Early Explorers and Settlers

Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology

 

Expeditions of a Lifetime

Without the fortitude of past explorers, our Nation’s history would be greatly lacking in scientific, geologic and cultural perspectives. The curious and courageous travelers of previous decades provided us an inside look at western territories in the United States – the foundations of our communities today. While many faced hardships along the way, their perseverance introduced us to unique and diverse landscapes and rivers, different cultures, and new travel routes allowing future migrants in America to seek and create opportunities for themselves and their families within the Lake Mead and Lake Mohave regions of the Colorado River Basin.

 

Exploration Timeline

 

 

Maximilian Dörrbecker

Jedediah Smith

American frontiersman and trapper, Jedediah Smith was the first American to explore what is now known as California, and the first explorer to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains. In early August of 1826, as Jedediah and his fifteen fellow explorers began their trek from Bear Lake (located in southeastern Idaho on the Idaho-Utah border) hoping to discover new wonders of the west. With his insatiable curiosity of unexplored lands, Jedediah also led the first documented exploration of the Salt Lake frontier to the Colorado River using a route from California’s Central Valley to the Great Salt Lake Valley in Utah. In forging new paths, Jedediah became the first European American to successfully cross the entirety of the territory now known as Nevada. Although his exact route remains unknown due to the loss of his journals and maps over time, modern day historians pieced together enough information to create the most accurate version of Smith’s route.

 

University of Southern California Libraries, California Historical Society

J.C. Ives

From 1857 to 1858, J.C. Ives of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers conducted the first official government exploration of the lower portion of the Colorado River. At the time, the Grand Canyon was the last major unexplored territory of the west and Ives was determined to seek and document the unknown. His mission required unique transportation, so Ives decided to personally design and build his own 50-foot long sternwheel boat. As he made his way up the unpredictable Colorado River on this riverine adventure, Ives and his fellow travelers crashed into a rock just below Black Canyon near the modern state line dividing Nevada and Arizona. Despite this near tragic setback, they continued to push on up the river using a skiff, before continuing on foot down into the Grand Canyon at Diamond Creek. Facing additional misfortune and hardships along the way, Ives’ voyage came to an end. J.C. Ives later went on to write detailed reports of his observations, leading to the production of one of the earliest maps of the Grand Canyon.

 

LDS (Church of Latter-Day Saints)

The arrival of LDS or Mormon settlers at the confluence of the Virgin and Colorado rivers began the active river trade that evolved in the 1860’s. As their settlement’s thriving crops provided miners downriver with badly needed food, the areas’ salt mines also proved invaluable as essential elements needed for the smelting of silver and gold ore. The settlers realized an immediate need and subsequently established at least one successful port for their lucrative industries on the Colorado river. The river port provided crucial access to widespread trading opportunities and enhanced the settlement’s success.

Mormon leader Brigham Young further envisioned a transportation corridor from the pacific to Salt Lake City, Utah where Young desired a future Mormon homeland. In 1864, Young sent groups of183 colonists to the area south of St. George where they established colonies on the Virgin and Muddy rivers. In 1865, along the Muddy River, (which feeds into the Colorado River) colonist Thomas Smith founded a suitable townsite soon known as St. Thomas. Seizing the potential for a variety of crops, St. Thomas was ultimately a successful small Mormon community. After the construction of the Hoover Dam in 1931 and subsequent filling of Lake Mead, St. Thomas was abandoned as it was submerged beneath the lake.

 

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Powell Expedition

Led by American naturalist John Wesley Powell in 1869, the Powell Expedition was the first thorough investigation of the Green and Colorado Rivers. On May 24th, 1869 Powell and his team of travelers left Green River City, Wyoming and set off on a three-month excursion down the Colorado River. Making their way through parts of what is now Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, the expedition was able to produce the first detailed description of the previously unexplored canyon country of the state of Colorado. Because of Powell and his findings, many landmarks and geological features along the Green and Colorado rivers were first given names for landmark identification including Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge. After facing many severe hardships, Powell and what remained of his exhausted fellow explorers concluded their expedition on August 30th at the confluence of the Virgin and Colorado rivers - presently known as Lake Mead in Nevada.