Beyond the Hundreth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West [Hardcover]

Wallace Stegner (Author), Bernard DeVoto (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1982

Pulitzer Prize winner Wallace Stegner recounts the remarkable career of Major John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of the Southwest Indian tribes. This classic work is a penetrating and insightful study of the Powell's career, from the beginning of the Powell Survey, in which Powell and his men famously became the first to descend the Colorado River, to his eventual ouster from the Geological Survey. In masterful prose, Stegner details the expedition, as well as the philosophies and ideas that drove Powell.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

No library of western/southwestern materials can be without this book. . . . --Books of the Southwest

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 --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

WALLACE STEGNER (1903-1993) was the author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the National Book Award-winning The Spectator Bird (1976) and Crossing to Safety. Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 438 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press; 1st edition (October 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080324133X
• ISBN-13: 978-0803241336
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,485,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent adventure and history book, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

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This review is from: Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West (Paperback)

Wallace Stegner combines the adventure of John Wesley Powell's historic running of the Colorado River and the story of government science. Powell's river running is a dramatic yarn, and Stegner draws on his strengths as a historian to debunk some of the exaggerations of Powell's own writings. Stegner has quite a way with words and brings Powell's story to life. The second half of the book is somewhat dry, but it is an important document of the history of government-funded science in this country. (Powell played an important role in government science.) He does an excellent job of enlivening the characters, and the history has important implications today. While this is not Stegner's best book, it is a good read, especially for fans of the American West.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of water in the west; rollicking adventure story, March 25, 2002

By 

xaosdog "xaosdog" (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West. (Paperback)

Stegner is a prolific historian of the American West, as well as a prolific author of fiction. To my mind, his nonfiction is always a notch better than even the best of his fiction; to my mind, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian is the best of the lot.

To be sure, my view that this one is his best is likely colored by my impression that it treats the most important issues dealt with within Stegner's œuvre, namely, the question of water use in the American West. However, independent of the book's importance in understanding the history of water use, it is also a rollicking adventure tale of a one-armed madman shooting hellacious rapids the likes of which our continent no longer knows, while strapped to a wooden boat.

Powell was a brilliant, eccentric man, and the United States would be a better place if the policies he suggested had been intelligently implemented (rather than first ignored and subsequently mis-applied). His life is well worth learning about.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powell Looks Even Wiser 100 Years Later, August 23, 2002

By 

ram "quack1" (Louisville, Co USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West (Paperback)

This book written in 1954 not only captures the story of this remarkable man, Major John W. Powell, but also discusses and reflects on the challenges of too many people living in the Western desert. As a resident of a now "drought impacted state" the wisdom of Powell's ideas and the lack of implementation of those ideas are represented in the chaos local and state governments are facing as they attempt to keep lawns green, golf courses open, and drinking water available for all of the "new" residences of the state. I only hope that some of this generations politicians pay attention to Powell's "topographical" analysis and begin shaping more effective land and water policy for the West. A terrific read with many classic Stegner quotes.