Beyond the hundredth meridian : John Wesley Powell and the second opening of the West Cover Image

Book

Beyond the hundredth meridian : John Wesley Powell and the second opening of the West / by Wallace Stegner ; with an introduction by Bernard De Voto.

Stegner, Wallace, 1909-1993 (author.). De Voto, Bernard, 1897-1955 (writer of introduction.).

Summary:

"In this book Wallace Stegner recounts the successes and frustrations of John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of Indian tribes of the American Southwest. A prophet without honor who had a profound understanding of the American West, Powell warned long ago of the dangers economic exploitation would pose to the West and spent a good deal of his life overcoming Washington politics in getting his message across. Only now, we may recognize just how accurate a prophet he was."--Back cover.

"This book goes far beyond biography, into the nature and soul of the American West. It is Stegner at his best, assaying an entire era of our history, packing his pages with insights as shrewd as his prose."--Ivan Doig; back cover.

Record details

ISBN: 0140159940
ISBN: 9780140159943
ISBN: 0140459940
ISBN: 9780140459944
ISBN: 0140459944
Physical Description: xxiii, 438 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 20 cm
Publisher: New York : Penguin Books, 1992.
Copyright: ©1954

Content descriptions

General Note:	Reprint. Originally published: Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1954.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-419) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Author's note -- Introduction by Bernard DeVoto -- Threshold -- Plateau province -- Blueprint for a dryland democracy -- Revenue of new discovery -- Opportunity -- Inheritance -- Notes -- Index.