John Wesley Powell
American geologist (1834-1902) · United States · On the map · Scientists · Died at 68
John Wesley Powell 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.
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Charles Doolittle Walcott, John Wesley Powell, and Sir Archibald Geikie on a geological field excursion to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, May 1897.
John Wesley Powell and his wife, Emma, in Detroit in 1863.
First camp of the John Wesley Powell expedition, in the willows, Green River, Wyoming, 1871.
Powell (right) with Tau-gu, a Southern Paiute, 1871-1872.
Powell served as the second director of the United States Geological Survey, a post he held from 1881 to 1894. This photograph dates from early in his term of office.
Hopi basketry bread tray, donated to the U.S. National Museum of Natural History by J.W. Powell in 1876.
Powell's Profile, a rock formation named for John Wesley Powell in Knowles Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah.About this person
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.
