert Southwest include white, tan, and various shades of 

red. The surface is often covered in dark red to black streaks called desert 

varnish, which is common in dry environments. 

, 

-

July 17, 1869: “The landscape was rock—cliffs of rock

rock, plateaus of rock, terraces of rock, crags of rock

sand strangely carved forms. Rocks everywhere and 

no soil, no sand.” ~JWP

 tables of

—ten thou

no vegetation, 

Segment F 55
Science Story By Kathy Conn, Katie Walton-Day, Andrew Spanjer1

, and 

Bob Black1

Microplastics

Plastics have become an integral part of our lives, 

from packaging material to medical devices, to outdoor 

clothing and equipment. When plastics are thrown away, 

they can break down in the environment into smaller 

and smaller pieces as a result of abrasion, sun, wind, and 

other processes. Microplastics, which are pieces of plastic 

smaller than five millimeters (mm) in size, have been found 

nearly everywhere they have been looked for. This includes 

the oceans, rivers, lakes, deep marine sediment, soils, air, 

and even the food we eat. It is estimated that five trillion 

pieces of plastic are floating on the surface of the oceans 

alone. Because of their size, microplastics can be ingested 

by animals at many trophic levels, including plankton, insects, fish, birds, 

and mammals (including humans). The plastic fragments have the potential to cause digestive system blockages or cause a false feeling of fullness 

resulting in reduced food intake in biota. Small (0.001 mm) microplastics have been shown to cross cell walls and be absorbed into the body. 

Additionally, there is a concern that plastics may transfer contaminants 

into organisms. Much is still unknown about chronic effects at the gene, 

organism, and community levels of microplastics in the environment. 

Few studies have measured microplastics in remote river basins far 

from a source of plastics. During the Powell150 trip, samples of beach 

sediment were collected along the entire journey on the Green and Colorado Rivers to provide baseline information about the amounts and types of microplastics present along the shoreline. Samples will be analyzed for microplastics at the 

University of Washington-Tacoma, in partnership with the USGS Washington Water 

Science Center. Plastics are separated from sediment using a density separation 

technique (plastics and organic matter float and sediment sinks), organic material is 

removed through a digestion process (a chemical is applied that dissolves organic 

matter such as leaf fragments, but leaves plastics intact), and the microplastics are 

counted and categorized visually through a microscope. Categories of microplastics 

include foams, fibers, films, and fragments. Finally, advanced laboratory spectral 

techniques are used to identify and confirm plastic molecular composition and source. 

Given that much of the Green and Colorado Rivers are distant 

from urban centers and other sources of microplastics, it is hypothesized that any plastics measured in beach sediment samples likely 

originate from camp activities, such as food packaging, personal 

care products, polyester clothing, and boating equipment. Dry 

(wind) and wet (rain) air transport may be another source. The river 

level rises and lowers throughout the year, so plastics found along 

a shoreline during low flow conditions later may 

be submerged and transported downriver in high 

flow conditions. The results will provide the longest 

known longitudinal survey of microplastics in a 

river system and may show how microplastic occurrence and characteristics change along the route. The 

data will provide baseline information against which 

future studies may be compared. 

_____________

1

USGS employee who assisted in the microplastics studies but was not a participant in the 

expedition

56 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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In the summer of 2019, after record-high snowpack from the previous season, 

the water was raging through the rapids of Cataract Canyon at about 55,000 cubic 

feet per second. Due to the expected high flow velocity of the river, all USGS participants received In-Over-Water training and, for this section, they were prepared to 

portage around if the route seemed impassable. The rapids through Cataract Canyon, 

a 46-mile-long canyon that extends from the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers in Canyonlands National Park to the Dirty Devil River in Glen Canyon 

National Recreation Area, were running high, and the lead boat flipped in Cataract 

Canyon, expelling its two members. One person swam to shore and the other was 

rescued from the cold, swift water, thanks to the safety preparation and bravery of 

SCREE member Jessica Flock and USGS hydrologist Tess Harden. Jessica and Tess 

were nominated for, and received, the Department of the Interior Valor Award for 

their bravery. In 1869, the Powell expedition couldn’t look up the streamgage data, 

they didn’t know when the next rapid would drench their gear, and they were unsure 

where to find a sandy beach to sleep for the night. There were limited places to pull 

out and camp, and sandbars were uncommon. As they approached the Green River’s 

confluence with the Colorado River, the water became swift and the Colorado 

greeted them with the most challenging rapids and falls they had yet faced.

Segment F 57
Then and Now

River Travel

Then

When John Wesley Powell and his crew set off with three 21-ft roundbottomed rowboats and a 16-ft lightweight rowboat, each outfitted with 

three watertight compartments to carry food, instruments, and supplies, they 

faced a wild and naturally flowing river with no dams or reservoirs. It was a 

journey of exploration and adventure, and safety precautions were minimal.

Powell’s boats were sleek and deep-hulled Whitehall craft, designed 

to move quickly through harbors and lakes. One or two boat operators faced 

upstream while paddling, with a man in the stern steering via an oar or rudder. By the turn of the century, Colorado River navigators had abandoned this 

design in favor of shallower hulls and downstream-facing paddlers.

Since the Whitehalls did not navigate well through shallow, rocky 

rapids, the crew had to portage all four of the boats through most of the 

whitewater reaches. At the more severe rapids, they had to remove and carry 

all the supplies and equipment from the boats. The boats either were laboriously carried or were “lined” down as far as the ropes would take them, then 

dropped for the men below to catch them.

On June 9, 1869, the team reached “the wildest rapid yet seen,” which 

they named Disaster Falls. Three of the four boats were pulled onto shore 

to be portaged but the fourth, aptly named No Name, was too far out in the 

current and had taken on water in the rapid above. The boat hit rocks, but the 

crew managed to swim to a small island as the boat struck more rocks and 

was destroyed. The team lost all the supplies on that boat but managed to 

recover a small amount of the equipment used for elevation measurements...

and a jug of whiskey.

58 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
By Kristen Hamilton and Anna Glover

Now

The 2019 Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition (SCREE), 

which included 28 participants from the USGS, shared the same goal as John 

Wesley Powell of traversing nearly 1,000 miles of the Green and Colorado 

Rivers and collecting data, but the equipment and rivers are much changed 

since his era. 

SCREE navigated the river on five 18-ft, self-bailing inflatable rafts, 

equipped with rigging to facilitate paddling, seating, and storage of supplies. 

