The Digital Powell Trail

Coming Spring 2017

The Digital Powell Trail will incorporate historical photos, drawings, along with firsthand accounts and descriptions to paint a realistic image of the locations and events discussed in the trail.  As primary source material from Powell's expeditions are limited, period material will be used to assist to fill in gaps (drawing from USGS Denver Library Collection)..  An example is this 1869 Elliott drawing (Above) from the Hayden survey of Middle Park, Colorado.  Hayden's party visited the area in 1869 about a year after Powell headed west to begin his river journey.  A second example, below, is a photo taken in 1874 by William Henry Jackson, Hayden's photographer, of Middle Park, Colorado (photo is from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) collection).

          The Digital Powell Trail is a one of the initial activities undertaken as part of the "Captain Jack Project," the Foundation's events and activities designed to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the Powell Expeditions.

          The Digital Powell Trail is the first step in the Foundation's efforts to establish an interpretive trail across the Untied States  to mark and commemorate the expeditions of John Wesley Powell to the American West between 1867 and 1875.  The "Trail" will begin with tracking his 1867 and 1868 expeditions to Colorado. It will then track their journey across Colorado as they made their way to Green River, Wyoming to being their 1869 Journey down the Green and Colorado rivers.  It will then track Powell's 1870 trip to Utah in preparation for his 1871-72 second river expedition.  It will conclude with tracking the remaining expeditions to Utah and Arizona in1873-75 in in which Powell and his men completed their topographical work in the Great Basin.

          Through the development of the trail, we also hope to increase the knowledge and understanding in the academic community and the general public at large of all members of each of Powell's expeditions. By focusing on primarily on Powell and mainly on his 1869 River Expedition, biographers and historians have overlooked the significant roles the other expedition members played and the contributions they made in a variety of fields after their time with Major Powell.

          We will also try and frame the Powell Expeditions within their historical context by demonstrating the expeditions upon which they were built.  These begin as early as 1807 when Zebulon Pike ventured to Colorado followed by others such as Stephen Long, Dr. C.C. Parry - "The King of Colorado Botany," and Lieutenant Ives & Professor Newberry who explored the lower Colorado River .

          We will also use the Digital Trail to explore other areas of study that have not been fully developed such as the role of women played on the expeditions (where they were included) as well as the support they provided when the spouses where away for months on end "exploring" various regions of the American West.  We will also work to explore the expeditions interaction with various Native American nations - such as the various Ute tribes and bands - and compare these to later interactions by follow-on government representatives.

About the Digital Powell Trail:

The Robert LUCAS Foundation

Established Iowa City, iowa - 2014