BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



By W J McGee 



I^HE germ of the ethnological bureau was an 

 exploration of the canons of the Colorado 

 fostered by Joseph Henry, organizer of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. Begrun in amateur 

 ■^S^ fashion among the Rocky Mountains during 

 the summer of 1867, by Major John W. Powell and a few 

 associates, the exploration was gradually pushed down the 

 tributaries to Grand River, then to the Green, and later to 

 the mud-tinted Colorado; and in 1869 the rugged gorge 

 of Green River and the fitly named "Grand" canon of the 

 Colorado were traversed by Powell and his intrepid com- 

 panions. This exploration was the boldest in design and 

 the most perilous in execution among the scientific expedi- 

 tions recorded in the annals of the nation. 



Before, during, and after the passage of the canons, ob- 

 servations were extended over the country drained by the 

 rivers, and gradually the exploration became a survey, first 

 geographical, then geological, and finally anthropological. 

 At first the plan was simple and the work was prosecuted 

 at the cost of the surveyors ; as the difficulties increased the 



plan was elaborated that they might be overcome, and a 



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