General Ransom & John Wesley Powell

Ransom County in North Dakota, the military installation called Fort Ransom, and the nearby village of Fort Ransom all take their name from the Civil War general, T. E. G. Ransom. General Ransom commanded a brigade at the Battle of Vicksburg where control of the Mississippi River was fought for. I recently learned of a man destined for greatness in his own right who served under Ransom as a commander of an artillery unit, John Wesley Powell. He went on to explore the entire length of the Grand Canyon, the first white man to do so. After earning national recognition as a conservationist and naturalist, he was invited to address the North Dakota Constitutional Convention in 1889. He urged the delegates to “Fix it in your constitution that no corporation - no body of men - no capital can get possessions and right to your waters. Hold the waters in the hands of the people.”