Book Reviews and Notices : The Exploration of the Colorado River in 1869. In Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. XV. (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society. 1947. Pp. xiii, 270.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200463
• Author: Paul Kelso
• Published date: 01 December 1949
• Date: 01 December 1949
• Subject Matter: Articles

679

The

Exploration

of

the

Colorado

River

in

1869.

In

Utah

Historical

Quar-

terly,

Vol

.

XV.

(Salt

Lake

City:

Utah

State

Historical

Society.

1947.

Pp.

xiii,

270.)

In

this

volume

are

collected

for

the

first

time

the

journals,

letters,

newspaper

articles,

and

other

materials

dealing

with

the

pioneer

explora-

tion

of

the

Colorado

River

in

1869

by

Major

John

Wesley

Powell.

The

volume

will

have

a

special

interest

for

some

because

of

the

nature

of

the

documents

it

contains,

while

to

others

it

will

have

a

broader

interest

be-

cause

of

the

tale

of

high

adventure,

centering

around

&dquo;the

last

great

ex-

ploration

through

unknown

country

in

the

continental

United

States,&dquo;

which

the

documents

tell.

The

fullest

and

most

vivid

account

of

the

course

of

the

explorers

down

the

Green

and

Colorado

Rivers

is

found

in

the

journal

kept

by

George

Y.

Bradley,

a

member

of

the

party.

While

the

Powell

expedition

of

1869

was

of

no

great

importance

from

the

stand-

point

of

immediate

scientific

achievement,

it

did

pave

the

way

for

Major

Powell’s

second

trip

in

1871-1872,

during

which

the

course

of

the

Colo-

rado

River

and

the

Colorado

canyons

were

mapped.

Documents

relating

to

the

1869

expedition

were

supplied

by

William

Culp

Darrah

of

Medford,

Massachusetts,

a

paleobotanist

and

amateur

historian,

with

apparently

a

deep

interest

in

the

career

of

Major

Powell.

It

would

be

interesting

to

know

whether

Mr.

Darrah’s

scholarly

concern

with

the

1869

expedition

developed

from

the

interest

which

the

Grand

Canyon

may

have

had

for

him

as

a

paleobotanist.

Mr.

Darrah

has

also

contributed

to

the

volume

a

survey

of

preparations

for

the

1869

ex-

pedition,

a

critical

evaluation

of

the

documents

which

he

supplied,

and

biographical

sketches

of

the

various

members

of

the

expedition.

In

an

introductory

chapter

to

the

volume,

Dale

L.

Morgan

describes

the

earlier

explorations

of

the

Green

River

and

the

partial

explorations

of

the

Colo-

rado.

The

volume

also

contains

an

account

by

Mr.

Darrah

of

Major

Powell’s

preparations

for

the

second

expedition

in

1871-1872,

as

well

as

the

journal

of

Francis

M.

Bishop,

who

accompanied

Major

Powell

on

the

later

trip.

The

next

volume

of

the

Utah

Historical

Quarterly

will

be

devoted

in

its

entirety

to

the

1871-1872

expedition.

University

of

Arizona.

PAUL

KELSO.

The

Great

Assize:

An

Examination

of

the

Law

of

the

Nuremberg

Trials.

BY

J.

H.

MORGAN,

K.

C.

(London:

John

Murray.

1948.

Pp.

44.

2s.)

Despite

its

subtitle

this

pamphlet,

which

is

a

reprint

of

two

articles

by

Professor

Morgan

printed

in

the

Quarterly

Review

in

1947,

is

con-

cerned

only

with

the

Trial

of

German

Major

War

Criminals

by

the

Inter-

national

Military

Tribunal

at

Nuremberg.

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