Home / National Park Service Exhibits / Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) / History / Explorers & Pioneers / The Powell Expeditions 13
John Wesley Powell conducted two expeditions down the Colorado River during the late 1800s, and he and his crews were the first to map and photograph the Grand Canyon.
- Powell and Tau-Gu
Subject: Tau-Gu, chief of the Paiutes, overlooking the Virgin River with J.W. Powell, age 39. Date: ca. 1873 Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (No. 17229). - Powell on Horseback
Subject: Portrait of John Wesley Powell (age 57) on horseback near Flagstaff, Arizona. Powell was a guest of D.M. Riordan. Date: ca. 1891 Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (No. 17230). - Preparing to Embark
Subject: Second Powell expedition: Party in boats and ready to depart from Green River, Wyoming. Left to right, in the Canonita: E.O. Beaman, Andrew Hattan, and Walter Clement Powell; in the Emma Dean: Stephen Vandiver Jones, John K. Hillers, John Wesley Powell, and Fredrick S. Dellenbaugh; in the Nellie Powell: Almon Harris Thompson, John F. Steward, Frances Marion Bishop, and Frank Richardson. Date: May 22, 1871 Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (No. 17234). - Second Powell Expedition
Second Powell expedition: Man attending to boats near the upper end of the Grand Canyon. Date: August, 1872 Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (No. 17252). - The "Emma Dean"
Subject: The boat Emma Dean during the second Powell expedition. Inside are John Wesley Powell's armchair and life preserver. Date: August, 1872 Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (No. 17254). - Walter "Clem" Powell
Read Clem's journals Subject: Formal portrait of Walter Clement Powell, nephew of John Wesley Powell and member of Powell's second expedition. Date: ca. 1870 Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (No. 17264). - Powell's Watch, Front
Description: John Wesley Powell's watch: Burts Patent Serial No. 4056/Elgin, Illinois. "B.W. Raymond" Case No. 38590. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 20836). - Powell's Watch, Back
View with Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) Description: John Wesley Powell's watch: Burts Patent Serial No. 4056/Elgin, Illinois. "B.W. Raymond" Case No. 38590. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 20836). - "Nellie Powell" Fragment, Interior
View 3D Model Description: Fragment of the "Nellie Powell" found in 1938. The Nellie Powell was one of three boats used during the second Powell expedition (1871-1872). Abandoned at Lees Ferry, the boat later burned in a brush fire, leaving only this fragment intact. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 17085). - "Nellie Powell" Fragment, Interior Detail
Description: Fragment of the "Nellie Powell" found in 1938. The Nellie Powell was one of three boats used during the second Powell expedition (1871-1872). Abandoned at Lees Ferry, the boat later burned in a brush fire, leaving only this fragment intact. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 17085). - IMG 3357
Description: Fragment of the "Nellie Powell" found in 1938. The Nellie Powell was one of three boats used during the second Powell expedition (1871-1872). Abandoned at Lees Ferry, the boat later burned in a brush fire, leaving only this fragment intact. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 17085). - "Nellie Powell" Fragment, Exterior
View 3D Model Description: Fragment of the "Nellie Powell" found in 1938. The Nellie Powell was one of three boats used during the second Powell expedition (1871-1872). Abandoned at Lees Ferry, the boat later burned in a brush fire, leaving only this fragment intact. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 17085). - "Nellie Powell" Fragment, Exterior Detail
Description: Fragment of the "Nellie Powell" found in 1938. The Nellie Powell was one of three boats used during the second Powell expedition (1871-1872). Abandoned at Lees Ferry, the boat later burned in a brush fire, leaving only this fragment intact. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Grand Canyon National Park (Catalog No. GRCA 17085).