Boat operators faced downstream, so they could see the rapids ahead of 

them, and the rafts were highly maneuverable. Their gear included lifejackets, throwbags, helmets, and satellite communication devices, and participants received many hours of safety training.

Three major dams—Flaming Gorge, Glen Canyon, and Hoover—have 

been built on this stretch of the Green and Colorado Rivers since Powell’s 

expedition. SCREE took advantage of well-developed roads and take-out/

put-in ramps to get around these and other barriers. The previously roiling 

waters of the rivers now include extensive stretches of slow-moving and 

even flat water, though there are still class IV and V rapids on both rivers that 

challenged the crew.

In early June, it was SCREE’s turn to face Disaster Falls, the feature that 

had caused so many problems for their predecessors, as well as Hell’s Half 

Mile, which the 1869 crew had to line, or portage. Fortunately, modern rafts 

are far more forgiving than wooden boats and easy to move laterally across 

the river, and this year’s crew was extremely experienced in comparison 

to Powell’s. Nonetheless, it was an exciting stretch, requiring high-siding 

(moving bodies to the high side of the boat to redistribute weight) and paddle 

work to keep the rafts off the rocks. One of the rafts got hung up on a rock in 

the middle of the falls for several minutes before the boatman could maneuver it off the obstacle. All the 2019 participants and boats came through 

Disaster Falls unscathed. 

Then and Now 59
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Segment F—Personal Vignettes

For nearly two wonderful weeks in June and July 2019, I had the opportunity to 

combine my love of science, rivers, the outdoors, and adventure and join an engaging group of scientists, artists, lawyers, authors, filmmakers, and environmentalists.

The small core group of “through floaters” welcomed us “segment floaters” with 

open minds and easy dialogue. The first several days on the calm waters of the Green 

River passed with beautiful bedrock canyons, colorful sunsets, scientific inquiry 

(heavy on the questions, light on the answers), camp chores, sample collection, and 

mosquito swatting. More than halfway through the trip segment the Green River 

joined the Colorado River and we were immediately greeted with a sign reading 

“DANGER – Cataract Canyon, Hazardous Rapids Two Miles.” Anxiety increased, 

life vests were secured, helmets were donned, and many river miles passed in a 

blur of adrenaline, whitewater, broken oars, shouted commands, cheers, and choice 

words. Many of us have no idea what the canyon walls looked like, but we are well 

acquainted with the locations of the largest holes and waves in the river. Not all 

of the rafts of our segment of the expedition had the runs they had planned—one 

raft flipped in one of the first rapids, so those participants ran the rest of the rapids 

without a raft—but what sticks out in my mind (aside from some giant waves!) was 

how well everyone performed under pressure. Sure, it felt a little chaotic at times, but 

every single member of the expedition kept a positive attitude and did exactly what 

they were supposed to do at exactly the right time. The outcome was a successful 

trip though Cataract Canyon at high water and, for many of us, the best day ever! I’d 

like to think that is how John Wesley Powell and his crew were ultimately successful 

150 years ago. Things did not always go as planned. They rarely do. Powell’s crew 

lost clothing, food, camping supplies, scientific instruments, and even boats (we only 

lost five of twelve oars and some snacks), but still they persevered and those who 

stayed on the river ultimately reached their goal.

~Tess Harden

60 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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As a geologist and someone who loves the outdoors, I was thrilled when I 

found out I had been selected to participate in the segment of the Powell150 

expedition from Green River, Utah, to Lake Powell. I saw the amazing vistas of 

Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons, felt the energy of floating through the confluence 

where the Green and Colorado Rivers join forces, and experienced the thrill of 

running the hydrologic rage of Cataract Canyon. I felt I had won the lottery! In 

retrospect, those experiences certainly lived up to my expectations. However, they 

paled in comparison to gaining 12 new friends with whom I spent an isolated eleven 

days and 166 river miles. It is the people I was with who have seared a more vivid 

memory in my brain than those breathtaking landscapes and wild experiences. I 

never would have imagined this to be so. We were a diverse lot from all types of 

backgrounds. Among us were a lawyer, a riverkeeper, filmmakers, a small-business 

owner, a writer, artists, a paleohydrologist, a wildlife biologist, and a paleoecologist. 

Despite our differences in age (from 20s to 70s), professions, and backgrounds, we 

hold a common passion for the river. Over each mile, we shared memories, good 

food, thought-provoking conversations, dreams, sunscreen, camp chores, family 

photos, body odor, laughter, swarms of mosquitoes, the hot sun, the cold river, and 

even the groover. This bond will forever fill our minds with fond memories and 

shape our individual futures, particularly mine.

~Richard Moscati

Segment F 61
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Segment G July 5–July 11, 2019

62 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Segment G 63

Lake Powell: Dirty Devil River, Utah, to Glen Canyon Dam 

(near Page, Arizona)

The wild ride through the rapids of Cataract Canyon was just the 

opposite of the next phase of the journey into Lake Powell, a 186-mile 

stretch of placid water that draws over three million visitors annually. Before 1963, this section of the Colorado River was known as 

Glen Canyon.

Many features seen by Powell and his crew can no longer be seen in 

Glen Canyon today. Completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 stopped the 

natural flow of the Colorado River here, filled the canyon with water, and 

created Lake Powell, the large reservoir named after John Wesley Powell. 

August 3, 1869: “On the walls, and back many miles into the 

country, numbers of monument-shaped buttes are observed. So 

we have a curious ensemble of wonderful features—curved walls, 

royal arches, glens, alcove gulches, mounds, and monuments. From 

which of these features shall we select a name? We decide to call it 

Glen Canyon” ~JWP
64 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

One of the most famous geologic fea-

tures in this area is highly photographed 

Horseshoe Bend, just downstream from 

the dam, a place where the Colorado River 

forms a tight loop through steep sand-

stone cliffs. This impressive meander loop 

is one of many incised (or entrenched) 

meanders in the desert Southwest, created 

when tectonic uplift raised the land while 

the river continued to cut downward. 

