Gunnison Expedition

Ordinary Lateral Ravines on the Grand (Gunnison) River From Camp September 3, 1853

Lithograph by John Mix Stanley; Sketch by Richard H. Kern
Courtesy of the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum

“On each side of the river to-day, and as we can see, for some days ahead, the banks rise rapidly towards the precipitous sides of the mesas which extend back from fifteen to thirty miles to the mountains. These elevated tables... consisting of the same formations, all of them terminated at the top by a capping of greater or less thickness of igneous rock...were formed doubtless, by the upheaval of large plains at the same time; and the immense cracks and crevices of those convulsions have been enlarged, in time, by the elements, and now form the canones, gorges, ravines, gullies, and passes, which in every direction surround us."

John W. Gunnison’s description of the Grand (Gunnison) River Valley in “Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad”

Early Life

John Williams Gunnison was born on November 11, 1812 in Goshen, New Hampshire. He attended school and shortly after became a teacher. He later entered West Point Military Academy and graduated second in his class. Gunnison began military service in 1837 on active duty under General Zachary Taylor. Battles between Seminole Indians and white settlers in Florida were ongoing. As peace talks were undertaken, Gunnison was ordered to explore unfamiliar lakes and rivers in search of provision routes south to Fort Besinger. The assignments were challenging, and the heat and humidity took a toll on Gunnison’s health. In 1838, he received a transfer to the Corps of Topographical Engineers. This was a separate branch of the military primarily focused on exploration and surveying.

Going West

In 1841, Gunnison received his first western assignment to survey land on the Wisconsin-Michigan border. Gunnison and the survey crew persisted through hardship and eventually mapped much of the border land and the shores of Lake Michigan.

Gunnison’s first sight of the west came as a member of the Captain Stansbury Utah Territory Expedition of 1849. Their task was to explore the route to the Mormon community in Utah. The expedition journeyed through the Great Plains and southern Wyoming before arriving in the Great Salt Lake region. They explored and mapped the area and gathered scientific information about their surroundings.

During a difficult winter with limited communication, Gunnison studied the Mormon Church and wrote The Mormons, or Latter Day Saints in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake: A History of their Rise and Progress, Peculiar Doctrines, Present Condition. That same winter, there was an uprising between American Indians and the Mormons near Salt Lake City. Gunnison negotiated between the two parties, winning the admiration of his peers.

 

View Showing the Formation of the Cañon of the Grand River,
Near the mouth of Lake Fork with indications of the formidable Side Cañones. 1855.

Drawing by F. W. Egloffstein
Lithograph courtesy of Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum

Grand Valley and Black Canyon

Lieutenant Gunnison was promoted to Captain in 1853 largely due to his successes in Utah and the Great Lakes region. He was selected to lead the search for a Pacific railroad route along the Kansas-Nebraska border, assisted by Lieutenant Edward G. Beckwith. The expedition took him through the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains, and into the Tomichi Valley. The town, present day Gunnison, is named after him. The expedition continued to follow the Grand River (Gunnison River) until reaching the Black Canyon.

On September 7, 1853, the expedition first glimpsed the Black Canyon at Lake Fork. The report of the expedition described the area as "a stream imbedded in [a] narrow and sinuous canyon, resembling a huge snake in motion." The report continues, "To look down over...the canyon below, it seems easy to construct a railroad; but immense amounts of cutting, filling and masonry would be required." The captain rode into the canyon several times and remarked on the difficult terrain. Gunnison became convinced a transcontinental railroad would be expensive and impractical based on engineering obstacles from Black Canyon and the surrounding mesas. The expedition continued past Cimarron, over Cerro Summit, into the Uncompahgre River Valley and eventually present-day Montrose, Colorado.

When the expedition reached Utah, they came upon destruction from Paiute Indian raids on Mormon settlements. Local residents reassured the expedition that peace talks had taken place and there was no imminent threat. The expedition divided up to make up for lost time and camped separately. On October 25, 1853, Gunnison’s group was attacked. Gunnison and others were killed; only four men in his party survived. After Gunnison’s death, Beckwith assumed leadership and continued the survey to recommend a practical railroad route.

The Gunnison Expedition report contains the first official description of the Black Canyon. Subsequent government expeditions in the 1850s traveled through Colorado in search of a transcontinental railroad route, but none strayed near the Black Canyon again.

 

Resources

1861 Steel Engravings & Lithographed Maps. Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum. http://cprr.org/Museum/USPRR-Wm_Husson-PANZOOM/index.html

De Boer, Shirley M. "John Williams Gunnison (1812-1853)." Goshen NH Historical Society, May 12, 2012. 
https://goshennh-historicalsociety.com/john-williams-gunnison-1812-1853/

Beckwith, E.G. "Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad by Capt. J. W. Gunnison, Topographical Engineers, near the 38th and 39th Parallels of North Latitude, from the Mouth of the Kansas River, MO., to the Sevier Lake in the Great Basin." War Department. 1854.

O'Rourke, Paul M. "The Great Reconnaissance and the Rediscovery of the Southwest." in FRONTIER IN TRANSITION:A History of Southwestern Colorado. Bureau of Land Management - Colorado Cultural Resources Series Number Ten. 1980.