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Show WINTER 2013 UHQ pp 91-104_UHQ BReviews/pp.271-296 12/5/12 9:50 AM Page 94 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY expeditions seventeen different accounts were produced. These documents coupled with the current popularity of river rafting and of the exotic draw of the Southwest have kept the demand for these expedition accounts alive and well among historians and the general public. Cleaving the Unknown represents the finish to an ambitious project by the University of Utah Press and the Utah State Historical Society to reprint and make available all of the different journals and documents associated with John Wesley Powell’s Colorado River explorations. This particular volume brings together previously published and out of print journals, maps, photographs and correspondence depicting these famous explorations. Although a bit eclectic, this book of documents may be the most interesting of this series because it brings back into print the diaries, photographs, maps and writings of the lesser known members of the expedition—Jack Hillers, Francis Bishop, Frederick Dellenbaugh and John Colton Summer. Also of significance is the reprinting of the original journal of John Wesley Powell’s 1871-72 expedition. As Don and Catherine Fowler note in their introduction, there has been some confusion and complaint over Powell’s willingness, most likely for public relations purposes, to blend together events from his 1869 and 1871 trips. These accounts were published in Part 1 of his book Explorations of the Colorado of the West and Its Tributaries. However, the particular diary published here was actually written on the 1871-72 trip, giving the reader a more accurate account of Powell’s experiences. Cleaving also reprints the fine book about Jack Hillers “Photographed All the Best Scenery.” Hillers, who started as a boat hand on the 1871 expedition, showed an interest and an aptitude for photography and eventually replaced E.O. Beaman as Powell’s photographer. This serendipitous event helped launch Hillers to a career as a notable western photographer. Hillers kept a lengthy journal of the trip, plus journal excerpts from later expeditions in the southwest. As an added bonus many of Hillers’ photographs are printed in this volume. Two other sets of documents relating to the 1871-72 expeditions can also be found in Cleaving the Unknown. The rough maps of Francis Bishop (with William Rusho’s excellent commentary) enlighten the readers to how the cartography of the second trip was created. Rusho also notes that Bishop’s maps, although not the best, had the added bonus of showing where camp sites and lunch breaks were taken. Finally, a set of Dellenbaugh letters is presented that give his impressions of the expeditions and how they have been depicted a half century after the fact. This definitely adds Dellenbaugh’s perspective fifty years after his voyage with Powell. Finally, the last piece of this volume is the 1869 journal of John Colton Summer edited by famous river historian Dock Marston. This piece, 94 |
