In the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell: An Album of Comparative Photographs of the Green and Colorado Rivers, 1871-72 and 1968
In the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell: An Album of Comparative Photographs of the Green and Colorado Rivers, 1871–72 and 1968 is a visual and historical study that bridges nearly a century of exploration, science, and environmental change in the American West. The volume juxtaposes photographs taken during John Wesley Powell’s second Colorado River expedition in 1871–1872 with images captured in 1968 from the same locations along the Green and Colorado Rivers.
Through carefully matched photographic pairs, the book allows readers to compare landscapes as Powell and his survey team first documented them with their later twentieth-century condition. These comparisons reveal both the remarkable endurance of canyon geology and the profound transformations brought about by dams, water diversion projects, settlement, and industrial development. Changes in river flow, vegetation, sediment patterns, and human infrastructure are made strikingly visible.
Beyond its photographic impact, the album situates Powell’s expeditions within their scientific and historical context. Powell’s original photographs, produced under extreme field conditions, were intended as tools for geological analysis and public education. The 1968 images revisit these sites with modern photographic techniques, reflecting evolving perspectives on conservation, water management, and the long-term consequences of western expansion.
In the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell serves not only as a tribute to one of America’s most influential explorers but also as a powerful visual record of environmental history. It invites readers to reflect on the legacy of exploration, the changing relationship between humans and the river systems of the Colorado Plateau, and the enduring importance of Powell’s warnings about the limits of arid lands and water resources in the American West.