I love the fact that this forum is named Alternative History!
--------------------------------------------------------------
About the Grand Canyon, USA
Historical evidence shows that John Wesley Powell named it because of the grandeur of it all.
Another
view is that fur trappers or other explorers trekked down the Grand
River in Colorado that is now known as the Colorado River (renamed by
fiat in 1923). They would have known of the canyons of the Grand River
far before Powell did and indeed could have spread their story as such
which could be something on the order of, "there are spectacular canyons
carved out by the Grand River west of Grand Junction". This would not
have to have been written down. Just that the story was told and moved
by word of mouth back to the east into civilization where it was written
down. Once it is written down it can be read by any explorer before
they set out on their adventure.
No doubt
Powell read everything published about the Green, San Juan, and
Colorado rivers and may have come across this tale instilling the
concept of a "Immense Canyon(s) on the Grand River"... or the "Grand River
Canyon" or the "Grand Canyon".
This
is a very old theory and cannot be proven unless some document by some
person mentions this large canyon that dozens (100s) of people knew
about a century before.
I realize we mush
give Powell the honor of naming it if for no other reason than
publication but I do not think he would have been offended if asked
about his research before the first expedition.
Historians, please... has research been done to find evidence of this idea?