John Wesley Powell

Did you know that John Wesley Powell's brain is housed in jar at the Smithsonian Institution? Powell willed his brain to science and so it now rests in a preservative. He also left body parts in Tennessee at the battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) in April of 1862. Quoting from the United States Geographic Service:

Powell was made captain of Battery F, 2d Illinois Artillery Volunteers at the end of the year. A few weeks later, he and his battery were ordered to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. During the Battle of Shiloh, on April 6, as Powell gave the signal to fire, a Minie ball struck his wrist and plowed into his arm. The wound was so severe that his arm had to be amputated below the elbow.

Powell was instrumental in founding and gaining legislation for the USGS.

In the spring of 1878, Congress investigated the rivalry among the western surveys but was unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion. They called on the National Academy of Sciences for advice, and the academy in turn called on Powell and others for suggestions. Legislation embodying the academy plan that contained many of Powell's ideas was introduced, but before it was finally enacted several provisions were eliminated, including one of special interest to Powell—a proposal to change the public land system. The bill that was passed on March 3, 1879, provided for the establishment of the U.S. Geological Survey, discontinuation of the western surveys, and appointment of a commission to codify the public land laws. Powell became a member of the commission, and Clarence King, who had been in charge of the Geologic Exploration of the 40th Parallel, the first of the national surveys authorized by Congress, became the first Director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

He is most famous for his trips of exploration down the Colorado River and of course, because of his namesake, Lake Powell. The picture above is the Powell Memorial at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon commemorating his first and second voyages down the Colorado River in 1869 and 1872.