Marble Canyon Dam States Geological Survey, which designated sites for "an unbroken string of [hydroelectric] dams from the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming to the last canyons of the Colorado River along the California/Arizona border". Although the Bureau of Reclamation expressed interest at this time in developing hydroelectric generation at the Marble site, these plans were postponed in favor of building the Hoover Dam, which would provide a much greater storage capacity for irrigation and flood control. However, once Hoover was completed the Bureau once again set its sights on the Grand Canyon, which has the greatest hydroelectric potential of any canyon in
The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons by John Wesley Powell is a classic of American exploration literature. It is about the Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869 which was the first trip down the Colorado River by boat, including the first trip through the Grand Canyon. Powell's first written accounts of his exploration appeared in the January, February and March 1875 editions of "Scribner’s Monthly" as "The Canons of the Colorado". The Smithsonian published it in book form in 1875 under title "Report of the Exploration of the Colorado