Chords: Em, B7/F#; C/G, B7/F#,; Em, G; C , B7/F#, Em; later modulate up.

John Wesley Powell was a man of his word
He joined the Union cause to right the wrongs he could
He fought and lost an arm and continued to serve
Though for life he felt the pain from his amputated nerve

He loved the land and learned to map it true
He learned to read its sediments, it structures, it glue
He was book learned but needed a bigger test
So he organized his buddies and explored the wild west

Chorus: (C/G, G, B7/F#, Em)
John Wesley Powell left his mark on the land
Like Lewis and Clark before him
Like Marshall and Muir he’ll stand
For the country he saw was as great as the sky
The forests, the rivers, where beauty never dies

As a young man he rowed the Mississippi from Minnesota to the sea
He hiked across Wisconsin, he was barely 23
In the war he kept his head down laying in the trenches
Wasn’t just scared, was inspecting water flow in ditches

He first explored the Rockies in eighteen sixty seven
Knew his heart belonged to this big piece of heaven
It wasn’t recklessness, pride or bravado
Curiosity led him to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado

Chorus:
For a thousand miles the Virgin, Escalante, and Price
Every lateral creek has a canyon it’s sliced
Every brook, every rill born of a shower
Has cut into rock with slow, relentless power

Pueblo-building tribes, a thousand generations
Zuni, Hopi and the Navajo nations
The Paiute and Havasupai scratch out their lives
in this empty quiet land they’ve learned to survive

Chorus:
Ponderosa, manzanita, cottonwood and willow
A single puff in the sky soft as a pillow
Dry pancake flats that bloom in the dew
A palette of color and the sky so blue

Our genial crew, hand picked for their skills
Veteran explorers, all have strong wills
There are 10 of us now, God willing all will come through
We know what we’re in for, we know what to do

Chorus:
Wooden skiffs, boats packed with gear
Difficult to row, difficult to steer
Launched north of Moab, launched on the Green
Up here the water’s gentle, it seems quite serene

(Pulse root chord -- Chant)
Ya-ah-teh Biliga-ana Aho-A Nizhanee-A
Greetings White Man, be well, be lucky

(Modulate 1 step to F#)
Walls of water, torrents of force
Around each bend another course
Broadside to the rock, crashing, smashing wood
Men tossed to the wild, clinging to what they could

(Modulate 1/2 step to G)
Rescue risks losing more boats still
Thrashing rapids that can kill, they can kill
[Gm] [spoken]
T'ahdii ni, Shini chii-di bik-id ni.
We are sorry for you. May the spirits watch over you

A stretch of peaceful water eases our fear
But too soon again, what’s that I hear?
We look at each other, what’s around the bend?
This is too much, it has to end, it has to end

(Modulate 1/2 step to G#)
We’ve lost tools, food and supplies
We've no way of knowing if we’ll come out alive
We climb out of the canyon, up the rock face
To see where we stand in this rugged, empty place

(Modulate 1/2 step to A-)
The river is a snake, winding in the sun
We can see our journey's just begun, it’s just begun
Keyah-dii nitsaa doo yeeh,
Holo dikwii Na-nish-tsoe
[spoken]: This land is big and fearsome, it is rife with hazards

Today millions visit the rim, thousands more raft the river
We’ve learned to expect our tours to deliver
We take for granted this man’s achievements
Until we face the river, and confront our fears like he did

Chorus: F, C, E7, A-; F, C, E7. A-
John Wesley Powell left his mark on the land
Like Lewis and Clark before you
[spoken]: Jo-ni Woh-nas-di Ta-ha-ah-te
You have furthered the possible
For the country you saw was as great as the sky
The forests, the rivers,
[spoken]: Ya-ah-teh Nah-dzah Naa-na.
where beauty never dies
[spoken]: We welcome your return.

Explorers work off obsessions and urges
Inside there’s something the unknown purges
It’s not just about risking their lives
It’s a vision for which... each man and woman thrives