From Powell to Power: A Recounting of the First One Hundred River Runners through the Grand Canyon

by Otis Reed "Dock" Marston, Tom Martin (Editor)

This will just take six months ... or so Dock Marston thought in 1947 when he began to write a simple review of the earliest expeditions along the Colorado River. He soon realized what had been previously written was woefully incorrect and incomplete. Marston resolved to compile as thorough a recounting of the first 100 river runners through the Grand Canyon as he possibly could. Dock began his history of river running on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon at a time when many of the pioneering river runners from the late 1800s and early 1900s were still alive. Over the next thirty years, Dock amassed a huge collection of first-person accounts of these river runners, from James White on a log raft in 1867 to the first powerboat runs of 1949 through 1951. This book is his opus magnum, establishing an accurate narration of these sometimes contradicting recollections. The work was almost completed in 1979 when Dock ran his last rapid. Restrictions placed on the manuscript expired in 2012, and this incredibly rich story has finally made it into book form. Tom Martin, author of several Grand Canyon books, brings Marston's work to the forefront of Grand Canyon river running literature.

1019 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2020

Reviews

[William Barrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hundreds of river runners have passed through the Grand Canyon just in the past few decades. I've had the privilege and joy of making 34 river running trips in the Grand Canyon (completing nearly 5,000 miles of river running). Boatmen who have spent large portions of their lives running the Colorado through the Grand Canyon have enriched my knowledge and love for the canyon and its wonderful river. Reading "Dock" Marston's grand volume plopped me down in the middle of a glorious history filled with adventure, tragedy, triumph, and discovery. Understanding the history of river running in the Grand Canyon contributes to our participation in its ongoing history and challenges us with the responsibility to preserve the Grand Canyon for generations to come. Marston's history reveals how that preservation has been endangered in the past and how some have abused their privileged access. From Powell to Power covers the history of the river from Green River, WY to the Gulf of California — including tributaries of the Colorado River. This is the history of the grandest river of the Colorado Plateau. That history is not finished. May the history following the end of Marston's volume be better known for better care of the rivers and the canyons.