First published 1875
John Wesley Powell commands a small crew on an unprecedented journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869. The expedition faces starvation as supplies dwindle and boats splinter against rocks in treacherous rapids. Native tribes watch from canyon rims while Powell's men grow desperate and mutinous. The team navigates without maps through uncharted territory, relying only on Powell's scientific training and leadership. Each day brings new dangers as the Colorado River carries them deeper into the Grand Canyon's unknown depths. The crew must choose between following their one-armed leader into certain peril or abandoning the mission in America's last unexplored frontier. This first-person narrative captures the raw determination required to map the American West's most forbidding landscape.
Genres: biography, nature, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, non-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: exploration, leadership, survival
Setting: Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Green River
Period: 1869
432 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics