LAKE POWELL
Lake Powell is named after the explorer and part-time geologist, Major John Wesley Powell. This Civil War veteran lost his arm in the battle of Shiloh, but never let his physical disabilities stand in his way. He lead two successful expeditions (1869 & 1871) down the Colorado, completing nearly a 1,000 mile journey through the uncharted canyons and wild rapids of the Colorado River. By surveying and mapping his journeys through the area, Powell charted a course for the opening of the American West for future exploration.
NAVAJO NATION
The city of Page is adjacent to the Navajo Nation, the United States' largest Native American Tribe. The Navajo reservation contains more than 16 million acres (27,000 square miles) and extends into Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Today the Navajo Nation is home to more than 250,000 registered tribal members.
PREHISTORIC NATIVE AMERICANS
While prehistoric peoples, including the Ancestral Puebloans, are long gone from Glen Canyon, a good deal of evidence of their lifestyle remains. Through study of relics such as pottery, basketry, architecture and burial methods, we are able to piece together how they may have lived and what they may have believed. Across the Four Corners region, there are thousands of examples of Native American rock art. During the course of a smootwater float trip with Colorado River Discovery, you will be able to visit one of these protected petroglyphs panels as part of the itinerary.
In the latter part of the 13th century, most of the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings and other communities were abandoned. Soil erosion, climate changes, and other factors may have caused the exodus of the Ancestral Puebloan people and their migration south, forming the civilization that eventually became the modern Hopi people. The current Hopi Reservation, southeast of Page, is the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States.
CALIFORNIA CONDORS
In 1982, the California Condor was functionally extinct, with only 22 birds remaining in existence. An aggressive plan was needed to capture, breed, and reintroduce the mighty condor back into the wild. The California Condor project, headed by the Peregrine Fund, was formed in the early 1990s with supporting partners from the National Park Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Bureau of Land Management, Southern Utah’s Coalition of Resources and Economics, the Grand Canyon Conservation Fund and scores of others who have donated countless hours and needed revenue for this vital project.
The reintroduction of these majestic birds was started in 1996 with a pair of fledging chicks. Wild reproduction began in 2003 in the Grand Canyon. The population in the Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon regions now numbers over 60 condors and accounts for nearly half of the wild population since reintroduction.
The success of the Condor Recovery Program has allowed visitors for the first time in decades the opportunity to see these endangered birds to soar free.
