CD-ROM DIGITAL ARCHIVE- REPORT UPON THE COLORADO RIVER OF THE WEST EXPLORED IN 1857 AND 1858 BY LIEUTENANT JOSEPH C. IVES, GEOLOGICAL REPORT WITH MAPS BY JOHN S. NEWBERRY

Dams, irrigation projects and water rights keep the Colorado River in the limelight. This CD-ROM is a digital copy of the Ives Report (1857-1858) of the lower Colorado River. It includes both topographical maps and rarely seen geological maps. The report is the first systematic scientific survey of the region. Ives compiled the general and hydrographic reports; Newberry the geology, Gray, Torrey, Thurber and Engelmann the botany, and Baird the zoology. The expedition’s detailed meteorological records are in the appendix. This empirical study best reflects the unfettered regional southwestern environment.

Lt. Ives prepared a remarkably detailed report of the expedition travails. In a series of chromo-lithographs and woodcut illustrations, Möllhausen romantically captured the Grand Canyon's awesome towering cliffs, mesas, and colorful native tribes. Perhaps the two greatest derivatives of the expedition’s report were Newberry's Geology Report and Egloffstein's newly developed shaded relief maps. Newberry's report covers his entire geologic reconnaissance: from the Coast Range of California near San Francisco; to the rendezvous with Lt. Ives in Fort Yuma, Arizona; through the Grand Canyon; to wagon roads to Santa Fe, New Mexico; and finally to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Newberry was the first geologist to examine and report upon the Grand Canyon, and the first to recognize its geologic antiquity. Newberry accumulated compelling evidence for his geologic origins thesis from viewing the tilted strata below the mesa tops and water-eroded valleys displaying the fundamental principal of superposition of geologic strata. Along the riverside trails Newberry gathered fossils that certified the various rock ages. His report includes three plates of fossils from the Canyon country. Additionally, Newberry created the first geological maps of the Lower Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.

The Ives Report is one of the finest reports prepared by the Army Topographical Corps. Like the Colorado River, the Ives Report is an endangered national treasure. The lure of collecting Western Americana prints and maps has dealt a crippling blow to the preservation of classic books such as the Ives volume. The CD-ROM medium makes contents of rare books readily accessible to current researchers with a desktop computer.