On August 30, 1869, Major John Wesley Powell landed at the mouth of the Virgin River, about twelve miles south of here, thus ending the first expedition through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
The expedition left Green River City, Wyoming Territory, on May 24, 1869. For three months Powell and his men endured danger and hunger to explore, survey, and study the geology of the canyons along the Green and Colorado Rivers.
Exhausted and near starvation, the Powell party was fed by the Mormons of St. Thomas, a small farm settlement about eleven miles north of here.
The waters of Lake Mead flooded original sites of St. Thomas and the junction of the Virgin and Colorado Rivers.
Powell’s work stimulated interest in the water conservation problems of the Southwest.
This is Nevada State Historical Marker #37, see others on this page:
