I Wish That I Could Have Been There With Him Quiz

Answer: Founder of Methodism

The parents of John Wesley Powell, Joseph and Mary, were married in Birmingham, England in 1828. They were said to be "devout Methodists", and named their fourth child, who was born in New York, after John Wesley, the famous English evangelist. After immigrating from England with his family, Joseph was a tailor, farmer and itinerant Methodist preacher.

The family moved around quite a bit from New York, to southern Ohio, and to South Grove, Wisconsin, before settling in Illinois.

Answer: He was a teacher.

While living in southern Ohio, Powell met an amateur naturalist and scholar named George Crookham, who encouraged him to pursue his interest in science, history, and literature. It seems Powell's life was a series of adventures: he walked across Wisconsin; rowed down the Mississippi from St. Anthony, Minnesota, to the sea; and he rowed down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi River, to name a few.

The purpose of the expeditions was to study natural history and geology and collect fossils. During this time Powell studied first at Illinois College and later at Oberlin College, and made a living teaching.

Answer: Shiloh

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Powell enlisted in the Union army. Two days after the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862), army surgeons amputated the shattered arm. After recovering, he spent a year working as a recruiting officer for the state of Illinois before returning to active service in February of 1863.

Answer: Vicksburg

Powell commanded artillery batteries under General William Tecumseh Sherman at the siege of Vicksburg and the Atlanta Campaign, after which he was transferred to General George Henry Thomas' army at the Battle of Nashville. By the end of the war he made the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel, but still preferred to be called "Major".

After the war, Powell first took a teaching position at Illinois Wesleyan University, and later at Illinois State Normal University, where he became the curator of the Illinois Natural History Society Museum in 1867.

This is when he began to organize a specimen-collecting expedition in Colorado.

Answer: Green River

While the first expedition to Colorado was a specimen-collecting expedition with his wife and students, the purpose of the second trip was to explore the Colorado River and Grand Canyon. Ten adventurers left the base camp at the Green River Station, Wyoming, on May 24, 1869. Shortly after, one of the boats sank, along with about one-fourth of the provisions. Much of the scientific equipment was also lost. By the time the group reached the Grand Canyon at the beginning of August, most of the provisions had spoiled, and a second boat was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned. Three members left the expedition by the end of August, and Powell, soon after, called a halt to the expedition.

Ozark Mountain Daredevils: "Mr. Powell"
"Just about a hundred years or so ago
Ten men rode their way down the mighty Colorado
And as I read about their journey
I couldn't help but feel a very similar yearning to Mr. Powell"

Answer: True

Immediately after the first expedition was over, Powell began raising funds for a second. He believed that he had proven his theory correct, but he wanted to produce maps and scientific publications. Even today, in all honesty, geologists do not exactly know how the Grand Canyon was formed. Park rangers tell tourists that the Colorado Plateau began to rise sometime between 50-70 million years ago, causing the Colorado River to downcut, which eventually led to the carving out of the Grand Canyon. As the plateau rose higher, the erosional forces of the river became more powerful. But there are holes in the story. Many believe that the Colorado River is not capable of hauling all the sediment out that would have been caused by that much erosion. In addition, the western part of the canyon appears (for reasons that no one can explain) to be newer than the eastern part.

Ozark Mountain Daredevils: "Mr. Powell"
"And I wish that I could have been there with him
The way he talked about the river, I could tell
The revelations he must have felt within himself
The realization of what man's supposed to do, I feel it too"

Answer: False

In 1540, while looking for the Seven Cities of Cibola on orders from Francisco Coronado, Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas became the first European to see the Grand Canyon. John Wesley Powell is credited with leading the first expedition of Europeans down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Two years after the first expedition, Powell returned to the Colorado River with federal money and a crew that included many trained scientists. This trip, from May 22, 1871, to September 7, 1872 produced reliable maps, plus he and his crew made it through the entire canyon!

Ozark Mountain Daredevils: "Mr. Powell"
"The river forged its way through canyons
That were so high that the clouds would float within them
Cascade fountains moss surrounded
On through a gorge grand beyond description and the river rolls"

Answer: Cosmos Club

The Cosmos Club was founded as a private social club in 1878. Members are elected to the club based on their scholarship and civic contributions. It boasts a long list of prestigious members, including John Quincy Adams, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Kissinger, and Carl Sagan. One of its stated goals is "The advancement of its members in science, literature, and art".

Answer: Smithsonian Institution

Congress enacted legislation for the establishment of the Bureau of Ethnology in 1879 for the purpose of transferring information regarding Native Americans from the Department of the Interior to the Smithsonian Institution. Powell believed, however, in a wider scope for the Bureau, which was "to organize anthropological research in America".

More field research was completed, exhibitions were prepared, and documents, including photographs, were collected into libraries. The Bureau was later renamed the Bureau of American Ethnology to limit the geographical limit of interest of the group.

Answer: Wyoming

Places named in honor of John Wesley Powell include: Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Colorado River; Powell Peak, in the Rocky Mountains; Powell Plateau, on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon; John Wesley Powell Middle School in Littleton, Colorado; Powell Jr. High School in Mesa, Arizona; and Powell, Wyoming.

Interestingly enough, Powell, Wyoming, is on land never explored by the great adventurer.