Major John Wesley Powell, a Civil War hero and explorer, made the first organized attempt to conquer the swirling rapids and precipitous walled canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Warned by Indians and mountaineers that they would never return alive, Powell and nine companions left Green River Station in Wyoming Territory on May 24, 1869, with four boats, scientific instruments, and provisions to last ten months. For ninety-seven days they battled the elements and endured tremendous deprivation and hardship. Frank Goodman left the company early in the journey, and William Dunn, O.G. and Seneca Howland later deserted near Grand Canyon Arizona and were killed by Shivwit Indians. On August 29, 1869, the six remaining men, J.W. and W.H. Powell, W.R. Hawkins, A. Hall, J.C. Sumner, and G.Y. Bradley, arrived at the junction of the Rio Virgin in southern Nevada after navigating and charting over nine hundred miles of river. In May 1871, two years after his first river voyage, J.W. Powell again led an exploring party of eleven men in three boats down the Green and Colorado Rivers. Well into 1873, members of Powell’s party continued extensive and significant exploration and surveys of the region bordering the rivers they traversed, and the Powell Surveys became some of the most significant explorations achieved anywhere in the world.