John Wesley Powell's 1869 Green and Colorado River expedition departs

Background. Powell organized a second expedition to the Colorado Territory in 1868. By December 1868, most of the party had returned to Illinois, but the Powells spent the winter camped on the White River, a tributary of the Green River. During that winter, Powell made excursions down both rivers, traveled south to the Grand River (now known as the Colorado River), north to the Yampa River, and around the Uinta Mountains. According to the quoted source, preparations were made for what it calls a "now historic voyage" through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in 1869.

Logistics. The boats, scientific instruments, and ten months of rations were transported to Green River Station in the Wyoming Territory by the Union Pacific Railroad. This transport occurred along the route of the first transcontinental railroad, which had been completed with the placement of the golden spike at Promontory Summit in nearby Utah Territory just two weeks prior to the launch of the expedition on May 24, 1869.

Participants. The expedition was led by American naturalist John Wesley Powell. According to the narrative account, Powell gathered ten men, four boats, and food for ten months for the venture. The supplied passages do not name the individual crew members, so they are not listed here.