The Grand Canyon ReaderLance Newman “I’ve been on his raft in the Grand Canyon, so I can attest to the fact that Lance Newman can row through both the currents of the Colorado River and the many literary tributaries that have given us great literature on this most unique of American places. The canyon is so many things to so many people: a holy land, an incision into the deep time of geology; a place of great and dangerous adventure; an imperiled landscape and a site in which to think about what our relationship to the natural world could and should be. Newman’s superb anthology gives us splendid selections that carry the reader along on the current of the best and most varied nature writing.” —Rebecca Solnit, author Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas “To really understand the wonders of the Grand Canyon, we need to see it through the eyes of others. In this reader, Lance Newman opens that world to us. The Grand Canyon of Craig Childs is a long way from that of Colin Fletcher, not to mention John Muir or Joseph Ives, but Newman guides us confidently through all these perspectives and many more. He has selected well, and we are the richer for it. Read this book.” —William C. Tweed, author of Uncertain Path: A Search for the Future of National Parks “These are the Canyon’s literary ‘greatest hits’ alongside lesser known but extremely interesting accounts. Demonstrating an impressively refreshing range of perspectives and experiences, this is a remarkable anthology of 500 years of human interaction with the Canyon.” —Michael Branch, co-author of The Height of Our Mountains: Nature Writing from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mounts and Shenandoah Valley |
Contents
Amil Quayle Grand Canyon | 9 |
Ann Zwinger Bright Angel Trail | 22 |
Edward Abbey Havasu | 31 |
Joseph Wood Krutch Where Solitude Is Easy to Find | 57 |
Sharlot Hall The Song of the Colorado | 93 |
Terry Tempest Williams Stone Creek Woman | 104 |
Michael Kabotie Grand Canyon National Park | 175 |
Ives Mojave Valley to Big Canyon | 190 |
Mullett The Story of Tiyo | 211 |
Further Reading | 239 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anasazi Arizona beautiful boat boulders Bright Angel Bright Angel Trail Brower camp caņon cliff climb clouds Colin Fletcher Colorado River cougar deep deer desert Dominy downstream earth edge Esplanade eyes flood foot gorge Grand Canyon granite Havasu Havasu Creek Havasupai head heart hole Hopi horses hour Hualapai hundred Indians John Wesley Powell journey kiva Lake Powell land Lava Falls ledge live look mesa miles morning mountain mule night oars Paho passed Phantom Ranch plateau pool pueblo pull raft rain rapid reach rock sand seemed side canyon Sinyala Snake South Kaibab Trail Spider Woman stood stopped storm story stream Supai talus Tawa terrace Terry Tempest Williams things thousand feet Tiyo trail travertine tree trip Tudjupa turned upstream walk walls waterfall waves wild wonder yards Yavipais