Thirty-seven years of my working career as a hydrologist was spent mostly with the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). When I was hired to a full-time professional position with USGS in 1965, one of the first things I was given to read was a copy of a book by William Culp Darrah entitled "Powell of the Colorado." The book, published in 1951, discussed the life of John Wesley Powell, who was one of the founders of the USGS and its second director, and arguably one of the great scientists of his time. I was told that to understand the USGS it was necessary to learn about its most influential founder.

Powell was indeed remarkable. He was born in New York in 1834 to an itinerant family who ended up in Illinois in 1851. Improving his skills and knowledge as a schoolteacher, he attended Wheaton and Oberlin Colleges in Illinois and Ohio for a total of six years without receiving a degree. That said, he had a deep interest in geography, geology and natural science and developed substantial expertise in these disciplines. In 1861 about the time the Civil War began, he married his half-cousin, Mary Dean. The same year, he enlisted in the Union Army and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. At the battle of Shiloh, he was wounded in the right arm and the arm was amputated at the elbow. Following his recovery, he remained in the army until the war ended. Even though he was in the army, his interest in science never waned. For example, he studied rocks while in the trenches at Vicksburg.

In 1865, his military career over, he went back to Illinois and became a Professor of Geology at Illinois Wesleyan University. While there, he made several trips west exploring areas of the Rocky Mountains. But it was in 1869 that he did what he is most famous for and for which Darrah titled the book. He received a grant from the Government to lead an expedition of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon, something that had not been done before except by Native Americans. On May 24, 1869, he, his brother David, and eight other crewmen left the town of Green River, Wyoming, in four boats. For three months they rowed, floated and ran the rapids of the Green River and Colorado River (then known as the Grand River) and navigated the length of the Grand Canyon.

The trip was not easy for Powell. Imagine a one-handed guy trying to hold on while they rode the rapids. Fairly early on they lost one boat and a substantial amount of equipment and supplies. One of the crew left the expedition in a couple of weeks. Powell meticulously documented the geography, geology, flora, and fauna often climbing one handed to survey the rivers from above. On August 30 six exhausted members of the expedition reached their planned endpoint of the trip, the settlement of St. Thomas at the confluence of the Colorado and the Virgin Rivers. Two days earlier, three of the crew left the expedition. They were never seen again.

Powell's exploits and his documentation of them were celebrated and provided the nation with an understanding of a previously unknown area of the country. Two years later, he led another trip through the Grand Canyon, this time mapping it.

Powell became director of USGS in 1881 and served through 1894. He is probably the most well known of all USGS directors. During his tenure, recognizing the scarcity of water in the west, he advocated strict conservation of water. The USGS National Center in Reston, VA, was dedicated in 1974 with the main building named the John Wesley Powell Federal Building.

I read the Darrah book in 1965 but it took a while for me to understand how significant Powell's 1869 expedition was. I believe it ranks with Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, and those other early explorers of the great wilderness called the American West. I appreciate his interest in water conservation at a time when, for the most part, water was considered an unlimited resource. And, of course, he was a founder of the organization I worked for and loved.

John Wesley Powell died September 23, l902. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery. The picture was taken during his tenure as USGS Director.