In the fall of 1857 Lieutenant Ives, of the engineer corps of the army,
ascended the Colorado River on a trip of exploration with a little
steamer called the Explorer; he went as far as the mouth of the Rio
Virgin. Falling back down river a few miles, Lieutenant Ives met a pack
train which had followed him up the bank of the stream. Here he
disembarked, and on the 24th of March started with a land party to
explore the eastern bank of the river; making a long detour he ascended
the plateau through which the Grand Canyon is cut, and in an adventurous
journey he obtained views of the canyon along its lower course. On this
trip J. S. Newberry was the geologist, and to him we are indebted for
the first geological explanation of the canyon and the description of
the high plateau through which it is formed. Doctor Newberry was not
only an able geologist, but he was also a graphic writer, and his
description of the canyon as far as it was seen by him is a classic in
geology.
In 1869 Lieutenant Wheeler was sent out by the chief engineer of the
army to explore the Grand Canyon from below. In the spring he succeeded
in reaching the mouth of Diamond Creek, which had previously been seen
by Doctor Newberry in 1858. Mr. Gilbert was the geologist of this
expedition, and his studies of the canyon region during this and
subsequent years have added greatly to our knowledge of this land of
wonders.