The promise of the Grand Canyon : John Wesley Powell's perilous journey and his vision for the American West

Resource Information

The work The promise of the Grand Canyon : John Wesley Powell's perilous journey and his vision for the American West represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in East Baton Rouge Parish Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The promise of the Grand Canyon : John Wesley Powell's perilous journey and his vision for the American West

Title remainder

John Wesley Powell's perilous journey and his vision for the American West

Statement of responsibility

John F. Ross

Creator

• Ross, John F., 1958-

Author

• Ross, John F., 1958-

Subject

• trueColorado River
• Conservationists -- United States -- Biography
• Explorers
• Explorers -- United States -- Biography
• Geologists
• trueGrand Canyon
• Grand Canyon (Ariz.) -- Discovery and exploration
• trueLand Stewardship
• National parks and reserves
• trueNaturalists
• Nature conservation
• Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
• Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902 -- Travel -- Arizona | Grand Canyon
• Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902 -- Travel -- Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)
• Scientists -- United States -- Biography
• Soldiers -- United States -- Biography
• Water conservation
• West (U.S.) -- Discovery and exploration
• West (U.S.) -- Environmental conditions
• Canyons -- Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico) -- History -- 19th century

Genre

• Biography

Language

eng

Summary

When John Wesley Powell became the first person to navigate the entire Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon, he completed what Lewis and Clark had begun nearly 70 years earlier--the final exploration of continental America. The son of an abolitionist preacher, a Civil War hero (who lost an arm at Shiloh), and a passionate naturalist and geologist, in 1869 Powell tackled the vast and dangerous gorge carved by the Colorado River and known today (thanks to Powell) as the "Grand Canyon." Powell was a scientist, bureaucrat, and land-management pioneer. He began a national conversation about sustainable development when most everyone else still looked upon land as an inexhaustible resource. Though he supported irrigation and dams, his prescient warnings forecast the 1930s dust bowl and the growing water scarcities of today. Practical yet visionary, Powell didn't have all the answers, but was first to ask the right questions

Biography type

individual biography

Cataloging source

TOH

Dewey number

978.02

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps
• plates

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography