562 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 406. 



in a skiff, starting from the falls of St. 

 Anthony ; a voyage of the Ohio from Pitts- 

 burg, and a voyage of the Illinois from 

 Ottawa. In these various excursions he 

 was a collector of plants, shells, minerals 

 and fossils, and these collections brought 

 him into relation with various colleges of 

 Illinois. At the outbreak of the Civil War 

 he enlisted in the Twentieth Regiment of 

 Illinois volunteers, and abruptly changed 

 the course of his studies to military sci- 

 ence. His successive commissions ranged 

 from second lieutenant to colonel, but the 

 rank of major gave the title by which he 

 was known colloquially in later years. His 

 service was chiefly with artillery, but some 

 of his most important work was of a char- 

 acter commonly assigned to engineer of- 

 ficers. In the battle of Shiloh he lost his 

 right arm, and the resulting physical dis- 

 ability affected his life in important ways. 

 On the one hand, the wounded arm caused 

 him at various periods much pain, and thus 

 weakened an exceptionally strong constitu- 

 tion. On the other, he was led in early 

 manhood to employ an amanuensis, and 

 the resulting freedom from the mechanical 

 factor in writing was a distinct advantage 

 to his literaiy work. 



At the close of the war he promptly re- 

 turned to civil life, dropping the study of 

 military science as abruptly as he had be- 

 gun it. A business opening, and an attrac- 

 tive opportunity to enter political life, were 

 declined in favor of scientific work. He 

 became professor of geology at Bloom- 

 ington, Illinois, and lecturer on geology at 

 Normal, Illinois. In 1867 he organized and 

 led the first important geological excursion 

 of American students, taking a party of 

 sixteen to the mountain region of Colo- 

 rado. This was before the building of 

 transcontinental railways, and the journey 

 across the plains was long. He remained 

 among the mountains as an explorer after 

 the party had returned east, and in the 



following years organized a second expedi- 

 tion, with geologic and geographic explora- 

 tion and research as its chief objects. The 

 necessary funds were furnished by various 

 educational institutions in Illinois and by 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and Con- 

 gressional authority was obtained for sup- 

 plying the party with provisions from the 

 military posts of the West. His expedi- 

 tion wintered west of the Rocky Mountains 

 in the valley of White River, and the long 

 period thus spent in a permanent camp 

 was occupied in the scientific study of In- 

 dians. In the following spring four boats 

 were brought from Chicago to the point 

 where the newly constructed Union Pacific 

 Railway crossed Green River, and a party 

 was organized for the exploration of the 

 canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers. 

 When this work was begun it was known 

 that the rivers here descend in a distance 

 of 700 to 1,000 miles through the vertical 

 sjaace of 5,000 feet, coursing most of the 

 way between unscalable walls, but the na- 

 ture of the rapids, cascades and cataracts 

 by which the water falls from the upper to 

 the lower level was altogether unknown. 

 The undertaking was therefore of phenom- 

 enal boldness and its successful accomplish- 

 ment a dramatic triumph. It produced a 

 strong impression on the public mind and 

 gave Powell a national reputation -which 

 was afterwards of great service, although 

 based on an adventurous episode by no 

 means essential to his career as an inves- 

 tigator. 



The voyage through the canyons was a 

 reconnaissance in an unexplored area and 

 led to the- organization of a geographic and 

 geologic survey, for which appropriation 

 was asked and obtained from Congress, 

 the work being initially placed under the 

 supervision of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 By the advice of Professor Henry the gath- 

 ering of ethnologic data was made a lead- 

 ing function of the organization. In 1869 



