JOHN Wesley powell’s expeditions on the
green & colorado rivers
The Law of the River
The Colorado River watershed binds and defines the West. As the 20th
Century dawned, the vast domain of the Colorado River lay almost
entirely untouched. Small diversion projects had been developed
by private concern for irrigation and mining operations. However
in 1905, the river, raging from seasonal floods, roared through the
southwest destroying everything in its path. With the constant threat
of flood looming along the lower Colorado, demands grew for some
sort of permanent flood control work, including a storage reservoir
and dam on the river. The early 1900s in the West were spent looking
for locations that would be able to supply an ever growing population
with a steady water supply. The League of the Southwest was formed
in 1917 to promote development along the river. After several years
of negotiations the Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922
allocating the water of the river amongst seven states. However, the
states could not agree on how the waters of the Colorado River Basin
should be distributed among them, so the Secretary of Commerce,
Herbert Hoover, suggested the basin be divided into an upper and
lower half, with each basin having the right to develop and use 75
million acre-feet (maf) of river water over a ten year period. This
approach reserved water for future upper basin development and
allowed planning and development in the lower basin to proceed.
Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico would represent the
upper basin, and the lower basin would include Nevada, Arizona,
and California. The Law of the River was later ratified in 1944, to give
Mexico an allocation of 1.5 million acre-feet each year.
After the 1922 Compact was signed, water projects throughout the
West commenced. Sixteen projects including dams, aqueducts, and
canals have been built along the Colorado River and its tributaries
creating eight major reservoirs to supply the members of the Compact
with necessary water.
As time has passed, populations have grown throughout the
southwest, making water scarcity a frightening reality. There is not
enough water to go around. As a result, this lack of water is the root of
most of the disputes and problems arising over the compact and the
Law of the River. It is a situation that links past and present Colorado
River issues and will always be a concern in the future. Other issues,
like environmental concerns and tribal water rights, have come in to
play over time. And it is certain that future situations will arise that will
challenge the arrangements and management of the Colorado River.
Major John Wesley Powell was a one-armed
Civil War veteran and a professor of geology
from Illinois. Powell lost his arm in the
Battle of Shiloh, but that did not stop him
from believing he could lead an expedition
to map and record the remaining unexplored
regions of the western U.S. In 1869, with
little in the way of financial backing, Powell
put together a team of ten men to explore the
entire length of the Colorado River (almost
1000 miles or 1610 km), including Grand
Major John Wesley Powell Canyon. With no context whatsoever, the
men set off from Green River, Wyoming on
May 24, and spent the next 3 months on the river. Without maps, modern
equipment, and any idea of what awaited them, these men made it their
mission to map the last blank area found on maps of the United States.
These explorers experienced hardships including lost boats and supplies,
exposure to the elements, and some of the wildest whitewater ever seen.
A subsequent trip followed in 1871. The result of both trips was Powell’s
The Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons, a compilation
of journal entries. The records from the first trip brought Powell fame,
and therefore the second journey brought much more in the way of
financial support. This monumental expedition would change how the
West was viewed forever.
Mining in Glen Canyon
Many miners moved to the Glen Canyon area in search of gold in the
late 1800s and early 1900s. Many different types of mining were used
including placer, sluice box, and dredging.
Sometimes miners chiseled small steps into the soft sandstone, copying
trails made by ancient Native Americans, to gain better footholds so they
could climb up from the river to gravel deposits.
Robert Brewster Stanton was one of the many men and women drawn to
Glen Canyon by rumors of gold. Having visited the area and interviewed
many miners, Stanton was convinced a fortune could be made. He made
plans to build a railroad. The railroad was never funded, but Stanton
did raise funds to build a floating dredge to recover gold from the river.
Stanton returned to
the canyon in 1899,
and immediately
laid claim to the
riverbed from
Lee’s Ferry to
Hite Crossing, 140
miles upstream.
The dredge was
built near Hite and
The 85’ steam boiler powered Charles H. Spencer
began working its
way downstream in 1899. The Stanton Road on river left was built as
part of the assessment work required to keep the claims valid. The road
itself served no purpose, and went nowhere. After weeks of work at
several locations down the river, only a few dollars worth of gold was
recovered and Stanton’s dredge was considered a failure. The project
was abandoned in 1901.
In 1910, Charles Spencer, an adventurer and prospector, arrived at Lees
Ferry to try to mine gold. He believed the Chinle Shale would be the
source, and that modern equipment could make the endeavor profitable.
He had all he needed at the Ferry, except for the coal needed to power
the equipment. That problem was resolved, as large coal beds are located
about 28 miles back upriver at Warm Creek. At first a trail was built
to get pack mules to Warm Creek. It was realized that the mules could
not carry the volume of coal needed to serve the operation. Spencer
decided to build a steamboat to travel upriver, get large amounts of coal,
and bring it back. The vessel was named the Charles H. Spencer, and it
measured 85 feet long, and a large steam boiler that powered a 12-foot
wide paddlewheel. At Warm Creek, the boat was loaded with coal for
its trip to the Ferry and the mines. On the return trip, it was discovered
that large amounts of coal were needed to power the boat back, due to
the river current. Spencer and his chemists were never able to extract
gold properly from the Chinle Shale, as the amalgamators clogged
incessantly, dooming the project. The Charles H. Spencer was tied up,
and after 1913 was never used again. Spencer and his men left. The boat
eventually sunk after flooding in 1915.
