Portland Public Library

The Powell Expedition, new discoveries about John Wesley Powell's 1869 river journey, Don Lago

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

contains biographical information

illustrationsmapsportraits

index present

non fiction

The Powell Expedition

bibliography

979994389

Don Lago

new discoveries about John Wesley Powell's 1869 river journey

"John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers and through the Grand Canyon continues to be one of the most celebrated adventures in American history, ranking with the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Apollo landings on the moon. For nearly twenty years Lago has researched the Powell expedition from new angles, traveled to thirteen states, and looked into archives and other sources no one else has searched. He has come up with many important new documents that change and expand our basic understanding of the expedition by looking into Powell's crewmembers, some of whom have been almost entirely ignored by Powell historians. Historians tended to assume that Powell was the whole story and that his crewmembers were irrelevant. More seriously, because several crew members made critical comments about Powell and his leadership, historians who admired Powell were eager to ignore and discredit them. Lago offers a feast of new and important material about the river trip, and it will significantly rewrite the story of Powell's famous expedition. This book is not only a major work on the Powell expedition, but on the history of American exploration of the West."--Amazon

Prologue : Dreams of rivers, the James White mystery -- Introduction : Wanted -- James White -- An old story -- Rivals and rails -- Dawson and Teller -- Conclusion? The crew -- The Howland connection -- Seneca Howland, the unsung hero -- Call me no name -- The Howland brothers write home -- What's eating the Howland brothers? -- The curse of Howland Island -- Introducing William H. Dunn -- Last words before the launch -- William Hawkins, abducted by alias! -- The promotion of Andy Hall -- The westering star of Jack Sumner -- Why Jack Sumner stayed -- The madness of Jack Sumner -- Jack Sumner looks back, John Wesley Powell -- Horse feathers -- Major Powell, I presume -- The impeachment of John Wesley Powell naming names -- The Maid of the Cañon -- Lodore the end of the adventure -- Hats off to Bishop Leithead -- A hardy welcome -- The fate of the boats, the fate of the Howlands and William Dunn -- Introduction -- Toab -- The Toquerville hoax -- Three men sentenced to be shot -- The aftermath -- The Arizona strip massacre -- The afterlife of Hawkins -- Conclusion? Afterward -- Ten who bored

New discoveries about John Wesley Powell's 1869 river journey