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renatasnacks's review against another edition
3.0
So, John Wesley Powell had a really interesting life. His exploration of the Green River and the Grand Canyon is an awesmoe story. His work on topography and irrigation law reform? Less interesting, and yet this part of his life is roughly 2/3 of the book.
ajdexter's review against another edition
3.0
I grew up exploring many of the natural places that Powell discoverd and Stegner wrote about so beautifully in this book. I was excited to learn more about Powell, and the exploration of the west.
Stegner's writing really resonated with me. His fiction writing skills brought to an autobiography really made this a unique read for me.
Mid way through, however, I started to feel there was a lot of unnecessary detail spent describing Powell's detractors, the bureaucracy of the time, etc. While I appreciated it initially to understand the culture of the time, it started to feel too cumbersome as the book went on.
While I'd recommend this book for its technical prose, the subject matter chosen, and the clear research Stegner put into capturing Powell's life. I didn't finish the final 2/3rds of the book because of the monotonous reading.
Stegner's writing really resonated with me. His fiction writing skills brought to an autobiography really made this a unique read for me.
Mid way through, however, I started to feel there was a lot of unnecessary detail spent describing Powell's detractors, the bureaucracy of the time, etc. While I appreciated it initially to understand the culture of the time, it started to feel too cumbersome as the book went on.
While I'd recommend this book for its technical prose, the subject matter chosen, and the clear research Stegner put into capturing Powell's life. I didn't finish the final 2/3rds of the book because of the monotonous reading.
agarbarino's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning story was great, but it got hard reading mid-way through.
glebaron's review against another edition
5.0
Outstanding. Uses an excellent biography of John Wesley Powell to outline Powell's vision for the development of the arid west, and then uses that framework to describe the political battles Powell fought in the attempt to bring that vision to fruition.
That battle is still being waged today.
That battle is still being waged today.
jjupille's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. It starts off as something of an adventure story, a kind of "Undaunted Courage" on smaller scale, as John Wesley Powell becomes the first person to run the Colorado River. It merges in a lot of wonderful western art and photography, a whole bunch of science, and eventually a great mess of politics surrounding the birth of government science. Written in 1953, it ends by pointing out the similarities between that day and Powell's time, the same old fights, which of course are the same fights we see in 2015 in the west over exploitation vs. conservation, federal government versus states' rights, state vs. market, etc. etc. On the one hand, Stegner conceded something to Powell's narrative of progress. On the other hand, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian leaves open the question, to the 21st century reader, of whether the "two steps forward, one step back" rhythm will be able to keep pace with the rate at which we are draining the water. Water was the essential question of the West in the second half of the 19th century, and of course things are only getting more urgent. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to understand this foundational issue, and a whole range of (barely) secondary ones.
jeremyjsnow's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the first part about his descent of the Green and Colorado (then called the Grand) Rivers. The second 2/3rds about his battles with congress over the administration of the USGS felts a little slow, but overall a great book about a fascinating individual.
devind9bde's review
4.0
The text itself is dated (published in 1954) but the story within is relentlessly modern.
John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was an exceptional man in many ways. He was a self taught Midwestern scientist, a stunningly bold one armed explorer of the last uncharted river in America (the Colorado through the Grand Canyon), and a champion of government science who accomplished an astonishingly vast body of work in geology and the study of Native Americans. His observations about the geology of rivers are still fundamental concepts of the science. He was also a political player who acted out an ideological drama that continues between liberals and conservatives to this day. I enjoyed the last two chapters of the book the most. Consider these quotes:
"The concept of the welfare state edged into the American consciousness and into American institutions more through the scientific bureaus of government than by any other way, and more through the problems raised by the public domain than through any other problems, and more through the labors of John Wesley Powell than through any other man. In its origins it probably owes nothing to Marx, and it was certainly not the abominable invention of Franklin Delano Roosevelt..."
The concept that the rights of the individual should be limited by the public interest was indeed championed by Powell, and continues to be incendiary.
"The american yeoman might clamor for governmental assistance in his trouble, but he didn't want any that would make him change his thinking."
