    john wesley powell (march 24, 1834 â september 23, 1902) was a u.s. soldier, geologist, explorer of the american west, professor at illinois wesleyan university, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. he is famous for the 1869 powell geographic expedition, a three-month river trip down the green and colorado rivers, including the first known passage through the grand canyon. powell served as second director of the us geological survey (1881â1894) and proposed, for development of the arid west, policies that were prescient for his accurate evaluation of conditions. he became the first director of the bureau of ethnology at the smithsonian institution during his service as director of the u.s. geological survey, where he supported linguistic and sociological research and publications. ==biography== ===early life=== powell was born in mount morris, new york, in 1834, the son of joseph and mary powell. his father, a poor itinerant preacher, had emigrated to the u.s. from shrewsbury, england, in 1830. his family moved westward to jackson, ohio, then walworth county, wisconsin, before settling in rural boone county, illinois. as a young man he undertook a series of adventures through the
1834_births 1902_deaths American_amputees American_civil_servants American_conservationists American_explorers American_geologists American_linguists American_people_of_Welsh_descent Botanists_with_author_abbreviations Burials_at_Arlington_National_Cemetery Early_Grand_Canyon_river_runners Explorers_of_North_America Explorers_of_the_United_States Illinois_College_alumni Illinois_State_University_faculty Illinois_Wesleyan_University_faculty National_Geographic_Society_founders Oberlin_College_alumni People_from_Boone_County,_Illinois People_from_Mount_Morris,_New_York People_of_Illinois_in_the_American_Civil_War Smithsonian_Institution_people Union_Army_officers United_States_Geological_Survey_personnel Wheaton_College_(Illinois)_alumni