These types of meanders are one way 

that geologists know the Colorado River 

is older than the uplift of the Colorado 

Plateau itself. 
Segment G 65
66 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition

The rafts on this part of the journey were roped together and a motor used to 

help push them down the lake to Glen Canyon Dam. The close proximity of the 

connected boats encouraged discussion, and the shared challenge of the participants 

lent itself well to open dialog. This slow-going segment with six USGS participants 

included two days with USGS Director Jim Reilly. Alongside hydrologic technicians, 

a deputy director from Alaska, and mapping experts, he helped row the rafts against 

strong winds when the motor failed, and helped set up the portable community toilet 

known as the groover. Reilly is the only USGS Director to have seen the Grand Canyon from space. He had marveled at its sense of scale from above Earth years before, 

and now joined his new crew under the blazing sun on Lake Powell, where he shared 

his unparalleled visual perspective of Earth. Reilly participated in long conversations 

with USGS employees and SCREE members about John Wesley Powell’s legacy as a 

scientist and former Director, 150 years later.
S

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Segment G 67
Then and Now

Mapping

Then

Maps have long been used as a navigation tool, for delineating physical and political 

boundaries, for forecasting weather, and for infrastructure planning, among other purposes. 

Geologic maps were used along with topographic maps to determine the best locations for 

roads and settlements, and to develop natural resources. Topographic mapping of what was to 

become the United States started in the early days of exploration and colonization. By the time 

of Powell’s 1869 expedition, the Eastern and Midwestern States had been mapped but much 

less was known about the geology and terrain of the western part of the country.

During the 1869 expedition, John Wesley Powell and fellow geologist George Bradley 

took copious notes on the geology, collected rock and fossil samples, and made maps as the 

team went down the rivers and through the canyons. Accompanied by one or two other men, 

they would embark on side trips at various spots along the way to take measurements needed 

for topographic and geologic mapping. Their primary instruments were mercury barometers, 

sextants, thermometers, chronometers, and compasses. The barometers (used for measuring 

atmospheric pressure) were used with thermometers (temperature) and chronometers (time) to 

calculate elevation above sea level. Sextants allowed for geometric calculations between two 

objects, and compasses were used to determine cardinal directions.

It was not until Powell’s second expedition in 1871–72, however, that enough accurate 

measurements were collected to produce reconnaissance geologic maps. By 1879, when 

Congress created the U.S. Geological Survey, more than half a dozen State geological surveys 

were already actively engaged in geologic mapping, and some had been active for more than 

50 years. In 1882, the USGS was authorized to “continue preparation of the geological map of 

the United States,” which Powell took as authorization to prepare a topographic map of the 

United States as well.

After an initial foray into unified geologic and topographic mapping, the cost of the 

effort became prohibitive and interest in a single map of the Nation declined. As problems 

became more diverse and data needs became more specialized, mapmakers figured out that 

mapping was not “one size fits all” and that there were many uses for topographic maps apart 

from geology.

68 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
 By David Nail

Then and Now 69

Now

Mapping in the 20th century became focused on areas of economic 

interest, special concern, or critical scientific interest. For example, the North 

Slope of Alaska was mapped for its petroleum potential in the early 1920s and 

the Nevada Test Site (1951–2010) for the feasibility of long-term storage of 

nuclear waste.

Current mapping is focused on stewardship of mineral and water 

resources and the environment, safe disposal of waste, and natural hazards. 

Geologic mapping focuses on practical aspects of geology such as active 

faults that pose earthquake hazards, areas particularly subject to landslides, 

volcanic hazards, and the movement of water, petroleum, natural gas, and 

waste through geologic materials. Topographic mapping is done throughout 

the United States regardless of the scientific interest of the area and is 

increasingly automated.

The tools of geologic and topographic mapping have changed over the 

past century. Even though boots-on-the-ground geologists still use a compass, 

hammer, hand lens, and notebook, they are now aided by digital imagery 

and geophysical data from satellites, aircraft, GPS satellite technology, and 

airborne unmanned vehicles. Topographic mapping has recently undergone a 

revolution with the advent of airborne mapping using laser-based light detection and ranging (LIDAR), which can measure changes in topography on the 

scale of centimeters or smaller to produce very high-resolution topographic 

maps. The USGS National Map is updated on a rotational basis every three 

years. Citizen scientists can contribute to the map by ground-truthing the location of structures, roads, and other features in their area. 

Both geologic and topographic data can be processed through computer 

software to produce three-dimensional models and illustrations. The geologic 

map of the future may be a fly-through, virtual-reality experience that will 

allow us to understand the architecture of the Earth as never before.
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Segment G—Personal Vignettes

As a representative of the USGS National Geospatial Program selected to 

participate in the Lake Powell segment of the expedition, I knew that this was not 

going to be an ordinary camping float trip. My reminiscences are many—an intriguing and mesmerizing landscape, the cold water of Lake Powell contrasted with the 

hot July summer air, companions from varied professional backgrounds who are 

dedicated and enthusiastic about their respective causes, surprisingly good food, long 

days, amazing star-gazing nights, rafts roped together and powered by an outboard 

motor, the high watermark 80 ft above the lake surface, working together to make 

each camp a success—and the list goes on. Like the high watermark stain, this trip is 

stained upon my conscience. Since then I have continued reading about John Wesley 

Powell. I’m continuing to learn about the variety of complex water issues that surround the lake and that are as intricate as the shoreline itself. I hope the success of 

the Powell150 expedition can be an example of how future decisions regarding the 

water, and the people who depend upon it, will have to be made by a variety of professionals who work together to make each decision a success. 

~David Nail

70 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Joining SCREE from the great State of Alaska, I am naturally energized by the 

explicit interest within the Powell150 expedition to expand the visioning exercise in 

a way that promotes sustainability beyond the Colorado River Basin and to frame 

the commemoration in the broader context of resource management challenges that 

face all the Western States. I spent some time during our six-day float through the 

186 miles of Lake Powell thinking about relevant connections between John Wesley 

Powell and Alaska. Perhaps the most substantive connection between Powell and 

areas beyond the Colorado River Basin lies in the legacy he created around science 

collaboration for public benefit. The more I learn about Powell, the fairer it strikes 

me to credit him with pioneering the concept of what has come to be known as 

“stakeholder engagement.” Though the term was not coined until the 1960s, it was 

Powell who championed the timely emphasis that proper stewardship of resources 

requires scientific knowledge mixed with broad public education and adaptive 

institutional outcomes. Powell repeatedly argued that the new conditions of the West 

demanded new institutions that properly reflected public interest. He labored in 

many ways to help America better understand the West through a deliberate transition from fable to fact. In the process, he substantially changed American ideas of 

what government ought to do and how it should work to achieve its proper role. In 

1890, Powell expanded his vision of stakeholder engagement in journal articles and 

in testimony before Congress and State legislatures. He argued that each watershed 

should be surveyed and opened to settlers as a single integrated unit. Topographic 

awareness should be followed by new arrangements of governance and responsibility 

that would allow each resident to obtain both knowledge and opportunity to influence 

the making of the rules of resource management. In this regard, my favorite Powell quotes are taken from his essay, “Institutions for the Arid Lands,” published in 

Century Magazine, 1890, volume 40: “Hard is the heart, dull is the mind, and weak 

is the will of [those] who do not strive to secure wise institutions for the developing 

world of America...The people are intelligent, industrious, enterprising, and wide 

awake to their own interest. On this wide globe and in all the centuries of human 

history there has never before been such a people. Their love of liberty is unbounded, 

their obedience to law unparalleled, and their reverence for justice profound. Everyman is a freeman king with power to rule himself, and they must be trusted with 

their own interests.” These are stirring words that remind us even today to trust in 

democracy, and to pursue within our institutions an adaptive management strategy 

for a truly dynamic society.

