Down the Great Unknown
John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
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4.2 • 43개의 평가
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- US$7.99
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Drawing on rarely examined diaries and journals, Down the Great Unknown is the first book of narrative nonfiction to tell the full, dramatic story of the Powell expedition.
On May 24, 1869, a one-armed Civil War veteran, John Wesley Powell, and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. Their goal was the Grand Canyon, an area of the United States not explored before, as mysterious as Atlantis—and as perilous. The ten men set out for their American West exploration from Green River Station, Wyoming Territory, down the Colorado River in four wooden rowboats. Ninety-nine days later, six half-starved wretches came ashore near Callville, Arizona.
Lewis and Clark opened the West in 1803; six decades later, Powell and his scruffy band aimed to resolve the West’s last mystery. A brilliant narrative, a thrilling journey, a cast of memorable heroes—all these mark Down the Great Unknown, the true story of the last epic adventure on American soil.
This gripping work of historical nonfiction reveals their incredible true story—a definitive account of bravery, survival, and the obsession to conquer the unknown.
American West History: Follow the 1869 journey of John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran, as he leads a band of mountain men on the last great quest in the American West, decades after Lewis and Clark.Epic Exploration: Witness the first-ever descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, a region as mysterious and perilous as Atlantis, based on rarely examined diaries and journals.A Harrowing Survival Story: Experience the treacherous ninety-nine-day expedition where ten men in four wooden boats battled the elements, and only six half-starved wretches made it to the end.Definitive Powell Biography: Delve into the life of John Wesley Powell, an amateur explorer and geology professor whose ambition and leadership drove one of the last great adventures on American soil.
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Powell led his band of stalwart trappers and ex-soldiers down the Green River in Wyoming Territory, heading for the last bit of terra incognita in the U.S.: the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. The expedition had plenty of supplies, but the wrong type of boats for shooting rapids. Moreover, their inexperience with rapids cost them one of the boats and many provisions. There was little game to supplement their rapidly dwindling food supply. And being the first to chart the river, they didn't know what lay beyond each twist. These handicaps, along with deadly river rocks, soaring canyon walls and one-armed Powell's impressive feat of scaling them to measure their height, make for a remarkable journey. Unfortunately, Dolnick does the story a disservice in overwriting the expedition's slower moments. He frequently overexplains, and he never meets a simile he doesn't like. Every description, no matter how effective, is carried too far, suggesting Dolnick doesn't trust his story or his readers: "rapids... do not murmur. They rumble. They roar. They crash. The sound evokes a thunderstorm just overhead, a jet skimming the ground, a runaway train.... The message is worse than the sound itself the roar of a rapid is a proclamation of danger as clear as a giant's bellowed curse in a fairy tale." After passages like that, readers may want to jump ship, or like Powell's band, they can struggle through and emerge battered but illuminated. Photos and illus.
