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In 1869 the first successful expedition was led by Major John Wesley Powell, a civil war veteran and self taught geologist. Powell kept an extensive journal, revealing the mind of a scientist and poet. He explored the remote region for historical data, whole testifying to its beauty, which he felt could not be duplicated this side of Paradise. The magnificent cinematography, reveals walls bursting with hundreds of fountains. Below the walls, crystal clear waters, flow down upon mosses, ferns, and colorful flowering plants, where hummingbirds dip their long beaks into the cupped petals, gorging on the nectar, for a solemn afternoon tea! Eagles fly majestically over the powdered clouds, cradled within the canyon walls, while herds of Desert Big Horn Sheep skip over the rugged terrain, like children at play.
He called the canyon..."a land of music...a land of song...where mountains of music swell in the rivers...hills of music billow in the creeks...meadows of music murmur in the rills...that ripple over the rocks." All together...it is a symphony of multitudinous melodies...the music of waters...GRAND AND GLORIOUS!! by Judy Crocker
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RIVER SONG is a natural history of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, masterfully narrated by the magnificent actor and well-known environmentalist, Richard Chamberlain. This video provides 40 minutes of breathtaking cinematography, narration, and glorious music. It focuses on a canyon, born of water, with majestic walls, sculpted over millions of years; it's cathedrals and spires named for the gods. 
There are over 140 legendary rapids bursting into foamy chaos, pounding against the shale, limestone, and sandstone of the canyon walls. Each tells a story of changing environments over millions of years. Diamond Back Rattle Snakes slither over the jagged rocks, while lizards and scorpions, scurry over the ruins of a civilization once home to ancient tribes. Pottery left behind, is strewn over trails, worn deeply in the rocks. A dragonfly flutters over a legendary sacred place, where human beings and animals are said to emerge from the underworld, exposing a place through which the dead are destined to also return. 
There are tens of thousands of gorges. Powell called each gorge a world of beauty unto itself. Years ago, my husband led a group of his University Of Arizona students, into the beautiful Havasupai Canyon, for one of the most wonderful and unforgettable hikes of their experience. The hot sun shines down on bare boulders, some of the exposed rock, formed 1 1/2 billion years before dinosaurs walked the earth. Powell's discoveries gave us great knowledge of the canyon's grandeur, and along with the historical data, he also left us his sense of wonder.