Powell Survey

For six years in the 1870s, the one-armed Civil War veteran John Wesley Powell ran his federal survey of the Colorado River country out of Kanab. On this spot his men raised a tent over a telescope on a stone footing and fixed the meridian by the stars. Through the winter of 1872–73 they drew the first real map of the Grand Canyon — the canyon Powell had explored by boat and now formally named — with a young artist, Frederick Dellenbaugh, lettering the name onto the sheet. Kanab's men did much of the labor.

What the plaque says

From 1870 to 1876 Major Wesley Powell and assistant Almon H. Thompson of the U.S. Colorado River Explorations, established headquarters at Kanab. On this spot they erected a stone foundation and raised a tent which housed a telescope, by which means the meridian was established. During the winter of 1872 and 1873 the first map of Grand Canyon was made and Major Powell gave the canyon its name. Frederick S. Dellanbough wrote the name on the first map. The men of Kanab helped in the work and were faithful, agreeable and competent.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kanab — 0.3 mi
  Little Hollywood — where hundreds of Western movies were filmed
• Best Friends Animal Sanctuary — 8.5 mi
  The largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the United States
• Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park — 11 mi
  Sweeping dunes of coral-colored sand framed by red cliffs
• Mount Carmel Junction — 15 mi
  The crossroads where the road to Zion meets the highway to Bryce

More markers nearby

• Kane County Veterans Memorial — steps away
• Jacob Hamblin — 0.3 mi
• Fort Kanab — 0.3 mi
• Johnson Canyon Cemetery — 8.9 mi