The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-07-08
Tho Grent Colorado Canon-Probablo Safety
of tho Powell Expedition.

of tho Powell Expedition.
The story which has been so widely crcu-
lated OF the reported disastrous loss of the en-
tire company composing the Powell expedi-
ton in the far West is directly contradicted by
letter of Mrs. J. w. Powell to the Detroit
Post, who declares that no such person as
John A. Risdon, the author of the report and
the pretended sole survivor Of the company,
ever belonged to it, and that the names he gives
of the members OF the party are, without q
single exception, false. The statements of
Mrs. Powell, the wife of the leader of the ex-
petition, are indirectly confirmed by q letter
from personal friend of Major Powell, which
was published in yesterdays HERALD. The
story Of Risdon must be an imposture.
Major Powell and several scientific associ-
ates some time ago, under the auspices, we
believe, of the Chicago Geographical Society,
and thoroughly equipped with carefully con-
strrcted boats and all other requisite appli
ances, set out to explore the mystery Of the
great canon of the Colorado river. This river
rises in the Rocky Mountains, and, swollen by
direction about one thousand miles to its point
of discharge into the Gulf of California. From
the gulf this powerful stream is navigabie for
several hundred miles up to the great outlet of
its great canon at Fort Colville. The Colorado
proper is formed by the junction of the Green
| river and the Grand river. From this juno
ton down to Fort Colville the distance is
| heightened by the sinuosities of the stream to
about five hundred miles, through deep gorge
called ''the Canon" with precipitous walls
rising on each side from two thousand to five
| thousand feet in height. The estimated ave-
| rage elevation of the cafon Is three thousand
| feet. The width of the river at its narrowest
point is estimated at one hundred feet, and the
line of high water mark at thirty or forty feet
above the average stage in August The
width of the chasm is, with few exceptions,
filed up by the river during the whole dis
lance.
The main objects of Major Powell's expedi-
| ton are to determine the actual course of the
| Colorado, the character Of the great my steri-
GUS canon, the facts of its extraordinary geo.
logical formation, with its long continued uni
| formity of "white sandstone aud it's subse-
| quent dark, igneous rocks, and the feasibility
of its navigation. The results of the explora-
| ton will doubtless confirm those of the only
previous exploratio ever undertaken--that of
James White, in lS67-and will possess great
| scientific value as well as much practical in
terest for future settlers From the successful
| trip Of White with his little raft we are war;
rauted to infer the safety Of Powell with his
far superior boats and other conveniences.
The success Of Major Powell will be favorable
to the development of the almost unknown re-
sources Of the region watered by the Colorado,
and will disclose to the world in connection
| with the Pacific Railroad, onerof the most ex-
traordinary wonders of the world American
artists and European tourists in America will
not fail to be attracted by the wild, rugged
scenery of the canon of the Colorado.