John Wesley Powell’s first expedition down the Green and Colorado rivers through the Grand Canyon in 1869, made him a national hero. John K. Hillers’ exhibition of photographs at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition from the second Powell expedition established him as a leading photographer of Indians and the West. The missing piece, referred to in the title of this book, is the story of the subjects of Hillers’ photographs and Powell’s passion, The People. The purpose of this book is to see The People, the Southern Paiute and other tribes of the 1870s, as people. In 1873, John Wesley Powell, as Special Commissioner of Indians, and G.W. Ingalls were tasked with investigating the “conditions and wants” of the tribes of the Great Basin region. As part of that investigation, they compiled a census of all the tribes they visited. The census counted 31 Southern Paiute tribes comprised of 2,027 individuals. The photographs in this collection are of members of five of the tribes: Kai’-vav-wits (Kaibab) in the vicinity of Kanab, Utah; U’-ai-Nu-ints in the vicinity of St. George, Utah; Shi’vwits in the Shi’vwits Plateau; Mo-a-pa-ri’-ats in the Moapa Valley, Nevada; and Nu-a’-gun-tits in the vicinity of Las Vegas, Nevada...MORE
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