"Major Powell" redirects here. For other uses, see Major Powell (disambiguation).
John Wesley Powell
Powell as he appears at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
2nd Director of the United States Geological Survey
In office 1881 (1881)–1894 (1894)
Preceded by
Clarence King
Succeeded by
Charles Doolittle Walcott
Personal details
Born
March 24, 1834[1] Mount Morris, New York, U.S.
Died
September 23, 1902(1902-09-23) (aged 68)[1] Haven Colony, Brooklin, Maine, U.S.
Resting place
Arlington National Cemetery, Section 1
Spouse
Emma Dean Powell
Relatives
William B Powell, brother
Known for
Traversing Colorado River of the Grand Canyon
Signature
Education
Illinois College
Oberlin College
Scientific career
Fields
Natural sciences
Institutions
Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois State Normal University
U.S. Geological Survey
Smithsonian Institution
Military career
Allegiance
United States of America
Service/branch
United States Army
Years of service
1861–1865
Rank
Major
John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902)[1] was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for his 1869 geographic expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first official U.S. government-sponsored passage through the Grand Canyon.
Powell was appointed by US President James A. Garfield to serve as the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey (1881–1894) and proposed, for development of the arid West, policies that were prescient for his accurate evaluation of conditions. Two years prior to his service as director of the U.S. Geological Survey,[2] Major Powell had become the first director of the Bureau of Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution where he supported linguistic and sociological research and publications.
^ abcMcNamee, Gregory. "John Wesley Powell". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
^Hunter, Cathy. "John Wesley Powell: Soldier, explorer, scientist, and National Geographic founder". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
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JohnWesleyPowell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois...
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Siccar Point in Scotland,[failed verification] or that observed by JohnWesleyPowell in the Grand Canyon in 1869. Both instances are exceptional examples...
managed by the National Park Service. The reservoir is named for JohnWesleyPowell, a civil war veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats...
recommendation written by American explorer, geologist, and anthropologist JohnWesleyPowell, and first published in 1878. The work sought to create an equitable...
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501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C., that was founded by JohnWesleyPowell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among...
charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century—one of which, led by JohnWesleyPowell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. Large-scale...
non-Native Americans to see the canyon. U.S. Army Major JohnWesleyPowell led the 1869 Powell Geographic Expedition through the canyon on the Colorado...
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Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 2001. Ross, John F. The Promise of the Grand Canyon: JohnWesleyPowell's Perilous Journey and His Vision for the American...
and teacher, sometimes called "JohnPowell" JohnWesleyPowell (1834–1902), American geologist and explorer JohnPowell (musician) (1882–1963), American...
Colorado River and Its Canyons by JohnWesleyPowell is a classic of American exploration literature. It is about the Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869...
boatman, he was chosen by JohnWesleyPowell to lead the first boat of the expedition. He eventually had a falling out with Powell over differences in personality...
island, now mostly taken up by a public park, is the place where Major JohnWesleyPowell and Vitaly Develvis started an expedition down the Green River and...
lower limit for an erosion process. The modern term was introduced by JohnWesleyPowell in 1875. The term was subsequently appropriated by William Morris...
became known as the Wheeler Survey, along with the Clarence King and JohnWesleyPowell Surveys, and expeditions by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. In 1879, all...
John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor...
grouping (originally named Shahapwailutan by J. N. B. Hewitt and JohnWesleyPowell in 1894) which would consist of Klamath–Modoc, Molala, and the Sahaptian...
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: JohnWesleyPowell and the Second Opening of the West (1954), a biography of JohnWesleyPowell, the first white man to explore...
After two years, King was succeeded by JohnWesleyPowell. 1879–1881: Clarence King 1881–1894: JohnWesleyPowell 1894–1907: Charles Doolittle Walcott 1907–1930:...
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its name from a nearby section of the Green River canyon, named by JohnWesleyPowell in 1869. It was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation between 1958...
Sam Bass, JohnWesley Hardin, Butch Cassidy and Dave Rudabaugh and him forming a gang, then squaring off against two convicts recruited by John B. Jones...
Elementary School District 124 from 1862 to 1870. She was the niece of JohnWesleyPowell, an American Civil War hero and famed explorer of the Grand Canyon...