John Wesley Powell River History MuseumJohn Wesley Powell River History Museum[adapted from an article by Herm Hoops, River Runners Hall of Fame inductee, that appeared in The Confluence, the journal of the Colorado Plateau River Guides Association]
The Powell Society was an interesting assemblage of kindred souls: geologists, doctors, lawyers and professionals from Boulder and Denver, Colorado. A collection of free spirits, they had never taken life too seriously. They were also avid river runners. One day, relaxing in the shade by the riverbank below Powell Point in the Grand Canyon, Dave Gaskill , one of the founding members of the Society, suggested that the Powell Society “get serious.” He and George Simmons proposed a geological log and river guide of the entire Colorado River from Green River to Lake Mead. At that time the best map and information was from the river survey undertaken in the 1920s by the US Geological Survey. They selected the name “Powell Society” on their application to participate in the Bureau of Reclamation’s 1958 river trip to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s passing through what is now the site of Flaming Gorge Dam. The commemoration was the idea of well-known Denver attorney Jerry Hart. The trip couldn’t be conducted on the 100th Anniversary because of the dam construction at Flaming Gorge. It was probably the last transit of Flaming Gorge before the coffer dam materials, piled along the sides of the river canyon, were pushed together to close the channel.
Society members George Simmons and Dave Gaskill became aware of Gene Shoemaker’s plan to repeat Powell’s trip of 1869 and replicate all of Hiller’s photographs of the Powell trip. The U.S.G.S., Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society sponsored the trip. Gene Shoemaker was a famous astro-astronomer who combined his knowledge of geology and river running. The publication “In the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell,” was published in 1987, and began photo matching work that has continued.)
Simmons and Gaskill proposed to Gene that they join the trip and create geological river logs for six segments of the Colorado River. The Society’s proposal was accepted and Gene Shoemaker, Dave Gaskill, Phil Hayes and Felix Mutschler spent the entire summer running the Colorado River in 10-man rafts from Green River to Lake Mead. Several other members of the Powell Society joined in various segments of the trip. The Society marked the 100th anniversary of the parting at Separation Rapid in the Grand Canyon, with commemorative, postmarked letters called cachets (designs added to an envelope for stamp first day of issue covers and event covers). They actually applied the rubber stamp cachets and the stamps to the envelopes at Separation Rapid on the 100th anniversary of Powell’s men leaving the expedition in 1869.
U.S.G.S. funds were originally budgeted to publish the comparison photographs as a professional paper. Ultimately the money budgeted was not available and the Powell Society, working with Johnson Press of Boulder, Colorado, participated in the publishing of the book “In the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell.” In the meantime, the Society published their river logs:
Desolation and Grey Canyons by Mutschler
The Yampa supplement was eventually incorporated into the Dinosaur publication. Most of these river guides are out of print. Mackay Marine and Outdoor Supply of Murray, Utah have recently republished the Desolation and Grey Volume. Although the river maps are small, one can follow the progress down the river through detailed descriptions. The guides locate and rate all of the rapids, rating them on the 1-10 Colorado River Rating System. Thus, the ratings are open to some individual interpretation, but they provide historic insight on the old silt-laden Colorado and the present-day river.
While the guidebooks were detailed and serious, the authors were not without a sense of humor. In the guidebook to Labyrinth, Stillwater, and Cataract Canyons, the author, Felix Mutschler, professor of geology at Eastern Washington University, discussed what to do if your boat was lost along with all of your food. There are plenty of lizards to be found, author Mutschler advised, “and a good rock thrower can squash a feast.”
The Powell Society did not survive the passing of the principal organizers, authors and members. By the early 2000s, the only thing that remains of the Society are the guidebooks. They have gone out of print, but have been revived by various organizations and businesses. Today there are dozens of different guidebooks, river maps, apps, and other online resources to help guide modern river runners. But the Powell Society’s books are a unique entry in the literature of the rivers of the Colorado Basin; not a bad legacy to be left by an “interesting assemblage of free spirits.”
