River History – Dinosaur River Expeditions

John Wesley Powell’s 150th Anniversary

Posted on March 9, 2019 at 8:32 am.

Explorer John Wesley Powell’s 150th Anniversary

When one thinks of Lake Powell, what images come to mind? Smooth sandstone in myriad shades of red and beige? Maybe a houseboat floating on still water, or a jet ski with a water skier in tow? But, do you realize what’s underneath all that water? Or, do you know who the lake was named for? The damn that formed Lake Powell was completed in 1963, and with that Glen Canyon began to recede beneath the mounting water of the Colorado river. However, almost a hundred years before that last bit of concrete was poured into the damn, John Wesley Powell floated through the now drowned canyon as part of a historical expedition.

In 1869 Powell set out from Green River Wyoming on what would be a 3 month journey through the canyons of Flaming Gorge, Lodore, Desolation, Cataract and of course the Grand Canyon. It was the first cartographic and geologic survey of these largely unexplored (to white settlers at least) areas of the desert Southwest. Powell’s party was ill-equipped for the water they encountered. They lost their first boat in Lodore canyon in a rapid that thereafter was named Disaster Falls. One of the party, Frank Goodman, left the expedition on July 6th. He eventually settled in Vernal, Utah, and their raised a family. Three more of Powell’s men left on August 30th, two days before the expedition’s end. Unfortunately these three were never heard from again. Of the ten men and four boats that began the journey, six men and three boats finished it.

Powell wasn’t just an intrepid explorer. He served in the Civil war, where he would eventually gain the rank of major and lose most of his right arm. He was also an accomplished geologist and a professor at Illinois Wesleyan University. On his expedition he was awestruck by the features he saw. How could a river cut straight through a mountain? he wondered. It went against everything we knew about geology at the time. But Powell’s interests weren’t purely geologic, but anthropologic as well. The evidence of the human history, the pottery shards, granaries, and habitations of the Native Americans did not escape his notice. So enamored was Powell by what he saw on that first expedition that in the winter of 1871 he retraced part of that expedition from Green River Wyoming to Kanab creek in the Grand Canyon. Powell saw in the rock the age of our world, how old it was, and how truly dynamic it was. He also saw, with a surprising amount of prescience for his time, that Westward expansion would be limited by access to water.

After his expeditions, Powell went on to educate the public about the things he had seen. In the time of Manifest Destiny, he had a surprising amount of prescience to see that Westward expansion would be limited by access to water. Unfortunately, his ideas and proposed policies on irrigation of the West were ignored due to corporate interests. Famously, Powell stated “you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not sufficient water to supply the land.” These words would become manifest forty years later during the Dust Bowl. He would also eventually go on to become the director of the Bureau of Ethnology, a position he held until his death in 1902.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Powell’s expedition. While Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon are now underwater, one can still experience many of the canyons of that 1869 expedition in the same way Powell did. Beginning on May 24th the John Wesley Powell River Festival will launch. Towns all along his route will be holding events and festivities to celebrate the man and the impact of his expedition.

Call us today 1-800-345-7238 for details about our 4 day Green River Gates of Lodore trip focused on celebrating the 150th anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s incredible journey along the course of the Green River and Colorado River.

History of Warm Springs Rapid

Posted on November 1, 2018 at 5:47 pm.

Written by Dinosaur River Expeditions

Einstein discovered that water on a perfectly flat plane won’t trickle in a straight line, but rather snake its way down in a series of S turns. It’s something I always tell guests as you come into the goose necks on the Yampa River as we float through the heart of Dinosaur National Monument. For the next 20 miles until the confluence with the Green River, the Yampa is mostly flat water. As you wind your way downstream the water becomes tranquil. It’s an easy float under the grand overhangs the river has carved into the sandstone. It’s a peaceful change from the whitewater of Teepee rapid and Big Joe. The slow water gives way to flood plains like Laddies Park and Mantle’s Cave. These self same spits of tillable land played host to archaic peoples, Utes, pioneers, outlaws and boatman. The river here was easy to divert for irrigation; warm and calmer still in summer months. You may find yourself thinking – looking out at the calm clay water slipping by – that it’s truly smooth sailing through calm seas. Why then do the boatman seem tense? It must be that the canyon closes in once more, reasserting its undeniable presence. That must be it. Eventually though, the flat water is a sign of something else. It is the calm before the storm. A storm that has its roots in the summer of 1965.