~Dee Williams

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Segment H July 13–July 31, 2019

72 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Grand Canyon: Lees Ferry to Pearce Ferry, Arizona

By the time John Wesley Powell and his crew reached Grand Canyon, 

they were nearly out of rations and morale was low. 

August 13, 1869: “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 soiled 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...We have an unknown distance 

yet to run, and 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.” ~JWP

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, a UNESCO World Heritage 

Site, is enjoyed by millions of visitors from around the world each year, and 

is revered by geologists as one of the best places to learn about stratigraphy, 

see all three major rock types in one place, and walk from the rim to the 

river while traveling back through time. At the bottom of the canyon, nearly 

two-billion-year-old basement rocks, the roots of ancient mountains, are 

exposed. Above the basement rocks, tilted, mostly sedimentary Precambrian 

rocks record over 100 million years of Earth history before complex, shelled 

life arose. Above the tilted Grand Canyon Supergroup lie the vast, horizontal layers of sedimentary rocks spanning nearly 300 million years of time, 

trapping a rich fossil record in layer upon layer from oldest to youngest like 

a stack of progressively fresher pancakes. Incision of the modern canyon 

is very young relative to the very old rocks it reveals. Powell sketched its 

cliffs, and later referred to Grand Canyon as “the best geological section on 

the continent.”

Segment H 73
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Powell’s sketches of the stratigraphy, or rock layers, including the Great Unconformity of Grand Canyon, hold true today. He noticed the dark lava deposits that 

interrupted the light-colored sedimentary layers and pondered how they must have 

once blocked the powerful river’s flow. These basaltic flows continue to be studied 

by USGS scientists and many other researchers, who now understand much more 

about the complex history of volcanism in northern Arizona (House and others, 2018, 

for example). 

When Powell’s expedition eventually emerged from Grand Canyon in presentday Lake Mead, ninety-nine days after leaving Green River, Wyoming, his crew 

was left with few belongings. Three men had climbed out of Grand Canyon only 

74 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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two days before the end of the expedition and were never seen again. Only six 

men and two boats made it to the journey’s end. Despite all the hardships, Powell 

wanted more data. He assembled a new crew and government support and repeated 

this journey in 1871–72, bringing the lessons learned from his first trip, along with 

photographers, artists, more experienced scientists, and cartographers. The USGS 

remains the premier mapping bureau of the Federal Government. Our maps are used 

by individuals, businesses, and public officials to allow planning for resource assessment, infrastructure projects, hazards prediction, or recreation, among many uses. 

Many budding geoscientists get their first exercise in the concepts of stratigraphy and 

geologic time using geologic maps of the Grand Canyon.

Segment H 75

August 18, 1869: “I climb up the granite to its summit, and go away 

over rust-colored sandstones and greenish-yellow shales...I climb so 

high that the men and boats are lost in the black depths below, and 

the dashing river is a rippling brook, and still there is more canyon 

above than below. All about me are interesting geological records. The 

book is open, and I can read as I run. ~JWP
Then and Now

Geologic Time

Then

John Wesley Powell was a self-taught geologist, but he was well read and certainly 

knew the geologic thinking of the times. He would have been aware of the work of William 

Thompson, more commonly remembered as Lord Kelvin, who, in 1862, had calculated an age 

of the Earth based on thermodynamic modeling, with the goal of identifying how long it would 

take to cool a molten Earth to current temperatures. Thermodynamics was well understood, 

and Lord Kelvin’s calculations were an early attempt to take 

a quantitative approach to the question, “How old is the 

Earth?” Lord Kelvin’s cooling-magma calculations yielded an 

age of 20–400 million years. Geologists thought that estimate 

was too small, based on geologic principles, and biologists 

were skeptical that evolution could happen on that time scale 

(Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” had been published in 

1859), but Lord Kelvin’s calculations were the most rigorous 

attempted at that time. Let’s take a look at those ideas before 

returning to the late 19th century.

People have been making careful observations of rocks 

and fossils for centuries. In the late 1400s, Leonardo da Vinci 

noticed shell fossils in the Alps and concluded that this land 

must once have been under the ocean. He was hardly the 

only early thinker to contemplate geologic change—Aristotle 

had formed similar conclusions centuries earlier, as had early 

Chinese and Persian scholars. Nicholas Steno, in 1669, gets 

credit for first writing down basic geological principles as 

laws. The law of original horizontality states that layers of 

sediment are deposited horizontally, and that if sedimentary 

layers are not horizontal they have undergone another change 

since they were deposited, such as faulting or folding. The law 

of superposition says that older rocks are on the bottom and 

younger rocks are on the top. The law of crosscutting relationships says that something that cuts across a boundary must be 

younger than that boundary. These basic principles of stratigraphy—the branch of geology concerned with the study of rock 

layers—allow observers to put geologic events in order to tell the story of relative time, but 

they don’t provide an absolute age.

In 1788, James Hutton proposed what would become the foundational principle of 

geology—uniformitarianism. This relatively simple but powerful principle states that the 

processes we see happening on Earth today are the same processes that shaped Earth in the 

past, and that they will continue in the future. This idea has profound implications for geologic 

time. As Hutton saw it, if sand is deposited on a river point bar at a rate of about 2–5 cm per 

year, then vast sandstones must also have been deposited 

at that very slow rate. At the iconic unconformity at Siccar 

Point in Scotland, Hutton said of geologic time that it had “no 

vestige of a beginning. No prospect of an end.”

