WES POWELL, CONQUEROR OF THE GRAND CANYON

John Wesley Powell, geologist and ethnologist, was one of the most daring heroes of the old West. His was not a battle fought with guns and fists, but rather a victory of mind in which the weapons were a profound love and understanding of nature. His biography is a consistent record of courage and dedication: it is an account of a man, who, having only one arm as a result of an injury sustained during the Civil War, was the first to explore the course of the Colorado River; who fought valiantly for water and forest conservation; who long before the automobile, recognized the potential value of petroleum, who preserved for posterity the customs and languages of the American Indian; who helped organize the Bureau which still produces the geological maps of the United States, and, who, himself, mapped out great regions of hitherto unexplored territories of this country. Allowing facts to speak for themselves, Leonard Wibberley writes with authority, unfolding here a uniquely informative and inspiring portrait of one of the least celebrated and most effective figures in the history of the United States.