BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



BY W J McGEE 



HE germ of the ethnological bureau was an 

 exploration of the canons of the Colorado 

 fostered by Joseph Henry, organizer of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. Begun in amateur 

 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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