Uploaded October 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This is film footage from the 1923 Grand Canyon expedition. This is the earliest film made by the USGS and one of the first black and white films distributed nationally. Birdseye Survey of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River in Arizona from 1923 black and white film made by the Department of the Interior - USGS - United States Geological Survey.
In 1923 the survey was one of the most difficult ever undertook by US government engineers, and was made to show the possibilities of power generation, in other words a feasible damsite. The chief topographic engineering of the USGS, Col. C.H. Birdseye led the durvey effort. In 1920s plans were being developed to dam the Grand Canyon. This video is a great historical record of the river and the canyon.
This is film footage from the 1923 Grand Canyon expedition. This is the earliest film made by the USGS and one of the first black and white films distributed nationally. Birdseye Survey of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River in Arizona from 1923 black and white film made by the Department of the Interior - USGS - United States Geological Survey.
In 1923 the survey was one of the most difficult ever undertook by US government engineers, and was made to show the possibilities of power generation, in other words a feasible damsite. The chief topographic engineering of the USGS, Col. C.H. Birdseye led the durvey effort. In 1920s plans were being developed to dam the Grand Canyon. This video is a great historical record of the river and the canyon.
