386 
The Colorado River 
in which thought has ever found language inadequate, and are 
for the present, so far as may be judged from the reviews of 
Truth and Error, largely misunderstood. Admitting myself 
to be of those who fail to understand much of his philosophy, 
I do not therefore condemn it as worthless, for in other fields 
of his thought events have proved that he was not visionary, 
but merely in advance of his time.” 
One inexplicable action in his career, to my mind, was his 
complete ignoring in his report of the men and their work, 
of his second river expedition, particularly of his colleague. 
Prof. Thompson, whose skill and energy were so largely re¬ 
sponsible for the scientific and practical success of the second 
expedition. The report embodied all the results achieved by 
this expedition and gave no credit to the men who with un- 
flagging zeal, under stress and difficulties innumerable accu¬ 
mulated the data. This has ever appeared to me unjust, but 
his reasons for it were doubtless satisfactory to himself. The 
second expedition is put on record, for the first time in this 
volume, except for a lecture of mine printed some years ago in 
the Bidletin of the American Geographical Society. 
The life of Powell is an example of the triumph of intelli¬ 
gent, persistent endeavour. Long ago he had formulated 
many of his plans and as far back as 1877, and even 1871, as 
I understood them, he carried them out with remarkable pre¬ 
cision. Before the authorisation of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
its scope was developed in his mind and he saw completed the 
many volumes which have since been published. His power 
to observe the field ahead, standing on the imperfections of 
the present, was extraordinary. As a soldier he was a patriot, 
as an explorer he was a hero. As a far-seeing scientific man, as 
an organiser of government scientific Avork, as a loving friend, 
and a delightful comrade whether by the camp-fire or in the 
study, and as a true sympathiser with the aspirations and am¬ 
bitions of subordinates or equals, there has seldom been his 
superior 
