Powell of the Colorado

"In the years following the Civil War, one great region of the United States remained as a challenge to explorers and geographers -- the vast unmapped area of the canyon country and the roaring rapids-infested Colorado River. This is the life story of Major John Welsey Powell, who organized and led two great expeditions down the Colorado to chart its course and collect scientific data. The crisp and readable narrative reflects the color and excitement of the life of Major Powell. His courage and vitality manifested themselves in every field in which he engaged -- as an army engineer, professor, explorer, geologist, ethnologist, and government administrator. Powell's life was one of devotion to the promotion of science in the federal government. He was the leading figure in the formation of the U.S. Geological Survey and as its second director persistently called attention to the problems of the West -- irrigation, and the conservation of natural resources. Concurrently, as director of the Bureau of Ethnology he made many contributions to the study of the Indian languages, customs, and mythologies."--From the dust-jacket front flap.