CANYONS OF THE COLORADO

BY

J. W. POWELL, PH.D., LL.D.,

Formerly Director of the United States Geological Survey. Member of the
National Academy of Sciences, etc., etc.

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS.

First published 1895



PREFACE.

On my return from the first exploration of the canyons of the Colorado,
I found that our journey had been the theme of much newspaper writing. A
story of disaster had been circulated, with many particulars of hardship
and tragedy, so that it was currently believed throughout the United
States that all the members of the party were lost save one. A good
friend of mine had gathered a great number of obituary notices, and it
was interesting and rather flattering to me to discover the high esteem
in which I had been held by the people of the United States. In my
supposed death I had attained to a glory which I fear my continued life
has not fully vindicated.

The exploration was not made for adventure, but purely for scientific
purposes, geographic and geologic, and I had no intention of writing an