(Publisher’s note: this was the winning essay in the sixth grade division of a contest hosted by the Sweetwater County Historical Museum.)
John Wesley Powell was a very historical figure in Green River history. He was a soldier, geologist, explorer, author, and scientist. He led the Geographic Expedition of 1869. During that expedition, John Wesley Powell explored the Green and Colorado rivers in three months of the summer in 1869. He was also the first to pass through the Grand Canyon Government-Sponsored. Powell was a great man in Green River history for his expedition through the Green River. His story may inspire you to never give up.
Childhood: John Wesley Powell was born in Mount Morris, New York on March 24, 1834 to Mary Dean and Joseph Powell. He also had eight brothers and sisters (5 sisters and 3 brothers). In his childhood, he moved from New York to Ohio to Wisconsin finally to Illinois. His education was very odd due to all of his traveling. At 20 years of age he joined the Illinois Society of Natural History and eventually became the secretary.
Education: Even though as a child he moved a lot and did not go to school a lot he ended up going to Illinois college which would eventually become Wheaton College and also went to Oberlin College in the span of seven years. In those years he studied ancient Greek and Latin. Powell always wanted to excel in natural science, but his father did not feel the same way. Despite what his father said, he wanted to study natural science anyway. After the civil war broke out, Powell decided to learn more about engineering and military science and joined the army in 1861.
John Wesley Powell in the army: John Wesley Powell served in the army from 1861 to 1865 during the civil war. How old was 27 when he decided to join the army. He got his right arm amputated in the Battle of Shiloh. In 1862 he got married to his wife Amidine Powell. Even after losing his arm, he rejoined the army and eventually became a major.
Expeditions: after a few Expeditions in the Rocky Mountains around the green Colorado rivers, John Wesley Powell and five other men became the first white man the overcome climbing the longs peaks in Colorado in the year of 1868. Native Americans had said that the gods had made the Colorado River impassable to everyone . No one would be able to go through the River or enter the Canyon. Despite the odds, Powell went to an area that is now known as Green River, Wyoming in 1869. He would then leave from Green River on the 24th of May in 1869. He followed the Green River into the Colorado River. He would then proceed from the Colorado River into the Grand Canyon. This expedition was the first official expedition through the Grand Canyon that was sponsored by the US government. During his expedition he mapped the whole thing. The expedition would then come to be known as the geographic expedition of 1869. The expedition is now an adventure story that is considered one of America’s greatest. “I found that our journey had been the theme of much newspaper writing ,” Powell wrote in 1895, “a story of disaster had been circulated, with many particulars of hardship and tragedy, so that it was currently believed that throughout the United States that all the members of the party were lost to save one.” Even through the hardships they had gone through, they went through something even the natives to the land thought was impossible.
After Expeditions and the Army: Once Powell was done serving his time in the military and done with his Expeditions, he became a geology professor at Illinois Wesleyan University. Most of his career was spent lecturing at Illinois State University. After that he went back to the Illinois Society of Natural History and helped expand their collection of history. He also wrote a few books.
Books: In Powell’s time he had written a few books period his first book that was written in 1975 was called canyons of the Colorado. He went on to write more than 15 more books period
After John Wesley Powell: Even though he died in 1902, his history still goes on today. His story should teach children and adults alike to never give up. Even though Powell lost his arm, he still went back in the world to fight. Not only that but he even won the native said it was impossible to do something, he conquered it in three months! Powell persevered. That can teach us all the lesson about perseverance. Never give up.
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