Westwater Lost and Found [Paperback]

Mike Milligan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2004

In this heavily illustrated book, Mike Milligan has captured the still developing story of one of those remote, but no longer secluded, corners of the Colorado Plateau.

Upstream from Moab on the Colorado River, near the Colorado state line, there is a relatively short, deep canyon that has become one of the most popular river-running destinations in America. The canyon is known as Westwater. Its popularity is largely due to the thrill provided by one of the most dangerous and challenging stretches of white water on the Colorado---Skull Rapid.

Near the head of the canyon are the remnants of the tiny town of Westwater, which has had an interesting and eventful history of its own, partly because of the river and canyon, partly because of the railroad that passes through it, and partly because of its remoteness. It has attracted over the years more than its fair share of colorful characters---government explorers and agents, boosters and get-rich-quick dreamers, cattle and sheep men, outlaws and bootleggers, and, of course, river runners.

Mike Milligan, who came to know the area as a river guide, has written a thorough history of this out-of-the-way place. While it has a colorful history that makes its story interesting in and of itself, Westwater's significance derives more from a phenomenon of the modern West-thousands of recreational river runners. They have pushed a backwater place into the foreground of modern popular culture in the West.

Westwater seems to represent one common sequence in western history: the late opening of unexplored territories; sporadic, often unsuccessful attempts to develop them; renewed obscurity when development doesn't succeed; their attraction of a marginal society of misfits or loners; and modern rediscovery due to new cultural motives, especially outdoors recreation, which has brought a great number of people into thousands of remote corners of the West.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thorough and fascinating book, one that should be in the library of river-runners and western history buffs alike." -- Dave Buchanan, The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction 7/28/04

"A well-researched and well-written book. But it is also a river book, a land use book, and an adventure book." -- Rusty Salmon, Canyon Legacy: Journal of the Dan O'Laurie, Canyon Country Museum, Summer 2004, Volume 51

"I am impressed by the breadth and depth of the research that went into compiling this book." -- Scott Floisand, River Runner

Milligan's work is a great read. ... Highly recommended." -- Marjorie Miller, The Times Independent, Thursday, April 22,2004

About the Author

Mike Milligan began his river career in 1978, working for Western River Expeditions. He has boated the Colorado River from Loma, Colorado to Lake Mead, including Ruby Canyon, Westwater Canyon, Cataract, and Grand. He has also run most of the Green River, the San Juan River, and the Snake River.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 19 and up
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Utah State University Press; 1 edition (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874215722
• ISBN-13: 978-0874215724
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,106,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Regional book review by a person in the region, May 14, 2007

By 

Debra K. Moorland "Word Mercenary" (Glade Park, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Westwater Lost and Found (Paperback)

This book is written by a rafting guide who was captivated by Westwater Canyon, on the Colorado River, close to the Colorado border. This canyon has a treacherous section called Skull rapids, where my own cousin drowned in a rafting accident. The author, after guiding for 5 years, took his mother on a trip through Westwater Canyon, and lost her when their raft overturned (yes, she drowned). At that point his relationship with the canyon became more complicated. During an exodus from the area after that accident, he continued to be obcessed with the subject, and continued working on his book about it. This is not just a book on rafting the canyon. It starts with the early history of the region, from Native Americans, to the little town of Westwater that sprung up as a railroad town. In addition to the history of pioneer rafters, it covers farmers, outlaws, miners, cattlemen and sheepmen. As a native of the eastern Colorado, western Utah region this story takes place in, and a local history buff, I would give this book a good rating on all counts. Having also lost a relative in Westwater canyon, my bond with the author may be stronger than the normal reader.