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forced relocation by the US Government. But other than a few books - like Powell of the Colorado by Darrah, Across the Hundredth Meridian by Stegner, and A River Running West by Worster - the early part of Powell's story is commonly forgotten, despite containing some of his most adventurous episodes. Fourteen years before plunging into the depths of the great unknown, Powell was a 21-year-old schoolteacher living near Decatur in central Illinois. He was a transplant from western New York State, by way of southern Wisconsin, where his family had abandoned a five-year stint as wheat farmers. Powell spent three years bouncing between different colleges while never obtaining a degree: Illinois College in Jacksonville, Oberlin College in Ohio, and Illinois Institute in Wheaton. One of Powell's main interests was natural sciences, especially collecting specimens for upstart museums, including fossils and plants. During his free time, he developed a serious case of adventurous wanderlust. In the summer of 1855, Powell gave up his room in Decatur and traveled west to an unnamed Mississippi river town. He bought a skiff and started upstream, rowing and possibly sailing, for about 500 miles to St. Paul, Minnesota. A main reason for the four-month trip was collecting specimens along the way, especially freshwater mollusk shells, which he mailed home. After reaching St. Paul, Powell sold the boat and walked 500 miles to the Straits of Mackinaw on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In 1856, Powell traveled overland to St. Paul and launched a boat below the Falls of St. Anthony. He spent the summer floating down the Mississippi, all the way to New Orleans. His third summer trip began in 1857 with a train to Pittsburgh. Below the three rivers confluence there, he launched on the Ohio and floated 1,000 miles to Cairo, Illinois. Afterward, he went to the area near Iron Mountain, in the Ozarks, to hunt for minerals. With money running low, Powell traveled to St. Louis but failed to find work. He pawned his watch and returned to Illinois. He found a teaching job in Hennepin, a blufftop town on the Illinois River. So, the following summer, he boated that one as well. Two hundred miles downstream, almost 200 upstream on the Mississippi, and another 200 miles up the Des Moines River. There's not much written about Powell's college river trips, and little proof cited, other than a few letters. His brother-in-law later questioned if these early trips even happened. But given the much harder trips to come, it seems reasonable.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:
Expedition boats at Green River Station in 1871 (US Geological Survey); replica boat at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum; Powell statue at the Sweetwater County Museum.
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