The next significant leap in our understanding of 

geologic time came from William Smith, a road surveyor 

in England and an amateur paleontologist. He noticed that 

fossils occurred in distinctive assemblages, or groups, and 

furthermore that these fossil assemblages always appeared 

in the same order everywhere they were seen. In 1815, Smith 

developed the law of faunal succession, which states that 

species become extinct and are replaced by new species, 

and that characteristic fossils of a certain age are that age 

everywhere. 

The 1820s–1850s were a remarkably fertile period for 

paleontology, and the work of scientists around the world 

developed a geologic time scale based on characteristic fossil 

assemblages. As much of this work was done in England, 

many of the names of geologic periods derive from locations 

in England—for example, Devonian for Devon and Cambrian 

for Cambria (the Latin name for Wales). The first geologic 

time scale was published in 1841—Powell certainly would 

have known of it and used it in his geologic trips to the West. 

He also understood the concept of unconformities (gaps in 

the geologic record that represent missing time); he was 

the first geologist to sketch the Great Unconformity in the 

Grand Canyon.

76 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
By Eleanour Snow and Annie Scott

In 1869, the same year Powell launched his expedition, English scientist Thomas Huxley 

challenged Lord Kelvin’s calculation, asserting that his base assumptions were incorrect. It 

turned out that his assertion was right, but we wouldn’t have the evidence for another 30 

years. It was the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 that changed the heat-flow picture dramatically. French physicist Henri Becquerel made the discovery that penetrating radiation could 

come from uranium itself and was not caused by excitation by an external energy source, like 

the sun, as was previously thought. In the next few decades major advances were made in 

geochronology. Radioactive decay solved the heat-flow question—with a source of heat in the 

cooling Earth, geologic time could be much longer—and gave us a tool for measuring time.

Now

Our current understanding of geologic time is based on radiometric dating work 

conducted during the 20th century, as well as on data from new technologies. The English 

geologist Arthur Holmes, given the nickname Father of 

Modern Geochronology, carried out the first accurate 

uranium-lead radiometric dating analyses, published in 

1911. The next forty years would be pivotal. Chemists and 

physicists discovered hundreds of radioactive isotopes 

and their half-lives*. Technology advanced to make measurement more precise at smaller volumes. Geologists 

scoured the Earth for rocks to date, studying the boundaries of the already defined geologic time scale and looking 

for the oldest rocks they could find. It was 1956 when 

Clair Cameron Patterson, an American geochemist, used 

lead-lead dating to determine that the Canyon Diablo 

meteorite from Meteor Crater, Arizona, was 4.55 billion 

years old. Since meteorites were formed at the same time 

as the Earth, but have not been constantly recycled since, 

this date was accepted as the age of the Earth and is very 

close to its accepted age today.

As with any scientific endeavor, new technology allows us to better refine what we know about the 

way the Earth works. The late 20th century brought 

technological advances in the usability and availability of highly sensitive instruments such 

as mass spectrometers and the Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe-Reverse Geometry, 

or SHRIMP-RG, which analyzes the ratio of uranium and lead isotopes in zircon and in other 

accessory minerals to calculate numerical values (in years) of the age of rocks. The more we 

learn, the more refined the absolute dates of the geologic time scale have become. Every few 

years, the “Divisions of Geologic Time,” a chart showing major geologic units and their estimated ages, is updated by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, which receives input 

from USGS geologists. Perhaps in the next century, with advances in technology and improvement of isotopic laboratory techniques, geochronologists will be able to even better refine our 

understanding of the timing of geologic events.

*

A half-life is the length of time it takes for half of the number of original, or parent, isotopes to decay 

to a stable daughter isotope. It is a fundamental characteristic of a particular isotope. For example, uranium-235, an unstable parent isotope that decays to lead-207, has 

a half-life of 703.8 million years.

Let’s consider a shorter time frame—say you have a delicious 

cake and you want to stretch out eating it over as many days as 

possible, so you vow to eat only half of the cake each day. On 

day one, you would eat half the cake and have half left (and 

probably go to bed with a bellyache). On day two, you would 

eat half of the remainder, one-quarter, and have one-quarter left. 

Day three, one-eighth. Day four, one-sixteenth. And so on. In this 

example, the half-life is one day. You can tell how old the cake 

is by measuring how much you have left; if you have one-eighth 

left, it is three half-lives old, or three days. 

Now back to rocks. You might ask, “But how do you know 

what fraction you have left if you don’t know how much you 

started with?” Fortunately, you are not eating the lead-207! It is 

still in the rock, so you can measure how much of each isotope 

you have. If seven-eighths of the total is lead-207 and one-eighth 

is uranium-235, how old is the rock? Answer: three half-lives old, 

or 2.11 billion years.

Then and Now 77
It’s nighttime in the Grand Canyon. A full moon shines above, partially 

obscured by clouds. Below, the moon’s silver light is reflected by the river, turning it 

into a flowing ribbon of mercury. All around me, bats tear in and out of the darkness 

as they hunt for their nightly feast. When I remember my time on the Powell150 

expedition, first and foremost I think of this moment sitting on the canyon ledge by 

the Nankoweap Granary. This trip included a lot of firsts for me: first time reaching 

the bottom of the Grand Canyon, first time on a rafting trip in the canyon, first time 

on a rafting trip period. Throughout my segment I experienced moments of anxiety, 

excitement, awe, inspiration, and peace. I also developed a deeper respect for John 

Wesley Powell’s many aptitudes as a scientist, oarsman, and leader. I collected data 

from the shoreline each night; he scaled rocky cliffs one-armed to get barometric 

Segment H—Personal Vignettes

readings to determine the elevation. My rowing skills amounted to playing bumper 

cars with the canyon walls; he navigated untamed waters in a small wooden boat. I 

was treated to gourmet meals and a comfortable trip; he led a team of men through 

the loss of supplies, near drownings, extreme weather, and other severe hazards. This 

expedition was also a reminder that the legacy of the USGS runs deeper than the 

science we produce. For example, some USGS streamgage stations, such as the one 

at Embudo, New Mexico, go back to 1889, during Powell’s time as USGS Director. 

When a measurement is made at one of those sites, we are not just collecting data, 

but also are contributing to the history of that location. The rich past of the USGS is 

part of what makes it so special.

~Christina Bryant

78 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
From July 14 to 19, 2019, I was fortunate to be 

included on SCREE. In recent years I have been conducting 

research on the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon. 

Those areas are starkly scenic, quiet, almost completely 

devoid of water, and largely devoid of people. The trip down 

the Colorado River, in the first half of the Grand Canyon 

from Lees Ferry to Phantom Ranch, was also starkly scenic. 

