The crew on first expedition launched in 1869 from Green River Station [at the time, the Union Pacific railroad temporary terminus during its construction in], Wyo. Terr., as described by Powell in Canyons of the Colorado, 1895:
[1] J. C. Sumner and William H. Dunn are my boatmen in the "Emma Dean"; then
follows
[2] Kitty Clyde's Sister," manned by W. H. Powell and G. Y. Bradley; next, the
[3] "No Name," with O. G. Howland, Seneca Howland, and Frank Goodman; and last
comes the [4] "Maid of the Canyon," with W. E. Hawkins and Andrew Hall.
Sumner was a soldier during the late war, and before and since that time has been a great
traveler in the wilds of the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains as an amateur
hunter. He is a fair-haired, delicate-looking man, but a veteran in experience, and has
performed the feat of crossing the Rocky Mountains in midwinter on snowshoes. He spent the
winter of 1886-87 in Middle Park, Colorado, for the purpose of making some natural history
collections for me, and succeeded in killing three grizzlies, two mountain lions, and a
large number of elk, deer, sheep, wolves, beavers, and many other animals. When Bayard
Taylor traveled through the parks of Colorado, Sumner was his guide, and he speaks in
glowing terms of Mr. Taylor's genial qualities in camp, but he was mortally offended when
the great traveler requested him to act as doorkeeper at Breckenridge to receive the
admission fee from those who attended his lectures.
Dunn was a hunter, trapper, and mule-packer in Colorado for many years. He dresses in
buckskin with a dark oleaginous luster, doubtless due to the fact that he has lived on fat
venison and killed many beavers since he first donned his uniform years ago. His raven
hair falls down to his back, for he has a sublime contempt of shears and razors.
Captain Powell was an officer of artillery during the late war and was captured on the 22d
day of July, 1864, at Atlanta and served a ten months' term in prison at Charleston, where
he was placed with other officers under fire. He is silent, moody, and sarcastic, though
sometimes he enlivens the camp at night with a song. He is never surprised at anything,
his coolness never deserts him, and he would choke the belching throat of a volcano if he
thought the spitfire meant anything but fun. We call him _ "_Old Shady."
Bradley, a lieutenant during the late war, and since orderly sergeant in the regular army,
was, a few weeks previous to our start, discharged, by order of the Secretary of War, that
he might go on this trip. He is scrupulously careful, and a little mishap works him into a
passion, but when labor is needed he has a ready hand and powerful arm, and in danger,
rapid judgment and unerring skill. A great difficulty or peril changes the petulant spirit
into a brave, generous soul.
O. G. Howland is a printer by trade, an editor by profession, and a hunter by choice. When
busily employed he usually puts his hat in his pocket, and his thin hair and long beard
stream in the wind, giving him a wild look, much like that of King Lear in an illustrated
copy of Shakespeare which tumbles around the camp.
Seneca Howland is a quiet, pensive young man, and a great favorite with all.
Goodman is a stranger to us--a stout, willing Englishman, with florid face and more florid
anticipations of a glorious trip.
Billy Hawkins, the cook, was a soldier in the Union Army during the war, and when
discharged at its close went West, and since then has been engaged as teamster on the
plains or hunter in the mountains. He is an athlete and a jovial good fellow, who hardly
seems to know his own strength.
Hall is a Scotch boy, nineteen years old, with what seems to us a "secondhand
head," which doubtless came down to him from some knight who wore it during the
Border Wars. It looks a very old head indeed, with deep-set blue eyes and beaked nose.
Young as he is, Hall has had experience in hunting, trapping, and fighting Indians, and he
makes the most of it, for he can tell a good story, and is never encumbered by unnecessary
scruples in giving to his narratives those embellishments which help to make a story
complete. He is always ready for work or play and is a good hand at either.