On June 10, 1965 a storm that can aptly be described as biblical built in the northern sky. It ballooned over Starvation Canyon which empties into Warm Springs draw. The storm spilled its considerable guts on the draw. George Wendt, camped at Warm Springs on that day, took shelter in an outhouse as the earth around him turned into a raging slime, laden with boulders and the broken bones of trees. The storm moved 33 million pounds of debris into the Yampa river, damming it. When the river broke through, Warm Springs, once a minor wave train, was now one of the biggest pieces of white water in the West. At the time of its formation, Al Holland and Les Oldham were upstream guiding a group of boy scouts down river. Coming from Mantle cave, the river was even stiller than it is today. Les had taken off his life vest, for he knew the river well, and knew it was calm water until the confluence and Whirlpool canyon. But the lack of current must have seemed odd to someone who knew it so well. Les was sitting on his vest as they came to Warm Springs. Sadly, it would be his undoing. He was thrown overboard in the now turbulent rapid. Holland saw the passengers safely through but couldn’t find Les in the tumultuous water. His body was recovered 17 days later. News quickly went out to boaters, on and off the river, of the new rapid and the danger it presented. By the next year, the young rapid had shifted once again, this time into something far more manageable.

Warm Springs remains a major rapid today one of Colorado white water raftings top drops. However, the rapid that Al Holland encountered in the summer of 1965 has matured over the past 50 years. In that time, rocks from the cliff face on river left have fallen in and settled in various places within the rapid. While the rapid still has features capable of overturning boats, by now boatmen know the line through. Each summer hundreds of boaters successfully navigate this rapid. And for good reason. The Yampa River through Dinosaur National Monument has so much to offer. It is the last undammed tributary of the Green River and Colorado river systems. It is a crucial link to the ecological health of the native species that call these water ways home. The river and its canyons have sustained hunter-gatherers over 8,000 years. And, of course, the Yampa offers thrill seekers adventures on and off the water.

River History a Quick Glimpse

Posted on October 14, 2018 at 4:59 pm.

Written by Dinosaur River Expeditions

Standing on the banks of the Green River staring at the rocks strewn throughout Disaster Falls rapid, one can’t help but think of the man who named it. Indeed, as your eye is drawn downstream to look at No Name island, you can practically see John Wesley Powell trying to salvage the wreck of his wooden boat of the same name. In the summer of 1869 Powell led an expedition down the Green and Colorado rivers in four Whitehall Boats. These were large wooden freight boats, excellent at speeding through the chop of a harbor, but the whitewater of Lodore Canyon demanded maneuverability. As you return to your rubber raft, you hope not to end up on that island or one of the numerous rocks that add to the difficulty of the rapid. Of course, bumping off one of the many boulders in the rapid is not as disastrous in a rubber boat. In fact, what was once a harrowing experience in Powell’s day is now undertaken as a thrilling ride.

White Water River Rafting Utah — John Wesley Powell banks of the Green River

When talking about the history of river running, it’s impossible not to talk about Bus Hatch. Bus was irreversibly drawn to river running when he met a man named Parley Galloway in 1929. Galloway, a prisoner at the time, had learned to build boats from his father – a legend in Vernal in his own right. Galloway’s father had pioneered a new river running technique in 1880’s. Instead of pulling on the oars, he faced forward and pushed a boat of his own design through the rapids. With some instruction from Galloway and a boat of his design, Bus and a company of three others set out from just below Flaming Gorge. Though their Galloway boat was of better design than Powell’s Whitehall’s, they still had their fair share of what the river community today would call “carnage”. Bus portaged Disaster Falls and chose to run Hell’s Half Mile. Unsuccessfully. Their boat capsized, and they lost a lot of their supplies. They managed to salvage an onion, some potatoes, and the boat. Four days later, a little hungry but no worse for wear, they finished the journey below Split Mountain, their adventure was over eighty miles. It was 1931 when Bus took that exploratory first trip. Over the next few years Bus took passengers for hire, and through successes and mishaps he never lost a client. In 1934, Bus ran his first trip through the Grand Canyon. By the 1960’s he had turned a humble undertaking into offices in Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. He continued running rivers until his death in 1967.

Certainly, though Bus wasn’t the only one to revolutionize river running. In 1945 Georgie White swam from Diamond Creek, a rapid at mile 226 in the Grand Canyon, down to Lake Mead, a distance of 60 miles. White would go on to be the first woman to row through Marble and the Grand Canyons in 1952. Using army surplus rubber rescue rafts, White lashed three together and began her own operation. Ever the eccentric, and with controversial practices, White nevertheless ran a successful operation for 45 years. Like Bus, Georgie ran rivers right up until the end of her life in 1992.

Georgie White colorado river rafting — GEORGIE WHITE TRIPLE RIG RAFT ON THE COLORADO RIVER.

Today river running is a global, multibillion-dollar industry. And not just for thrill seekers, more and more people are discovering what the river has to offer. A river trip is perfect for outdoorsmen of all kinds, from those who want to enjoy the tranquility of nature, wildlife fanatics, and adrenaline junkies alike. As long as there are rivers, rafting has a future.