I vividly remember cobalt blue skies, geologic formations 

that surrounded us and were ever rising as we descended 

the canyon, and the river that was amazingly transparent at 

the beginning of our journey but that soon assumed a more 

appropriately opaque brown, orange, or greenish tint for the 

rest of the trip to Phantom Ranch. In contrast to being on 

the rim, being on the river was not so quiet. From the quiet 

dipping of the paddle in a calm stretch to the roar of the 

rapids, sounds of water dominated our senses. Calls of the 

canyon wren, crows, hawks, and other birds also livened the 

soundtrack. There were plenty of people on the river. Each 

day, in leap-frog fashion we passed or were passed by others 

descending the river, but it never felt crowded. The SCREE 

leadership gently forged the participants into a convivial 

community where there were plenty of chores to be done in 

easy conversation with boatmates. From the first morning 

coffee to the last of the dinner dishes, to groover duty and 

water filtration, we all worked together to support the camp 

community. In addition to recollections of the monumental 

scenery is a lingering memory of the reflection of rock on 

water, a tiny view of all that is to be seen along the Colorado 

River in the Grand Canyon. 

~Katie Walton-Day

Segment H 79
On a 12-day section of the most adrenaline-pumping, consecutive rapids of the 

Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, I was surrounded by die-hard and knowledgeable river-running experts, affectionately referred to as “river rats,” who swore the 

river was never so clear and the weather never so calm. It was the monsoon season, 

after all, but the days were hot and dry. A lover of warm, clear, salty water living 

on Oahu, I had not been subjected to such high temperatures and dry heat in a long 

time. The soles of my shoes melted during my hike down Bright Angel Trail to meet 

the group at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I welcomed the 

cold temperature of the Colorado River and was glad it wasn’t a raging torrent of 

chocolate brown waves ready to devour me. There is so much that moved me on this 

trip and too many memories to write in a short vignette. I have spent about 15 years 

of my life guiding or participating in two- to eight-week-long global expeditions 

involving a mix of activities from rafting to mountaineering. No matter the challenge 

or the accomplishment, it is the people who make the trip, or break it. Hands down, 

this group of eclectic characters, from rising filmmakers to accomplished academics 

and artists, from young to old, from serious to wild, was one of the best groups I’ve 

had the privilege to join. Jessica Flock, the most amazing leader, chef, and oarswoman, turned my initial anxiety of intense rapids into a grand appreciation of the 

thrill of navigating, running, and getting swamped by a rapid. The only women in 

my segment of the expedition—Jessica, Amorina Lee-Martinez, and myself—kept 

company as raft buddies and shared many stories and laughs along the way. Jessica 

was raised to run rivers and has the gift of safely guiding others. Her experience and 

stories were heartfelt, strong, hilarious, and awe inspiring. Amorina, a PhD student, 

was wise beyond her years in her knowledge of the complex intersection of water 

policy, environmental issues, and Tribal rights surrounding rivers in the West. I 

enjoyed every minute of our float together from Phantom Ranch to Pearce Ferry. 

Spirits were alive and high the entire trip. The film crew brought laugher and 

an appreciation for getting the “perfect shot” and storytelling. I deeply admired 

the strong relationship and incredible experiences shared by Dan McCool and his 

son, Weston. The academics and artists brought perspective and history, connecting us to a sense of place. The river rats brought heartiness, strength, humor, and 

the ability to have and share a good time. I hope I contributed equally as a scientist 

80 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
and environmentalist, and I love the combination of science and adventure. I also 

hope that all the sediment samples I packed and bugs I stayed up late to count will 

make it into a USGS science story. There were so many good times, side hikes, a 

lazy layover day at Parashant—where the sand temperature measured 140 degrees 

Fahrenheit but the river a cool 60 degrees—and so very many amazing rapids. I think 

my favorite was Hermit Rapid, where our boat was swallowed by a wave and spit 

through one of the biggest whitewater sections in North America. 

On a hike down from the winding, water-carved canyons of Deer Creek Trail 

on Day 7, it finally began to rain. It was the day before Class V Lava Falls, and all 

of us were anxious and excited. The rain tapered a bit as we stopped and swam in 

the turquoise waters of Havasu Creek and saw the elusive humpback chub fish, but 

then the rain picked up. On Lava Falls eve, we experienced an intense thunderstorm 

as we camped along the river at Fern Glen. Waterfalls began pouring over canyon 

walls, lightning shocked the dark night to life and lit up our tents, and I listened as 

the river became louder and stronger...more like thick brown chocolate. As the sun 

rose the next morning and lit up one side of the canyon walls, everyone cheered. 

The river was no longer uncharacteristic for this time of year. It was churning, wild, 

frothy, brown, and thick, on what seemed like a mission to race to the end. Everyone 

said it was good luck and a great premonition for our turn down Lava Falls. Jessica, 

Amorina, and I floated the river, paid our respects to Vulcan’s Anvil, scouted the rapids with the team, and, full of hope, fear, and suspense...crushed it! We watched our 

friends and colleagues navigate tight turns, colossal waves, and bow-dives into deep 

holes, and all came out alive and celebratory on the other side. 

I will always remember the intensity of the storm on Lava Falls eve, the celebration at the bottom of Lava Falls, the relief exuded by our fearless leader, Tom, 

and thinking that thick, chocolate brown waters are the way rivers in the West should 

run. Post-Lava Falls was relaxing and bonding as we floated peacefully, enjoyed a 

few final fun rapids, and watched the rock walls lower and the river flatten as we 

exited the Grand Canyon. What an incredible, lucky, once-in-a-lifetime experience to 

honor John Wesley Powell’s expedition 150 years later

~Heather Kerkering

Segment H 81
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After the 2019 Expedition—and into the Future 

As participants from each segment returned home, debrief calls captured their immediate perspectives and later asked them to write vignettes about their time on the river. Post-trip 

presentations about the expedition were also delivered by the participants. The YES team presented details from the Powell150 expedition at the 2019 Geological Society of America Annual 

Conference (Snow and others, 2019), at the Flagstaff Festival of Science and National Fossil 

Day in Arizona, and at a John Wesley Powell 150th anniversary symposium at the Smithsonian 

National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, in Washington, D.C., where 

historians, anthropologists, artists, scientists, and Powell descendants gathered for presentations 

and discussions about Powell’s lessons and legacy. To close out the sesquicentennial, the SCREE 

artwork created during the expedition was displayed in the USGS National Center art corridor 

from March through July 2020, and a short film of the expedition was produced to summarize the 

USGS efforts. The authors of this report were humbled upon learning that they had been selected 

to receive the 2019 USGS Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award for this project, a oncein-a-career honor. 

