Powell150
150th Anniversary of the 1869 Powell Expedition
Welcome to the Powell150 education and outreach site!
2019 Expedition, Then and Now
For information about the 1869 and 2019 Colorado River Exploring Expeditions, follow this link.
MoreUSGS Science Today
To learn more about the science USGS is doing today, including experiments and data collection on the 2019 expedition, click here.
Click HereLessons and Activities
For lessons and activities that are related to rivers and John Wesley Powell, click here.
Click HereIn 2019, The U.S. Geological Survey Youth & Education in Science (YES) office worked with partnering organizations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Powell Expedition, an exploration of the Green and Colorado rivers that ended west of the Grand Canyon in 1869. Led by scientist and Civil War amputee John Wesley Powell, ten men in four small wooden boats departed Green River Wyoming on May 24, 1869. Only six men and two boats completed the 95-day journey, but the expedition succeeded in recording some of the earliest known maps, data, topographic measurements, geology, and local Native American cultures in this region.
Powell later became the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey as well as the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first director of the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution, and a co-founder of the National Geographic Society.
The USGS continues to do important science along this river system today, and to contribute information to decision-makers who are working to manage the river basin as a resource for water, recreation, and power in Western states. The focus of the education and outreach efforts surrounding the Powell150 Expedition is to inform and engage the public around the geology and ecology of rivers in general and this river system in particular and to raise public awareness of the natural resources of the Colorado River Basin and USGS science.
While the USGS marked this occasion as an opportunity to highlight the science of the Colorado River Basin, it’s important to note that indigenous people have inhabited the area for over 15,000 years, and tribes in the 19th century had a great deal of knowledge about the river and ecosystems of their homeland. Western 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.
Related Content
The Powell-Ingalls Special Commission meeting with Southern Paiutes
The Powell-Ingalls Special Commission meeting with Southern Paiutes near St. George. Standing figure at far left is Major John Wesley Powell - note empty shirt sleeve.
Major John Wesley Powell talking to a Paiute Indian
Major John Wesley Powell talking to a Paiute Indian, northern Arizona Survey, Arizona. circa 1869.
The Rescue at Echo Rock
The Rescue at Echo Rock. John Wesley Powell and G.Y. Bradley in drawing. Moffat County, Colorado. June 18, 1869.
"Emma Dean"
Major John Wesley Powell's boat, the Emma Dean, moored on a bank of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.
John Wesley Powell's Swivel Chair
This swivel chair is an original and is believed to have been used by John Wesley Powell. Object ID: USGS-575126
John Wesley Powell Monument
John Wesley Powell Monument. Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. 1968.
John Powell, Wild Hank Sharp, Kentucky Mountain Bill, and Jesus Alviso
Typed information on back of photograph: Studio portrait in partial Navajo costume. Left to right: Mjaor J.W. Powell, Wild Hank Sharp, Kentucky Mountian Bill, and Jesus Alviso. Apparently taken in the same studio and year as Navajo Delegation photographs of 1874. National Archives No. 64-1N-201.
John Wesley Powell and party in the Grand Canyon
Painting by Henry C. Pitz showing John Wesley Powell and his party going through the Grand Canyon, presumably during the historic 1869 Colorado River expedition. The 1869 expedition gave to Powell and his party the distinction of being the first to travel the entire distance of the Colorado River, a remarkable feat that many had formerly believed impossible. A curious
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Green River, below Union Pacific Railroad bridge, Utah
Green River, about 1/2 mile below Union Pacific Railroad bridge, showing boats soon after they had been run down from unloading at bridge. River flows to the left. 1871. Handwritten notes on back of duplicate photograph: Our Boats, 1871, at Green River, Wyoming.
The first camp of Powell's Second Expedition
The first camp of Powell's Second Expedition. Shown from left to right are: Professor Almon Harris Thompson, Andrew Hattan, S.V. Jones, John F. Steward, W.C. Powell, Frank C.A. Richardson, Frederick Dellenbaugh, and F.M. Bishop. Green River, Wyoming. May 4, 1871.
