A river running west
A river running west: the life of John Wesley Powell Donald Worster
Publisher: Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 2001.
ISBN: 0195156358
LCC: F788
Summary:
Intrepid explorer, careful scientist, talented writer, and dedicated
conservationist, Powell led the expedition that put the Colorado
River on American maps and revealed the Grand Canyon to the world. In
A River Running West, Donald Worster tells the story of Powell's
great adventures and describes his historical significance. Worster
paints a vivid portrait of how this man emerged from the early
nineteenth-century world of immigrants, fervent religion, and
rough-and-tumble rural culture, and barely survived the Civil War
battle at Shiloh. The heart of Worster's biography is Powell's epic
journey down the Colorado in 1869, a tale of harrowing experiences,
lethal accidents, and breathtaking discoveries. After years in the
region collecting rocks and fossils and learning to speak the local
Native American languages, Powell returned to Washington as an
eloquent advocate for the West, one of America's first and most
influential conservationists. But in the end, he fell victim to a
clique of Western politicians who pushed for unfettered economic
development, relegating the aging explorer to a quiet life of
anthropological contemplation.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (p. [611]-644) and index.
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