As we look forward to the next Powell anniversary, the USGS will continue to characterize 

the Nation’s land and water, its energy, mineral, and biological resources, and natural hazards to 

provide sound science for decision makers. We’ll need creative and adventurous people to help 

us accomplish our mission. To inspire those future scientists, the YES office launched the Be an 

Explorer campaign at the end of this expedition, linking John Wesley Powell and the Grand Canyon (1869) to Apollo astronauts (1969) to a possible future exploration of Mars (2069) with its 

largest canyon, Valles Marineris, five times as long and four times as deep as the Grand Canyon. 

Perhaps Powell’s bicentennial celebration will be out of this world.

82 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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After the 2019 Expedition—and into the Future 83

“...I lie awake with thoughts of the 

morrow and the canyons to come...”

 ~John Wesley Powell, 1869
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References Cited

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84 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Additional Background Information

Billingsley, G.H., 2000, Geologic map of the Grand Canyon 30′ x 60′ quadrangle, 

Coconino and Mohave Counties, northwestern Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey 

Geologic Investigations Series Map I–2688, scale 1:100,000, ver. 1.0. [Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i-2688/.]

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T.I., Matuska, P.J., Evenson, E.J., and Harrison, A.D., 2018, Comparison of U.S. 

Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation water-use reporting in the Colorado 

River Basin (ver. 1.1, September 2019): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2018–5021, 41 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20185021.

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River, Wyoming, and Green River, Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

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tamarisk biomass, insect herbivory, and defoliation—Novel methods in the Grand 

Canyon region, Arizona: Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, v. 82, 

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podcast, 00:05:37, April 10, 2019, https://www.usgs.gov/media/audio/ 

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of Outstanding in the field [Suzanna Soileau, producer]: U.S. Geological Survey 

podcast, 00:07:40, October 12, 2020, https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/ecosystems/science/episode-6-sandbars-and-vegetation-grand-canyon?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.

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change in Grand Canyon, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources 

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WRIR4080.pdf.

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Sheet 2019–3049, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20193049.

Additional Background Information 85
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Photograph Credits

All photographs by the U.S. Geological Survey unless otherwise stated. Abbreviations: *, public domain; NP, National Park; NRA, National Recreation Area.

Page No. Credit Description/caption

Cover

Front

cover

Annie Scott Powell Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, 2019

Annie Scott 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition Plaque at Grand 

Canyon National Park, AZ, 2019

Back

cover Annie Scott Powell Memorial at Powell Point, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, south rim, 2019

Front matter

i Janis LeMaster Flaming Gorge Reservoir, WY, 2019

iii Annie Scott USGS Director Reilly at Powell Point, Grand Canyon

National Park, AZ, 2019

iv-v Annie Scott Boats at the launch site, Green River, WY, 2019

vi

J.K. Hillers* Bowknot Bend in the Green River, UT, north of Canyonlands 

National Park, 1871

Richard Moscati Bowknot Bend in the Green River, UT, north of Canyonlands 

National Park, 2019

vii Heather Kerkering Grand Canyon, AZ, west of Phantom Ranch, 2019

viii Robert Barth Night sky, Flaming Gorge NRA, WY, 2019

Body

1

E.O. Beaman* Launch of the second Powell expedition from Green River Station, 

WY, May 4, 1871

USGS Expedition map from "John Wesley Powell—Soldier, explorer, 

scientist" (U.S. Geological Survey, 1970). 

2

Division of Culture and the Arts, 

National Museum of American 

History, Smithsonian 

Institution; and Smithsonian 

Libraries

Photographs of Powell’s 1875 book and the original woodblocks 

(Left: Green River, WY; Right: Grand Canyon, AZ), 2019

4

USGS Collection Portrait of John Wesley Powell, age 35

E.O. Beaman* Empty boats near present-day Green River, WY, 1871

5

J.K. Hillers* Grand Canyon, AZ, 1872

Annie Scott John Wesley Powell statue outside the Sweetwater County Historical 

Museum, Green River, WY, 2019

Various Janis LeMaster Then and Now Banner: Flaming Gorge Reservoir, WY, 2019 

6

National Park Service Emma Dean Powell, wife of John Wesley Powell, Chicago, IL, 1869

USGS Library Ellen Powell Thompson, photograph extracted from the last Powell 

family group photo taken in Topeka, KS, on November 10, 1900

Camera Craft Studios, MN* Dr. Florence Bascom (1862–1945), 1900

National Park Service Dr. Elzada Clover at Bright Angel Beach in Grand Canyon, 

July 1938. First Nevills Colorado River Expedition

Page No. Credit Description/caption

7

Russell Sherman USGS scientist Janis LeMaster holding the USGS flag, 2019

Kristen Hamilton Collage of USGS women of the Powell150 expedition

9

Annie Scott A. Paper Powell downloadable pdf image, 2019

Annie Scott B. Director Reilly, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, 2019

Wayne Belcher C. Paper Powell at Lake Mead, AZ, 2019

David Nail D. Paper Powell on Lake Powell, AZ, 2019

Katie Walton-Day E. Christina Bryant at Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

Anya Metcalfe F. Bill Burton with Paper Powell and Florence Bascom, UT, 2019

Scott Horvath G. Screenshot of Paper Powell memoji (talking cartoon), 2019

Kristen Hamilton H. Be an explorer graphic for social media, 2019

Erin Heard I. Paper Powell at NSF field station in Antarctica, 2019

Janis LeMaster J. Paper Powell in southern WY, 2019

Shanna Ratnesar-Shumate K. Byron Shumate with Paper Powells at Stonehenge, England, 2019

Russell Sherman L. Paper Powell along the Green River in southern WY, 2019

10 Susan L Meacham Find-A-Feature web page, 2020

11

Annie Scott Art corridor at USGS National Center, Reston, VA, 2019

Annie Scott Powell150 Display - USGS Library, 2019

USGS EROS Screenshot of EROS story map, 2019

12 Thomas Moran The Chasm of the Colorado, 1873–1874

13 Heather Kerkering Artist Patrick Kikut sketching in Grand Canyon

Patrick Kikut Patrick Kikut painting of the Green River, 2018

14 Robert Barth Green River and cliffs, southern WY, 2019

17 Robert Barth Green River in southern WY, 2019

18-19 Annie Scott Cliffs northeast of Interstate 80 in Green River, WY, 2019

20 Robert Barth Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Sheep River Overlook, WY, 2019

21 Robert Barth Reflection of cliffs along the Green River, southern WY, 2019

22 Janis LeMaster Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, WY, 2019

23

Russell Sherman Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, WY, 2019

Russell Sherman Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, WY, 2019

25 Jason Alexander Green River south of Flaming Gorge Dam, northeastern UT, 2019

26

Melissa Lombard Green River just south of Flaming Gorge Dam, UT, 2019

27 Dinosaur National Monument, UT, 2019

28 E.O. Beaman* Expedition kitchen, near Green River, WY, 1871

29

Jaime Delano Sandwich in hand while rafting down the Green River, UT, 2019

Jaime Delano Fish taco dinner along the Green River, UT, 2019

30 Anne Ballmann Red Canyon along the Green River, northeastern UT, 2019

31 Melissa Lombard Swallow Canyon along the Green River, northeastern UT, 2019

32 Jason Alexander Green River through Brown’s Park, northeastern UT, 2019

86 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
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Page No. Credit Description/caption

33 Melissa Lombard Flaming Gorge Dam, UT, 2019

35 Breton Bruce Gates of Lodore, CO, 2019

36

Breton Bruce Gates of Lodore, CO, 2019

Breton Bruce Stream near Gates of Lodore, CO, 2019

37 Breton Bruce Steamboat Rock, CO, 2019

38

Robert Barth Wren, southern WY, 2019

Katie Walton-Day Bighorn sheep, Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

John Parks Tamarisk, UT, 2019

39

Janis LeMaster Primrose, southern WY, 2019

Robert Barth Pelicans, southern WY, 2019

Nicholas Hammond Prickly pear cactus bloom, Green River, UT, 2019

Melissa Lombard Bald eagle, 2019

41 Jaime Delano Green River, UT, 2019

42

Anya Metcalfe Mayfly hatch, 2019

Anya Metcalfe Light trap, 2019

Jamie Delano Light trap on shore, 2019

Test tube aquatic insects, 2019

Melissa Lombard Green River, UT, 2019

43 John Parks Green River with Split Mountain in the distance, UT, 2019

44 William Burton Green River near Split Mountain, UT, 2019

45 Anya Metcalfe Graham Lederer birding, UT, 2019

John Parks Bill Burton examining rocks, UT, 2019

46 Nicholas Hammond Loading boats, UT, 2019

47 John Parks Split Mountain, UT, 2019

48

Jaime Delano Green River, UT, 2019

Jaime Delano Anya Metcalfe, Split Mountain, UT, 2019

49

Mitchell Eaton Valley panorama, UT, 2019

Mitchell Eaton Split Mountain and irrigated field, UT, 2019

51 Kathy Conn Lighthouse Rock, Green River, UT, 2019

52

Katie Walton-Day Sediment sampling, AZ, 2019

Robert Barth Janis LeMaster and Russell Sherman sediment sampling, WY, 2019

Jessica Lucido Buren Sediment sampling, Lake Powell, UT, 2019

53 Kathy Conn Desolation Canyon, UT, 2019

55 Richard Moscati Turks Head, Canyonlands NP, UT, 2019

56

Andrew Spanjer Density separation equipment, 2019

Andrew Spanjer Beaker, 2019

Andrew Spanjer Microscope, 2019

Andrew Spanjer Microplastics under magnification, 2019

57 Tess Harden Turks Head, Canyonlands NP, UT, 2019

58 Annie Scott Historic boat collection, Grand Canyon NP, 2019

Page No. Credit Description/caption

59 Robert Barth Rafts, southern WY, 2019

60 Tess Harden Sunrise along the Green River, UT, 2019

61 Richard Moscati Dellenbaugh Butte, UT, 2019

63 Genevieve Barron Capitol Reef NP, UT, 2019

64

Annie Scott Horseshoe Bend, AZ, 2019

Annie Scott Glen Canyon Dam, AZ, 2019

65 Genevieve Barron Lake Powell reflection, UT, 2019

66 Jessica Lucido Buren Dirty Devil confluence streamgage, UT, 2019

66–67 Jessica Lucido Buren Sunrise at Lake Powell, UT, 2019

68 USGS Library Colorado River expeditions map, 1908

USGS Library USGS topographer poses with leveling instrument, unknown date

69

USGS/NASA* Landsat 8 image of Canyonlands NP, UT, 2016

NASA* Artist’s rendering of Landsat 8, unknown date

70 David Nail Lake Powell, Glen Canyon NRA, UT, 2019

71 Jessica Lucido Buren Lake Powell, UT, 2019

73 Katie Walton-Day Grand Canyon NP, AZ, Bright Angel view, 2019 74–75 Katie Walton-Day

76 J.W. Powell* Grand Canyon stratigraphy sketch, 1875

77 Annie Scott Walhalla Plateau from the north rim of the Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

78 Christina Bryant Grand Canyon from Nankoweap Granary, 2019

79 Katie Walton-Day Redwall Cavern, Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

80 Heather Kerkering Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

Sidecreek in Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

81

Heather Kerkering Cave in Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, 2019

Heather Kerkering Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, 2019

Heather Kerkering Deer Creek campsite, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ, 2019

82

NASA* Valles marineris (canyon on Mars)

Tyler Nordgren Poster, design consultation by Annie Scott and Eleanour Snow

83 Robert Barth Tent with headlamp and stars, WY, 2019

84 Christina Bryant Colorado River at Lees Ferry, AZ, 2019

85 Katie Walton-Day View of Redwall Cavern, Grand Canyon, AZ, 2019

88 Heather Kerkering Signed expedition banner, 2019

Graphics

Various Pixabay.com Compass

Photograph Credits 87
N

S

W E 1875: “You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a 

changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see 

it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.” 

~JWP

88 The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
For additional information:

https://www.usgs.gov

https://www.usgs.gov/powell150

Prepared by the USGS Science Publishing Network

Reston and Pembroke Publishing Service Centers

Editing by James R. Estabrook

Design and layout by Susan L. Meacham

Web support by Molly L. Newbrough

Printing support by Cathy Y. Knutson
Scott and Snow—The 150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition—Circular 1475, ver. 1.1

ISSN 1067-084X (print)

ISSN 2330-5703 (online)

https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1475