Lees Ferry
In the interest of expanding the faith and colonizing points south,
the Mormons began moving into Northern Arizona. At the time, the
Colorado River had only real crossings established at Green River,
Wyoming and Needles, California. The Mormons knew the natives used
a ford located near the Pariah River, and decided to use this location to
establish a safe river crossing. The Church sent John Doyle Lee and two
of his wives to establish this new river crossing and a homestead (called
Lonely Dell Ranch). From 1871 to 1898, the ferry operation was simply
a free-floating barge rowed across the river just above the present-day
launch ramp near the old fort seen on river right. In low water, the ferry
was operated at the Pariah confluence. Later, in 1899, Jim Emett, one
of the later ferry operators installed a cable to secure the barge across
the river. If you look closely at river left, you might be able to see three
sticks planted in the bank, and a large coiled cable. This was the crossing
point. Lee actually only operated the ferry for two years, after which
he relocated south into Arizona, leaving his wife Emma, to run the
operation. But the name stuck. Emma ran the ferry until 1874, when the
church sent another family, the Warren Johnsons, to take over. They ran
it until 1928, when the Navajo Bridge downstream was nearly complete.
The road you may see leading up from the ferry crossing is the access
road to Lees Ferry from the south. After 1877, the trail began to be
called the“Honeymoon Trail” because of the number of traveling
Mormon couples who crossed back into Utah to have their marriages
sanctified by the Church in temples up north. The upper part of the
trail is called “Lees Backbone”, as it is considered one of the roughest,
rockiest, and hardest to pass trails found in the West.
Discover the Best Adventure
and Value in the West
Welcome to
Colorado River
Discovery
The Glen Canyon Dam and access tunnel are Homeland Security
areas. We are required to perform a brief security search of your
bags, purses and coolers prior to entering the bus. Before boarding
security personnel will ask you to open all containers so he/she
may view inside. If there are external pockets or zippered areas
please have them open for review. If you have any kind of weapon,
you must put that back in your vehicle or see CRD security staff
to deposit it in our safe until your return. Once the bus exits the
tunnel and stops you will be issued a hardhat. You will need to put
that on before heading down the catwalk. Take your personal items
with you. Your guides will greet you on the dock. As a reminder do
not loiter around the bus, walk behind it at anytime or walk back
up the catwalk without being escorted by a CRD staff member.
While on the rafts and on the river:
1. You may sit on the white seats or on the outside pontoons with
either both or one leg towards the inside of the raft. DO NOT stand or sit on the front platform.
2. Life Jackets must be worn at all times by children 12 and
younger. There are adult life jackets on board if needed.
3. Smoking is not allowed on the rafts. You may smoke at the
beach stop.
4. Please drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration.
Protect your skin with sunscreen, hats, protective clothing,
and sunglasses.
5. CRD recycles aluminum and plastic. Please pass those items to
your guide. DO NOT throw garbage into the river or leave it on
the beach.
6.
Colorado River Discovery works with the National Park
Service to provide and promote the protection, use and
enjoyment of all the resources Glen Canyon National
Recreation Area has to offer.
City of Page, Arizona
An agreement was made between the Federal government and
the Navajo Tribe to transfer more than 17 sq. miles of tribal land
to the Bureau of Reclamation in exchange for certain desirable
lands (now the Aneth Oil Fields) in southeastern Utah. The mesa
on which the City of Page now stands was part of a Navajo Tribal
grazing allotment belonging to
the Manson Yazzie family, hence
the name Manson Mesa. Page,
Arizona began as a construction
camp for the Glen Canyon Dam
and Powerplant in 1956.
By 1974 the Bureau removed
itself from governing Page. After Welcome to Page, Arizona
a popular vote of the residents, the town of Page was created on Dec.
17, 1974. By formal resolution of the Coconino County Board of
Supervisors on March 1, 1975, Page became the second largest town
incorporated in Coconino County.
Today, Page is a thriving city of nearly 8,500 year round residents
and is considered the hub of the Grand Circle, which includes
several national parks, monuments, and scenic areas.
The Tunnel
Preparations for the construction of Glen Canyon Dam began in
October, 1956.
One of the first tasks
was to begin blasting
the side walls of the
canyon to allow for
the design of the
Dam and the river
diversions tunnels.
The tunnel is two
miles long and drops
Glen Canyon Dam
through the canyon
at a steep 8% grade. The side tunnels (adits) that you may have
noticed on your ride down the access tunnel are visible from the
river as the rafts head downstream. There are 19 of them, and they
were cut during the construction of the tunnel in order to push
debris back into the canyon, rather than transport it up to the top
or down to the bottom for removal. During certain periods of the
Cold War, the adits were used as emergency supply storage and as
a possible bomb shelter for the citizens of Page. Today, they serve
to ventilate the tunnel from vehicle emissions.
