John Wesley Powell

Explorer

1834-03-24

Books by John Wesley Powell

Prentice Hall Literature--Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes--The American Experience
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Report on the exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its tributaries
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Canyons of the Colorado
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You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it, you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.
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We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! we may conjecture many things.
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The verb is relatively of much greater importance in an Indian tongue than in a civilized language.
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Possible ideas and thoughts are vast in number. A distinct word for every distinct idea and thought would require a vast vocabulary. The problem in language is to express many ideas and thoughts with comparatively few words.
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The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.
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