The Grand Canyon: Native People and Early Visitors (Images of America: Arizona) [Paperback]

Kenneth Shields Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2000

Unlike appreciating America's other natural wonders such as waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, or prairies, one must struggle to absorb, assimilate, and comprehend the Grand Canyon's tremendous scale. Captured here in over 250 vintage images is the human drama of survival and coexistence in the canyon, from the native tribes who struggled with life on the rim, to the pioneers who came to foster and manipulate the early tourist industry in America's oldest natural resource. Covering the tribes that called the canyon home and the seekers who flocked to the area to find their fortune in gold and tourism, author Kenneth Shields exposes the human layers so often overlooked. Seen here are the native tribes who survived the harshest conditions of the canyon, including the Hopi, Havasupai, Navajo, and Paiute. Readers will recognize the images of popular tourist spots like the El Tovar Hotel and the Navajo Bridge, as well as the early conservationist faces of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Shields Jr., the Native American author of Fort Peck Indian Reservation, served several years on the crew of white water rafting tours, taking visitors down the Colorado River from Lee's Ferry to Peach Springs. Compiling both his own personal photographs and those of the famous Dudley Scott collection, he presents an amazing visual journey into the Canyon's history, with many photographs never before published.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (November 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738500313
• ISBN-13: 978-0738500317
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,056,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent photographs, fair writing., November 1, 2007

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Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Grand Canyon: Native People and Early Visitors (Images of America: Arizona) (Paperback)

Kenneth Shields Jr., The Grand Canyon: Native People and Early Visitors (Arcadia, 2000)

There are two ways to approach a review of this book: the photographs and the text. I cannot claim any sort of unbiased review of the photographs, as the majority of those that appear in this volume were taken by my wife's great-grandfather, and they are treasured possessions of her family. I was familiar with them long before I read this book, and I knew how wonderful they were. So I'm left with the text. And that, I have to say, is sorely lacking in places.

Kenneth Shields, Jr., who authored the book's text, writes as if he transcribed his speech from a tour of the Canyon. (The "About the Author" section does indeed confirm that Shields has acted as tourguide.) That in itself probably wouldn't be bad; photo captions are often best when they're simply a description of what's going on in the photo. What got to me was the oft-repeated use of "Note the..." as the last sentence, as if the viewer needed to be pointed to certain parts of the image, rather than Shields simply describing them.

If you're at all interested in the history of the settlement of the Grand Canyon region, you want a copy of this book; that said, the old saw that a picture is worth a thousand words may have never held more true than it does here. ***