The Last River: John Wesley Powell and the Colorado River Exploring Expedition

The one-armed professor who conquered the mighty Colorado.

No European had ever taken boats down the Colorado river and come out alive. In May 1869, ten men boarded four rowboats in Green River City, Wyoming.

Three months and 1,000 miles later, just two battered boats carrying six exhausted and starving men emerged from the depths of the Grand Canyon. The Last River tells their remarkable story.

The man who challenged the Colorado was different from other ex…