| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 28.08.15 17:00l 53 Lines 2301 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 65139_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Aug 28
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150828/1500Z 65139@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1869
Three leave Powell's Grand Canyon expedition
Convinced they will have a better chance surviving the desert
than the raging rapids that lay ahead, three men leave John
Wesley Powell's expedition through the Grand Canyon and scale the
cliffs to the plateau above.
Though it turned out the men had made a serious mistake, they can
hardly be faulted for believing that Powell's plan to float the
brutal rapids was suicidal. Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran
and self-trained naturalist, had embarked on his daring descent
of the mighty Colorado River three months earlier. Accompanied by
11 men in four wooden boats, he led the expedition through the
Grand Canyon and over punishing rapids that many would hesitate
to run even with modern rafts.
The worst was yet to come. Near the lower end of the canyon, the
party heard the roar of giant rapids. Moving to shore, they
explored on foot and saw, in the words of one man, "the worst
rapids yet." Powell agreed, writing that, "The billows are huge
and I fear our boats could not ride them_There is discontent in
the camp tonight and I fear some of the party will take to the
mountains but hope not."
The next day, three of Powell's men did leave. Convinced that the
rapids were impassable, they decided to take their chances
crossing the harsh desert lands above the canyon rims. On this
day in 1869, Seneca Howland, O.G. Howland, and William H. Dunn
said goodbye to Powell and the other men and began the long climb
up out of the Grand Canyon. The remaining members of the party
steeled themselves, climbed into boats, and pushed off into the
wild rapids.
Amazingly, all of them survived and the expedition emerged from
the canyon the next day. When he reached the nearest settlement,
Powell learned that the three men who left had been less
fortunate-they encountered a war party of Shivwit Indians and
were killed. Ironically, the three murders were initially seen as
more newsworthy than Powell's feat and the expedition gained
valuable publicity. When Powell embarked on his second trip
through the Grand Canyon in 1871, the publicity from the first
trip had insured that the second voyage was far better financed
than the first.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Using Outpost Ver 3.0.0 c264
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
