A collection of seven (7) stereoviews showing people and places found on John W. Powell's geographical and geological survey of the Rocky Mountain range, ca. 1870s. 

Powell (1834-1902) always had an interest in the natural world, taking a series of adventures through the Mississippi Valley as a teenager and even studying rocks during his tenure in the Civil War, where he was wounded in action and lost the lower portion of his right arm. He briefly served as a professor of geology after the war but declined a permanent position in favor of exploring the West. 

His first expeditions into the Colorado Territory began in 1867, where Powell, his wife and a handful of other men ascended Pikes Peak; the following year, another group climbed Longs Peak. In 1869, Powell and nine other men prepared a months-long trip navigating the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This expedition granted Powell $12,000 from Congress to complete a survey of Colorado and its western tributaries in the early 1870s, which is when these photographs were taken. 

During the Powell Survey, while exploring regions in modern-day Colorado and Utah, Powell encountered Native Americans from the Kaibab and Shivwits bands of Paiutes and the Ute tribe. This mix of familiarity with the West and introductions with the tribes prompted the Department of the Interior to make Powell a special commissioner amid the Modoc Wars. Powell and his co-commissioner met with representatives from the Ute, Goshute and Shoshone peoples, then returned to Washington, D.C. to offer their recommendations, of which records state were unfulfilled despite initial favorability from the Department. 

Powell's survey, along with three other surveys taking place concurrently, inspired the creation of the United State Geological Survey in 1879. His encounters with the Native peoples in the West also resulted in the establishment of the Bureau of Ethnology in the same year. He served as director of both of these offices at one point in the 1880s and 1890s. During these later decades, Powell was able to accomplish feats such as publishing one of the first catalogues of Native languages, researching the Mound Builders and the Ghost Dance, creating a national topographical map and organizing the Irrigation Survey of 1889. 

The photographs included in this important scientific and historical lot are: 

1. View Down the Cañon. Imprint to mount recto and verso. 

A look down a stream runs through a canyon. According to the imprint on the verso, the stream goes into southern Utah until it reaches the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. 

2. Breaking Up Camp. Imprint, provenance stamp and identifying ink inscription to mount verso. 

A Unitah Ute family sits in front of their half-disassembled tepee, perhaps getting ready to move to a new location. 

3. Indian Lodge. Imprint to mount recto and verso. 

A man in Western garb stands to the right of two adults and a child in Native clothing. They all stand in front of a tall tepee in the Unitah Valley. 

4. In Council. Imprint to mount recto and verso. 

A group from the Kaibab band of Paiutes sit in a circle conducting a council meeting. 

5. The Arrow Maker and his Daughter. Imprint to mount recto and verso. 

A Kaibab band father sits on the ground working on likely an arrowhead while his daughter stands with one hand resting on the entrance to their hut. 

6. Mouth of Kanab Canyon. Imprint to mount recto. Period ink inscription describing an aspect of the shot to mount verso. 

A look into one of the many canyons in Kanab, Utah. The inscription to the verso describes how the viewer can see abandoned boats in the lefthand image by following the arrows the writer has drawn on the mount recto. 

7. Marble Pinnacle. Imprint to mount recto and verso. 

An image of Marble Pinnacle, a 2,500-foot-tall rock formation found in within the Kanab Creek Canyon system. 

[Native Americans, Native American History, American Indian, Indian History] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards, Stereographs] 

Very good condition overall. Strong tonality and clarity. Only small instances of aging.