We Conclude To Name It "Bright Angel"

from the diary of
John Wesley Powell:

August 16, 1869/

We must dry our rations again today and make oars.
The Colorado is never a clear stream, but for the past three or four days it has been raining much of the time, and the floods which are poured over the walls have brought down great quantities of mud, making it exceedingly turbid now. The little affluent which we have discovered here is a clear, beautiful creek, or river, as it would be termed in this western country, where streams are not abundant. We have named one stream, away above, the "Dirty Devil," and, as this is in beautiful contrast to that, we conclude to name it "Bright Angel."
Early in the morning the whole party starts up to explore the Bright Angel River with the special purpose of seeking timber from which to make oars. A couple of miles above, we find a large pine log which has been floated down from the plateau, probably from an altitude of six thousand feet, but not many miles back. On its way it must have passed over many cataracts and falls for it bears scars in evidence of the rough usage which it has received. The men roll it on skids, and the work of sawing oars is commenced.
This stream heads back away, under a line of abrupt cliffs, that terminates the plateau, and tumbles down more than four thousand feet in the first mile or two of its course. It then runs through a deep, narrow canyon until it reaches the river.
Late in the afternoon I return, and go up a little gulch just above this creek about two hundred yards from camp. I discover the ruins of two or three old houses, which were originally of stone, laid in mortar. Only the foundations are left, but irregular blocks, of which the houses were constructed, lie scattered about. In one room I find an old mealing stone, deeply worn, as if it had been much used. A great deal of pottery is strewn around, and old trails, which in some places are deeply worn into the rocks, are seen.

Ribbon Falls from Bright Angel Canyon (top)
Anasazi pottery shards (middle)
eastern view from Whites butte (below)