John wesley powell early life

    It was 1869.  Ten men in four boats were about to embark on a journey that would cover almost 1,000 miles through uncharted canyons and change the west forever.  Three months later only five of the original company plus their one-armed Civil War hero leader would emerge from the depths of the Grand Canyon at the mouth of the Virgin River.
    Thirty five-year-old Major John Wesley Powell was that expedition's leader.  From early childhood Powell manifested deep interest in all natural phenomena.  Original and self-reliant to a remarkable degree, he early undertook collecting and exploring trips quite unusual for a youth of his age, and studied botany, zoology, and geology wholly without the aid of a teacher.
    He traversed various portions of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and the Iron Mountain regions of Missouri, making collections of shells, minerals, and general natural history objects, which led to his e