Norm Nevills's expedition carrying botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter launched from Green River, Utah, beginning the journey that made them the first women to run the Grand Canyon.
On June 20, 1938, an expedition led by river guide Norman Nevills launched from Green River, Utah, carrying botanist Elzada Clover and her graduate student Lois Jotter. The goal was ambitious: to traverse the Green and Colorado Rivers through the entirety of the Grand Canyon while conducting the first systematic botanical survey of the river corridor's plant life.
At the time, river running through the Grand Canyon was considered extraordinarily dangerous, and no woman had ever completed the full passage. Many in the press and scientific community were skeptical that Clover, then in her early forties, and Jotter, in her twenties, would survive the trip, let alone accomplish meaningful scientific work along the way.
The expedition faced treacherous rapids, capsized boats, extreme heat, and the tragic drowning deaths of two other expedition members shortly before the group reached the canyon. Despite this, Clover and Jotter pressed on, collecting hundreds of plant specimens and meticulously documenting species along the river's edge and canyon walls.
This launch date marks the beginning of one of the most significant expeditions in the history of American river exploration and field botany, setting the stage for Clover and Jotter to become the first documented women to boat the entire length of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.