Down the Great Unknown John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
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 of 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.