no VAN HISE 



explorer has reached a place in advance of any other civilized 

 man. Indeed in the past there has been no easier way to gain 

 the notice of the public than by some such piece of exploration. 

 But for this Pow^ell cared little. The primary purpose of his ex- 

 plorations was not to get into unknown territory for its own 

 sake, was not even to become a pathfinder (the purpose of many 

 explorations), but was to study the region through which he 

 went, in all its aspects. 



This is illustrated by the rare allusions to himself in the ac- 

 counts of his explorations. Powell having lost an arm at Shi- 

 loh, was only one-handed when he made his famous journey 

 down the canyons of the Green and Colorado. Only those who 

 have climbed difficult cliffs and mountains will appreciate this 

 tremendous handicap for his proposed work. How easy it 

 would have been, in Powell's narrative of the expedition, to 

 have often alluded to this fact, to have intimated the excep- 

 tional courage required because of it, to have mentioned in 

 speaking of scaling the walls of the canyons as he often did, in 

 order to study the topography and geography of the region, 

 that this climb was made exceedingly difficult and dangerous 

 because of his lack of a hand. But one may read his narrative 

 from one end to the other, and, did he not know before the 

 fact that Powell was a one-armed man, this would not be 

 discovered. 



We all know the physical energy required for exploration in 

 a new region. Those who have been in the arid region of the 

 West fully appreciate the discomforts which must be endured. 

 These are the points which are commonly dwelt upon by the 

 ordinary explorer. But in Powell's accounts of his explorations 

 there is but little said about the hardships which he endured, 

 and but the briefest descriptions of the difficulties which were 

 overcome, the dangers which were encountered. 



The purpose of Powell's explorations was to learn of the re- 

 gions through which he traveled. Many explorers have the same 

 purpose, but in most cases, because of their limitations, their 

 valuable observations are confined to one line of inquiry, as the 

 geography, the geology, the plants, the animals, or the men ; 

 but, like Darwin, Powell was interested in all, and not only in 



