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<br />History <br /> <br />EI Rio Colorado (The Red River) ~as discovered by the <br />Spanish explorers aroUlld 1540. For the next two and a half <br />centurie~, the river with its deep canyons and raging waters <br />was a frustrating barrier to the Spanish, first in their quest <br />for the"Seven Cities of Gold" and later in the route of travel <br /> <br />between their developing colonies at Santa Fe and in southern <br />California. (4,5) <br />Conouering of the river was left until 1869, when Major <br />John Wesley Powell undertook a scientific expedition to float <br />and map the Colorado. After some two years of perilous adven- <br />ture, Powell and his crew co~pleted the task of charting the <br />Colorado with ~ost of its major tributaries froroJreen River, <br />Wyoming to the Gulf of Mexico. powell wes one of tne first <br />men to recognize the potential of the land drained by the Col- <br />orado and to predict the future strife in harnessing the river <br />and parceling its precious resource. (3,S) <br /> <br />-2- <br />