Glen Canyon Dam
The first bucket of concrete was poured on June 17, 1960. For almost
3 years and 3 months, workers poured concrete, 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, regardless of weather or circumstance. The final bucket of
concrete was poured on September 13, 1963.
The Dam sits 710 feet (216.4 m) above bedrock. There are 4,901,000
cubic yards (3,747,083 cubic meters) of concrete in the Dam—or maybe
think of it this way: there is enough concrete in the Dam to build a
highway from Phoenix, Arizona to Chicago, Illinois!
The Power Plant has 8 kinetic turbines, which have the capability of
producing some 1,288 to 1,320 megawatts of hydroelectric power,
enough to supply electricity to a city of 1.7 million people.
Lake Powell, the reservoir behind the Dam, is 186 miles long at full
pool and has almost 2,000 miles of shoreline. Lake Powell generates
electricity that is distributed throughout the Southwest, but more
importantly provides water allotments for needs throughout the region.
At full pool, the reservoir can hold about 26 million acre feet; 1 acre
foot can sustain a family of four for a year.
Glen Canyon Bridge was built in 1957 in Emeryville, California. It was
shipped to Flagstaff, Arizona by railroad and then brought by truck in
pieces to Page. Each half of the bridge was begun on opposite sides
of the Canyon, and it’s been said that when the two halves met in the
middle over the river, the sections were only a quarter of an inch off.
The bridge is 1,271 feet long (387 m), or about a quarter mile, with the
arch itself being 1,028 feet (313.3 m). The bridge stands about 700 feet
(213.3 m) above the old Colorado River channel, and towers 117 feet
(35.6 m) above the completed Dam. The width of the bridge is only 40
feet (about 13 m).
NATIVE AMERICANS
For thousands of years, the ancestors of present day Native Americans
inhabited all of North America. Those who inhabited the Southwest
United States created rock art, which were designs etched into or painted
onto caves, canyon walls, and boulders. What do these images and
symbols mean? How can we use them to learn more about the history,
cultures, and spiritual lives of the various people who created them?
Rock Art is the term usually used to encompass both petroglyphs and
pictographs.
The petroglyph panel we visit today is one of thousands found
throughout the Four Corners Region. It is thought that these symbols are
attributed to the desert archaic peoples who inhabited Glen Canyon from
approximately 9000 years ago until about 2000 years ago, and to the
later people, the Ancestral Puebloans (or Ancient Ones), who were here
from about 750 A.D. until about 1300 A.D. Some images seem lighter
than others implying return of desert varnish over time. But the only way
to really date the various images is to understand the stylistic changes
in imagery through time. Archaeologists have established stylistic
chronologies based on observed associations with material culture which
has been “absolutely” dated, through such means as carbon dating,
among others, in the course of countless excavations.
It is crucial to understand that absolute knowledge of the meanings
and reasons behind these markings is impossible. Interpretation of the
carvings is difficult. It is generally thought that rock images relate to
hunting, religious ceremonies, or resource locations. Images have been
found to be stylistically consistent over large geographical areas. Many
of the symbols on this and other rivers remain mysteries.
Petroglyphs are images
scratched, etched, or pecked
into a rock surface and are most
commonly found on surfaces
such as cliff walls with layers of
desert varnish.
The most common method of
creating images is “pecking”
FLORA & FAUNA
Rainbow trout are not native to Glen Canyon, but
were introduced after the completion of the Dam. The
fishery has been managed by Arizona Game and Fish
since 1981. These trout do very well in the cold water
(46-50º F or 9-10º C) of the river below the Dam. Native
fish (Humpback Chubs, Razorback Suckers, Bonytails,
and Pikeminnows) that once lived in the Colorado River
cannot survive in the cold water.
Tamarisk or Salt Cedar was originally imported in
the early 1800s as an ornamental shrub and to control
erosion. Tamarisks increase the salinity of the soil and use
quite a bit of water, thus pushing out many native plants.
They have grown throughout the Colorado River corridor,
and have caused changes in the Glen Canyon riparian
habitat and resulting ecosystem. Efforts to remove and
control the spread of tamarisk are being used throughout
the Southwest.
a design into the rock. This
could either be done directly,
with an implement called
a hammerstone, or with a
hammerstone and a second
tool that would have served as
a chisel.
In order to protect the petroglyph panel and surrounding
area, the National Park Service asks that we stay on the trail
while walking to and from the panel. And while viewing the
panel, please stay behind the rock wall. Do not touch, etch,
or scratch on the sandstone. Vandalism to a protected site
is a felony, and can carry prison time and heavy fines if the
vandal is convicted.
California Condors are members of the vulture
family. Condors are the largest bird in North America
(up to a 10 foot wingspan). Due to human predation
and other causes, there were only 22 birds left in the
world in 1983.
A captive breeding program was started to bring
the species back from extinction. Reintroduction was
started by slowly releasing birds back into the wild
at several locations including the Vermillion Cliffs
near Lees Ferry, Arizona. As of 2010, there were 73
condors flying free in Arizona.