White’s Story 
vii 
trip, and the gentlemen who were members of that expedition. No 
other trip has been made since that time, though many have tried 
to follow us. One party, that headed by Mr. Stanton, went through 
the Grand Canyon on its second attempt, but many persons have 
lost their lives in attempting to follow us through the whole length 
of the canyons. I shall be very glad to write a short introduction 
to your book. Yours cordially, 
J. W. Powell. 
In complying with this request to put on record the second ex¬ 
pedition and the gentlemen who composed it, I feel all the 
greater pleasure, because, at the same time, I seem to be fulfill¬ 
ing a duty towards my old comrades. 
No party, as noted by the Major, has since made the entire 
passage through the whole line of canyons : those of the upper 
region are, even now, quite unknown to the outer world. Yet 
there have been some who appear to be inclined to withhold 
from Major Powell the full credit which is his for solving the 
great problem of the Southwest, and who, therefore, make 
much of the flimsy story of White, and even assume on faint 
evidence that others fathomed the mystery even before White, 
There is, in my opinion, no ground for such assumptions. 
Several trappers, like Pattie and Carson, had gained a consid¬ 
erable knowledge of the general course and character of the 
river as early as 1830, but to Major Powell and his two parties 
undoubtedly belongs the high honour of being the first to ex¬ 
plore and explain the truth about it and its extraordinary 
canyon environment. 
If danger, difficulty, and disaster mean romance, then as¬ 
suredly the Colorado of the West is entitled to first rank, for 
seldom has any human being touched its borderland even, 
without some bitter or fatal experience. Never is the Col¬ 
orado twice alike, and each new experience is different from 
the last. Once acknowledge this and the dangers, however, 
and approach it in a humble and reverent spirit, albeit firmly, 
and death need seldom be the penalty of a voyage on its rest¬ 
less waters, 
I have endeavoured to present the history of the river, and 
