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Frederick S. Dellenbaugh - The Romance of the Colorado River
these thirty years after, I review that experience with satisfaction and pleasure, recalling, with deep
affection, the kind and generous companions of that wild and memorable journey. No party of men
thrown together, without external contact for months at a time, could have been more harmonious; and
never once did any member of that party show the white feather. I desire to acknowledge here, also, my
indebtedness to Prof. A. H. Thompson, Major Powell's associate in his second expedition, for many
kindnesses.
* I use the title Major for the reason that he was so widely known for so long a period by it. He was a
volunteer officer during the Civil War, holding the rank of Colonel at the end. The title Major, then, has
no military significance in this connection.
When his report to Congress was published, Major Powell, perhaps for the sake of dramatic unity,
concluded to omit mention of the personnel of the second expedition, awarding credit, for all that was
accomplished, to the men of his first wonderful voyage of 1869. And these men surely deserved all that
could be bestowed on them. They had, under the Major's clear-sighted guidance and cool judgment,
performed one of the distinguished feats of history. They had faced unknown dangers. They had
determined that the forbidding torrent could be mastered. But it has always seemed to me that the men of
the second party, who made the same journey, who mapped and explored the river and much of the
country roundabout, doing a large amount of difficult work in the scientific line, should have been
accorded some recognition. The absence of this has sometimes been embarrassing for the reason that
when statements of members of the second party were referred to the official report, their names were
found missing from the list. This inclined to produce an unfavourable impression concerning these
individuals. In order to provide in my own case against any unpleasant circumstance owing to this
omission, I wrote to Major Powell on the subject and received the following highly satisfactory answer:
Washington, D. C., January 18, 1888.
My Dear Dellenbaugh: Replying to your note of the 14th instant, it gives me great pleasure to state that
you were a member of my second party of exploration down the Colorado, during the years 1871 and
1872, that you occupied a place in my own boat and rendered valuable services to the expedition, and that
it was with regret on my part that your connection with the Survey ceased. Yours cordially, J. W. Powell.
Recently, when I informed him of my intention to publish this volume, he very kindly wrote as follows:
Washington, January 6, 1902.
Dear Dellenbaugh:
I am pleased to hear that you are engaged in writing a book on the Colorado Canyon. I hope that you will
put on record the second trip and the gentlemen who were members of that expedition. No other trip has
been made since that time, though many have tried to follow us. One party, that headed by Mr. Stanton,
went through the Grand Canyon on its second attempt, but many persons have lost their lives in
attempting to follow us through the whole length of the canyons. I shall be very glad to write a short
introduction to your book.
Yours cordially,
J. W. Powell.
In complying with this request to put on record the second expedition and the gentlemen who composed
it, I feel all the greater pleasure, because, at the same time, I seem to be fulfilling a duty towards my old
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