John Wesley Powell opened up the landscape drained by the Colorado and Green rivers, and you can listen to his book on your own exploration of these rivers/National Portrait Gallery

In 1869 John Wesley Powell launched his wooden boats down the Green River in Wyoming to explore the last unmapped place in America. He wrote in The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, “We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! we may conjecture many things.”

Powell and his men paddled down the Green River through Flaming Gorge, down the mighty rapids of Lodore Canyon, and into Desolation Canyon to the junction of the Colorado River. After Cataract Canyon, his crew finally entered more gentle waters, which he described: “...wonderful features—carved walls, royal arches, glens, alcove gulches, mounds and monuments. From which of these features shall we select a name? We decide to call it Glen Canyon.”

But after this idyllic scene they launched themselves down the Grand Canyon itself, facing danger at every turn, without adequate food and supplies. Conditions were so harsh and uncertain that three of his party left at what is called Separation Canyon ahead of what they considered the roughest water. Though the three perished at the hands of Native Americans, Powell’s party exited the canyon the next day to complete the trip.

These journals (from 1869 and another trip two years later) are a classic description of Western exploration and adventure. You can take this book with you, in the form of a free audio book from LibriVox.org, on your next river trip. Listen to Powell’s words after a day on the river, comparing your own experiences with his.

See the same majestic views that Powell saw and described, but without the same anxiety and fears. Listen to his adventures as he becomes rimrocked in Echo Park on the Green River, or the mad dash down the Canyon of Lodore. Reflect on his intense drive to go where no one had gone before, as he descends into the great unknown. You can also learn much more about Major Powell, and his explorations, at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum in Green River, Utah.

Canyons of the Colorado by John Wesley Powell is just one of the many audio titles of interest to national park enthusiasts available on LibriVox.org. You can listen to John Muir’s adventure guide The Yosemite, and The Book of National Parks by Robert Sterling Yard, as well as many selections about Yellowstone National Park. There are audio books on The Journal of Lewis and Clark, and even a 1973 U.S. government publication Canyon de Chelly: The Story of its Ruins and People.

Listen to these publications and reflect upon the opening of the American West, its explorations, and the importance of wild spaces and our national park system. Librivox has thousands of public domain works online, absolutely free, because people have taken the time to vocalize these books.

You can even contribute with an audio book of your own. These tracks are available on iTunes, and can also be downloaded to your computer to be put onto your mobile device later. Books are easy to find with a simple website, searchable by title, author, genre, and even language.

For the outdoor and parks enthusiast, these titles can be a great way to give the landscape its history and context.