Down the Great Unknown : Edward Dolnick

John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon Edward Dolnick Paperback HISTORY/United States / 19th Century “Written with authority and zeal, this rich narrative is popular history at its best.”—Kirkus Reviews On May 24, 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran named John Wesley Powell and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. No one had ever explored the fabled Grand Canyon, to adventurers of that era it was a region almost as mysterious as Atlantis—and as perilous. The ten men set out from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory down the mighty Colorado in four wooden rowboats. Ninety-nine days later, just six half-starved wretches came ashore near Callville, Arizona. Drawing on rarely examined diaries and journals, Down the Great Unknown is the first book to tell the full, dramatic story of the Powell expedition.