By J. W. Powell, Director.
INTRODUCTORY.
The exploration of the Colorado River of the West, begun in 1869 by authority of Congressional action, was by the same authority subsequently continued as the second division of the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Territories, and, finally, as the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region.
By act of Congress of March 3, 1879, the various geological and geographical surveys existing at that time were discontinued and the United States Geological Survey was established.
In all the earlier surveys anthropologic researches among the North American Indians were carried on. In that branch of the work finally designated as the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, such research constituted an important part of the work. In the act creating the Geological Survey, provision was made to continue work in this field under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, on the basis of the methods developed and materials collected by the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region.
Under the authority of the act of Congress providing for the continuation of the work, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution intrusted its management to the former director of the Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, and a bureau of ethnology was thus practically organized.
In the Annual Report of the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region for 1877, the following statement of the condition of the work at that time appears: