Page 33 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Southwest USA & National Parks

A POR TR AIT OF THE SOUTHWEST  31

John Wesley Powell (1834–1902)
The Powell Expedition was Raised in Illinois, John Wesley Powell was by any stan dards a
launched in 1869, when John
Wesley Powell and nine remarkable man. An early interest in nat ural history
companions pushed four led him to embark on long, solitary expeditions
wooden boats out into the into the outback to collect geological and
Green River of Wyoming bound botanical samples. In 1860, he enlisted in the
for the Colorado River. Several Union army and became a major in the Civil
weeks later, Powell’s party War. He lost an arm at the Battle of Shiloh, and
emerged at the western end the pain was with him for the rest of his life. He
of Grand Canyon (see p147).
led two expeditions down the Colorado River, in
1869 and 1871, and went on to run the new US
Geological Service and the Bureau of American
Ethnology. He was a staunch campaigner for
Native American rights.
John Wesley Powell with Ute Native (see p31)

The Old Spanish Trail was established in 1829.
Colorado R iver It was a major trading route between New Mexico
and California during the mid-19th century.
COLORADO

•
Dodge
City

Taos Pueblo
•
Zuni Santa Fe • Fort Union
Pueblo • • Las Vegas William Becknell first traveled
• • Acoma the Santa Fe Trail in 1821,
Pueblo bringing goods by wagon
from Missouri. Spanish soldiers
R io Grande NEW bought his wares, and then
the wagon trains followed,
bringing welcome trade to
MEXICO
the region (see p46).
TEXAS
Pecos R iver
0 kilometers 100
El Paso
0 miles 100
•

• Chihuahua

Juan de Oñate, a Spanish fortune-seeker,
first traveled the Camino Real in 1598. He Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554) headed
named part of this harsh, desert path north from Mexico in 1540 with 336 soldiers and 1,000
“Journey of the Dead” but safely reached Native Americans to spend two years exploring the
the Rio Grande (see p43). region. His route became the Coronado Trail.

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