a trip down a river

8/13/2019 A trip down a river

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by Linda Cernak

illustrated by Frank Riccio

A Trip Downa River

A Trip Downa River


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ISBN 0-15-323127-0

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by Linda Cernak

illustrated by Frank Riccio

A Trip Downa River A Trip Downa River


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Out west, there is a long river called the

Colorado River. This river runs along the

bottom of the Grand Canyon.

A canyon is a large valley that has

been carved out of rock. It took many

years for the Colorado River to form the

Grand Canyon.

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WYOMING

CALIFORNIA

NEVADA UTAH

ARIZONA

ColoradoRiver

The Colorado River begins high in the

mountains of Colorado. It flows through

Utah and Arizona, and ends in Mexico. It

connects with many rivers along the way.

3

WYOMING

CALIFORNIA

NEVADA UTAH

ARIZONA

ColoradoRiver


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Many years ago, there were no maps of

the Colorado River. John Powell, a scientist,

wanted to explore the river. He took nine

other men with him on this trip.

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Powell and his men began their journey

in Wyoming. Boats, food, and supplies were

sent there by train. Powell brought

notebooks so he could write about his trip

and make drawings. No mapmaker had yet

drawn a map of the whole river.

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COLORADO

WYOMINGGreen

River City

Grand Lake

The trip started at Green River City, which

is near the source of the Colorado River—

Grand Lake in Colorado.

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COLORADO

WYOMINGGreen

River City

Grand Lake


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On May 11, the trip began. The boats

pushed off onto the Green River. Powell’s

group had a long distance to go before the

journey would end. The trip would take

more than three months to finish.

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The boats passed safely through a group

of three canyons. Powell sketched pictures

to show the features of the canyons.

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Next, the men came to a waterfall. One of

the four boats broke apart at the falls. Food

and supplies were lost, too. Powell and his

men did not give up. The group bravely

moved on.

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Powell and his group stopped to camp for

a few days. They were tired and needed to

rest so they made a campfire.

Some of their food had spoiled from the

river water splashing into the boats. No one

wanted to peel the potatoes or eat them,

because they were rotten.

While the men ate dinner, a strong wind

blew the fire onto a group of trees. A brush

fire started and spread down the canyon.

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All of the men rushed for their boats.

They got ahead of the fire just in time!

They were safe, traveling down the river

once again.

Powell’s expedition camped near the

beginning of the Yampa River. The food

supply continued to spoil because of the

water, but the fishing was very good. The

men were hopeful.

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Later Powell and his men came to another

river. There, six of them camped for a few

days while Powell and three other men

hiked a great distance into the woods.

The hikers met Native Americans who

lived in the woods. The Native Americans

gave Powell supplies to make up for the

ones that were lost.

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The trip down the river continued. Boats

rode the rapids and bounced up and down.

Powell fell out of his boat. He could not hold

on and had to swim to the shore. John lost

his bedding and some of his supplies.

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Finally the river met up with the Grand

River. Today we call it the Colorado River.

Powell and his men stopped to fix their

boats and threw away spoiled food. Since

this area was new to them, they used local

maps to figure out where they were.

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The trip down the river went on. The

river’s rapid water often was a problem.

Sometimes the men rode through it. At

other times, they moved the boats close to

the shore and pulled them for a distance.

Already one man had given up the

expedition. Near the end of the trip, three

more men left because they were

discouraged. Just two days later, Powell and

the rest of the men finished their journey.

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After more than three months of riding

the river, they had come to the end of their

trip. They had traveled more than 1,000

miles in 98 days!

Powell’s journey was a tremendous

success and helped Americans understand

this western area of the country.

16

MAY 11

JUNE 11

JULY 16

AUGUST 30


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Think and Respond

1 How do the maps help tell this story?

2 Why did Powell bring notebooks

with him?

3 Why do you think Powell wanted to make

this trip?

4 How do you know that Powell was

brave?

5 How did Powell feel at the start of the

trip? How did he feel at the end?

6 What are today’s explorers looking for?

Word Count: 656

School-Home Connection After you read

aloud the story, discuss with a family member the

importance of rivers.

Explore a River The source of theColorado River is in Colorado and the river flows

to Mexico. In what direction does the river flow?

Draw a diagram to show your answer.

a trip down a river

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