Wild About Utah: Last Blank Spots on the Map

Hi, I’m Holly Strand from Stokes Nature Center in beautiful Logan Canyon.

The Green River is one of Utah's signature waterways. It begins high in Wyoming’s Wind River Range and winds southward 730 miles to join the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park. 60% of the river’s extent lies in Utah, attracting river runners, archaeologists, fishermen, hunters and hikers. And of course, geologists.

It’s hard to believe that less than 150 years ago, most of the Green and the Colorado canyonlands were unlined areas marked “UNEXPLORED” on maps. One such place was the area between Uinta Valley and Gunnison’s Crossing, which is now called Green River, UT. Another blank spot lay south of the crossing all the way to Paria which is now called Lee’s Ferry in Arizona.

To some folks, a blank spot on a map is an irresistible call to come and see what’s there. So it was with John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran working as a curator in a small natural history museum in Illinois. He became intrigued with exploring the canyons of the Colorado and the Green after spending some time out west collecting rock samples.

Impatient for adventure and discovery, Powell quickly assembled a crew of nine men – mostly rough and tumble mountain men used to living off the land. They set off from Green River, WY, and were making good time until disaster struck in the Canyon of Lodore. One of the boats hit a boulder, and a third of the food and half of the cooking gear sunk to the bottom of the river. A week later, a fire destroyed more food and gear. But eventually, five of the original nine made it all the way to the mouth of the Virgin River in Arizona.

Green Canyon
Courtesy & Copyright 2009 Dan Miller
The River Knows Everything:
Desolation Canyon and the Green

A second expedition benefited from more funding, planning, and hindsight. This time round, Powell chose a more scientifically-minded crew including a geologist, cartographer, and photographer to research and document the trip. Once again they launched from Green River, WY. Powell perched in an armchair strapped to the middle bulkhead of a boat named after his wife, the Emma Dean. He read poetry to the crew as they floated along calm stretches of the river. The crew ran the Green and then started down the Colorado without any major incidents. After overwintering on the north rim, they ran the rapids of the Grand Canyon in late summer of the following year.

Upon return, surveyor Alven Thompson completed a topographic map of the region, and Powell's monumental account was published in 1875 by the Smithsonian Institution.

The last “UNEXPLORED” areas on the United States map were now replaced by specific landscape features with measured altitudes. Nowadays we still use the many evocative names that Powell and his men bestowed during their travels. Names like Flaming Gorge, Glen Canyon, Dirty Devil River, Escalante River, Cataract Canyon, and Desolation Canyon tell us something of the experiences of these brave men as they were exploring Utah’s last mysterious places.

Thanks to the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation for supporting research and development of this Wild About Utah topic.

Additional thanks to Rey Lloyd Hatt and the friendly staff of the John Wesley Powell River History Museum in Green River, UT.

For Wild About Utah and Stokes Nature Center, I’m Holly Strand.

Green Canyon
Courtesy & Copyright 2009 Dan Miller
The River Knows Everything:
Desolation Canyon and the Green

Credits:

Images: Copyright Dan Miller: The River Knows Everything: Desolation Canyon and the Green
Text: Holly Strand, Stokes Nature Center

Wild About Utah is a weekly nature series produced by Utah Public Radio in cooperation with Stokes Nature Center and Bridgerland Audubon Society. Archives of the program can be found at www.wildaboututah.org.