Across The Fence: Deserters or Outcasts: Three who left (Part I)

On Sept. 7, 1869, a telegrapher in Utah received what was most likely the newsflash of the day: "Powell's three men killed by three She-bits ... Indian report that they were found in an exhausted state, fed by the She-bits and put on the trail leading to Washington after which they saw a squaw gathering seed and shot her. Whereupon the She-bits followed up and killed all three."

The three dead men were Oramel G. Howland, 36; his younger brother, Seneca B. Howland, 26; and William H. Dunn, a companion of unknown age. The three men had been part of the 1869 Colorado River expedition of Major John Wesley Powell. The three had been with the expedition from the start when in late May, Major Powell and his nine, hand-picked men launched their boats at Green River Station, Wyoming Territory, with the purpose of exploring the Colorado River and the uncharted canyons where it flowed.

The three-month expedition was one of discovery, hardship and danger. Of the 10 who began the expedition, only six would complete the journey from its Green River beginnings to the emergence from the towering walls of the Grand Canyon's western end.

Some claim it was cowardice that prompted the Howland brothers and Dunn to leave the expedition, climb out of the canyon and attempt to return to the settlements on dry land. The reward for their cowardice was murder at the hands of the desert tribe of She-bits" – more commonly referred to as Shivwits. Others, including some of the members of the expedition, have described the departure of the three as a peaceful mutiny due in part to Major Powell's dislike for Dunn and the sometimes irrational behavior of the Major's brother, Captain Walter Powell.

It is interesting to note the backgrounds of the 10 men who comprised the expedition's crew. Six were veterans of the Civil War, three of them being officers and the other four were independent, free roaming adventurers who were quite likely unaccustomed to taking orders from anyone.

The leader, Major John Wesley Powell, had gained his rank during the Civil War. He had been severely wounded in the Battle of Shilo, and as a result, had lost his right arm.

Jack C. Sumner, a Civil War soldier and mountain man, had established a small trading post at Hot Sulphur Springs in Middle Park, Colorado Territory. It was at Sumner's camp that Powell met Dunn, the Howland brothers and W. R. "Bill" Hawkins.

The older of the Howland's, O. G. (Oramel), was a valued addition to the expedition. Oramel was interested in science and a good writer. He had been a printer at the "Rocky Mountain News," vice president of the Denver Typographical Union as well as an agent for the Methodist Episcopal publication. The younger of the brothers, Seneca, was also a Civil War veteran and had been wounded at Gettysburg. Seneca seemed to follow his older brother's lead and although a competent member of the team, was the "quiet one" of the group.

Very little is known of Dunn. At the time, he was making a living by hunting and trapping in the Rock Mountains. Perhaps a bit of a loner, he was nevertheless a hardworking and tireless crewmember quick to action and fearless. Most of those with the expedition suspected that he was a fugitive.

Bill Hawkins was a cook and boasted of the best, brewed coffee west of the Mississippi. He also was a veteran of the Civil War.

Walter H. Powell was Major Powell's brother. Known as "Cap," Walter had been a captain during the Civil War and records of his actions indicate some psychological disorder as a result, perhaps similar to the "shell shock" that soldiers from WWI often suffered.

Rounding out the crew was George Y. Bradley, a lieutenant during the war, Frank Goodman, an English adventurer who was anxious to be a part of such a grand expedition and finally, Andrew Hall, a 19-year-old Scotsman who had come to the great west to be a mountain man.

The Expedition consisted of these 10 men and four specially designed boats that were delivered from their eastern manufacturers by the Union Pacific railroad. One of the four boats, the "Emma Dean" was Major Powell's personal craft. The other three, "Kitty Clyde's Sister," "No Name" and "Maid of the Canyon" each held one-third of the expeditions scientific equipment, tools, supplies and provisions.

Perhaps a certain amount of animosity between Major Powell and Oramel Howland began soon after the expedition was underway. Less than two weeks into the voyage, Oramel failed to notice Major Powell's orders to bring all boats to shore.

As a result, Oramel's craft, the "No Name" drifted past the intended landing point and was swept into a series of rapids that the crew was unprepared for. The boat capsized, throwing the Howland brothers and Frank Goodman into the river. The boat was destroyed causing the loss of one-third of their food supply, half of their mess that included utensils, weapons and other supplies as well as several pieces of scientific instruments.

That night, George Bradley wrote in his personal journal, "It is a serious loss to us and we are rather low-spirited." In the final weeks of the three-months long expedition, this loss meant the men were on starvation rations.

Later on, toward the end of the expedition, Oramel also lost most of the maps and scientific notes that he had been taking throughout the trip. This loss was a significant factor that prevented Major Powell from producing much scientific data from the 1896 expedition.

The following day, after the loss of the "No Name," Powell ordered the men to recover what they could from the wreckage. Sumner and Dunn took the smaller craft, (Powell's personal boat, the "Emma Dean") and conducted a salvage operation. The two were able to retrieve several barometers and thermometers, a three-gallon keg of whiskey and three bags of flour. However, there was no room in the remaining three boats for the flour and Major Powell ordered it to be left behind.

At this spot the adventures discovered the wreckage of another craft that was assumed to be the remains of the failed William Henry Ashley expedition of 1825. Powell named the devastating series of rapids, Disaster Falls.

Navigating the many rapids often resulted in lost equipment, damaged craft and broken oars. New oars had to be handmade from driftwood that had accumulated along the banks of the river. On July 11, after navigating a series of treacherous rapids Sumner wrote in his journal, "broke many oars, and most of the Ten Commandments."

Some dissention among the crew was the result of Major Powell's frequent time consuming excursions away from the main course of the river. On July 26, George Bradley wrote, "another day wasted foolishly," when he recorded that Major Powell wanted to climb the mountains above one of the many side canyons. One such excursion placed Major Powell and George Bradley in a perilous situation – one that could have cost Powell his life and may have ended the expedition.

Major Powell recorded the nearly disastrous event in his personal account of the expedition: "... by making a spring, I gain a foothold in a little crevice and grasp an angle of the rock overhead. I find I can get up no farther and cannot step back, for I dare not let go with my hand, and cannot reach foothold below without. I call to Bradley for help. He finds a way by which he can get to the top of the rock over my head, but cannot reach me. Then he looks around for some stick or limb of a tree, but finds none. Then he suggests that he had better help me with the barometer case; but I fear I cannot hold on to it.

"The moment is critical. Standing on my toes, my muscles begin to tremble. It is 60 or 80 feet to the foot of the precipice. If I lose my hold, I shall fall to the bottom, and then perhaps roll over the bench and tumble still farther down the cliff. At this instant it occurs to Bradley to take off his drawers, which he does, and swings them down to me. I hug close to the rock, let go with my hand, seize the dangling legs, and, with his assistance, I am enabled to gain the top."

On Friday, the 13th of August, Major Powell wrote in his diary: "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 rise over the river, we know not. ...the men talk as cheerfully as ever, jests are bandied about ... but to me the cheer is somber the jests are ghastly."

It would appear that the crew is becoming weary.

M. Timothy Nolting is an award winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. Contact him via email at [email protected]