In This Issue

Buildings on Green Section of Swett Ranch. Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service.

Historians of the Powell expeditions have traditionally focused on the geological, geographical, and ethnological contributions of those well-documented explorations and in the process have spared little ink in describing the grit and egotism of the major and his men. The student envisions masculine images of boats, bruises, rapids, tempers, and sweat. Now, with the discovery of Ellen Powell Thompson's diary in the New York Public Library, generously excerpted in our first article, a much more complete picture emerges of the second expedition. The genteel Ellen, like her brother a keen and indefatigable observer of the Colorado Plateau, concentrated on floral specimens. Her careful documentation significantly expanded the collective botanical knowledge of that time and place, while her diary reveals much about herself, the expedition, and the red rock country of 1872.

Not far from the spot that Powell first launched his boats in the Green River, we shift to a later time and an engaging story of bucolic family life on a remote but picturesque homestead. Now gone, and their homestead incorporated as a visitor site within a national recreation area, the Swett family left a nostalgic record of life on Utah's agricultural fringe that served them well clear through the 1960s.

Our attention then shifts back to the nineteenth century and heroic achievement for the final two articles. One examines the philosophy and courage of Indian agent Garland Hurt and his tumultuous tenure in Utah Territory in the 1850s The other chronicles the incredible saga of the Parley P Pratt exploring party through southern Utah in 1849 Full of action and suspense, both are meant to be read and appreciated from the comfort and security of the living room on a pleasant summer evening.