The famous Powell armchair in Marble Canyon
The famous Powell armchair in Marble Canyon. Grand Canyon National Park. Coconino County, Arizona. August 20, 1872.
Boats in Colorado River, Marble Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona
Typed information on back of photograph: Marble Canyon, Colorado River, Utah. 1872. Side view of Major Powell's boat, the Emma Dean. Note: This photo shows clearly the two life preservers attached to sides of Major Powell's chair.
Lighthouse Rock in Canyon of Desolation
Lighthouse Rock in Canyon of Desolation, Green River. The three boats are anchored near shore on left side. Utah. August 11, 1871.
Boats of Powell's Second Expedition
Left bank of Green River. Boats of Powell's Second Expedition, before the start of the journey. The boats are "Canonita," "Emma Dean," and "Nellie Powell." Just below the Union Pacific Railroad bridge at Green River Station. The famous eleven of the Powell party were Andy Hattan, W. Clement Powell, S.V. Jones, Major John W. Powell, Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Professor Almon
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Status and trends of the Grand Canyon population of Humpback Chub
The Colorado River Basin supports one of the most distinctive fish communities in North America, including the federally endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha). One of only six remaining populations of this fish is found in Grand Canyon, Arizona. U.S. Geological Survey scientists and their cooperators are responsible for monitoring the Grand Canyon...
Andersen, Matthew E.
The United States Geological Survey: 1879-1989
The United States Geological Survey was established on March 3, 1879, just a few hours before the mandatory close of the final session of the 45th Congress, when President Rutherford B. Hayes signed the bill appropriating money for sundry civil expenses of the Federal Government for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1879. The sundry civil expenses...
Rabbitt, Mary C.
John Wesley Powell's exploration of the Colorado River
Rabbitt, Mary C.
John Wesley Powell: soldier, explorer, scientist
One hundred years ago John Wesley Powell and nine adventure-seeking companions completed the first exploration of the dangerous and almost uncharted canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers. By this trip, Powell, a 35-year old teacher of natural history, apparently unhampered by the lack of his right forearm (amputated after the Battle of Shiloh)...
John Wesley Powell and the anthropology of the Canyon Country
Fowler, Don D.; Euler, Robert C.; Fowler, Catherine S.
The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell
A century ago John Wesley Powell-teacher, scientist, and veteran of the Civil War-set out to explore the unknown reaches of the Colorado River. He emerged from the forbidding canyons with a compelling interest in the nature of the western lands and how they could be developed for the greatest benefit to the Nation. A man gifted with imagination,...
Rabbitt, Mary C.; McKee, Edwin D.; Hunt, Charles B.; Leopold, Luna Bergere
John Wesley Powell: Pioneer statesman of federal science: Chapter A in The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell (Professional Paper 669)
In the middle decades of the 19th century, American science matured rather rapidly. The general scholar with an interest in natural history gave place to the specialist in a particular science, and the various sciences themselves became distinct from each other and from the general body of knowledge. The geological sciences made especially rapid...
Rabbitt, Mary C. Stratified rocks of the Grand Canyon: Chapter B in The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell (Professional Paper 669)
The record of the earth's history in the walls of the Grand Canyon has been deciphered through hard work by many people during the past 100 years. Much still remains unsolved. John Wesley Powell's contributions were of a pioneering type, though he was not the first to discuss the rocks of the Grand Canyon. Far more important than his own...
McKee, Edwin D. The rapids and the pools - Grand Canyon: Chapter D in The Colorado River region and John Wesley Powell (Professional Paper 669)
Through the Grand Canyon the Colorado drops in elevation about 2,200 feet in 280 miles; most of this drop occurs in rapids that account for only 10 percent of the distance. Despite the importance of rapids, there are no waterfalls. Depth measurements made at 1/10-mile intervals show that the bed profile is highly irregular, but the apparent...
Leopold, Luna Bergere