I can attest from personal experience that this is true...many agriculturalists today are all too happy to take a handout and feed at the public trough, if you will, but are completely unwilling to make any management changes that would limit the necessity of such public bailouts and more importantly conserve the land for future use.
"They had beaten him when he was within a year of introducing an utterly revolutionary - or evolutionary - set of institutions into the arid West, and when he was within a few months of saving that West from another half century of exploitation and waste. It was the West itself that beat him, the Big Bill Stewarts and Gideon Moodys, the land and cattle and water barons, the plain homesteaders, the locally patriotic, the ambitious, the venal, the acquisitive, the myth bound West which insisted on running into the future like a streetcar on a gravel road."
This situation of long term self destruction for short term personal gain continues to play out everywhere greed thrives unchecked.
"To it (JWP’s enemies), planning was insufferable, intelligence an insult to free Americans."
I include this quote with chagrin, as it perfectly describes the Trump voter...and in the best light at that.
All in all, this is a book worth reading if you’re interested in the reality of the American West. Beforehand I didn’t know anything about JWP and didn’t suspect I would be reading so much about him in this book, but I’m glad I did.
John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was an exceptional man in many ways. He was a self taught Midwestern scientist, a stunningly bold one armed explorer of the last uncharted river in America (the Colorado through the Grand Canyon), and a champion of government science who accomplished an astonishingly vast body of work in geology and the study of Native Americans. His observations about the geology of rivers are still fundamental concepts of the science. He was also a political player who acted out an ideological drama that continues between liberals and conservatives to this day. I enjoyed the last two chapters of the book the most. Consider these quotes:
"The concept of the welfare state edged into the American consciousness and into American institutions more through the scientific bureaus of government than by any other way, and more through the problems raised by the public domain than through any other problems, and more through the labors of John Wesley Powell than through any other man. In its origins it probably owes nothing to Marx, and it was certainly not the abominable invention of Franklin Delano Roosevelt..."
The concept that the rights of the individual should be limited by the public interest was indeed championed by Powell, and continues to be incendiary.
"The american yeoman might clamor for governmental assistance in his trouble, but he didn't want any that would make him change his thinking."
I can attest from personal experience that this is true...many agriculturalists today are all too happy to take a handout and feed at the public trough, if you will, but are completely unwilling to make any management changes that would limit the necessity of such public bailouts and more importantly conserve the land for future use.
"They had beaten him when he was within a year of introducing an utterly revolutionary - or evolutionary - set of institutions into the arid West, and when he was within a few months of saving that West from another half century of exploitation and waste. It was the West itself that beat him, the Big Bill Stewarts and Gideon Moodys, the land and cattle and water barons, the plain homesteaders, the locally patriotic, the ambitious, the venal, the acquisitive, the myth bound West which insisted on running into the future like a streetcar on a gravel road."
This situation of long term self destruction for short term personal gain continues to play out everywhere greed thrives unchecked.
"To it (JWP’s enemies), planning was insufferable, intelligence an insult to free Americans."
I include this quote with chagrin, as it perfectly describes the Trump voter...and in the best light at that.
All in all, this is a book worth reading if you’re interested in the reality of the American West. Beforehand I didn’t know anything about JWP and didn’t suspect I would be reading so much about him in this book, but I’m glad I did.
rinda's review
4.0
Hard to believe what one person can accomplish. This man was ahead of his time in laying out the plans for the arid west. When people say politics have gotten so bad, they must not have read about the history of politics as this was just as nasty with people grabbing power and tearing others down in their wake. Powell's approach and forethought from the late 1800 is now being utilized and implemented. Fascinating story and man. Listened on Hoopla which helped although many details fly by.
kathleenitpdx's review
3.0
John Wesley Powell is an interesting person. And Wallace Stegner has a way with words (some of them made-up, as far as I can tell). His descriptions of Powell's running of the Colorado are wonderful. And Stegner's contention that Powell and this era had a profound impact on the western US seems well founded. And Stegner's observations in 1953 (when the book was published) as the US emerged from the Depression and WWII with building and development that dramatically changed the west are a lesson in themselves.
BUT...this is not a "popular" history book and Stegner includes some distracting tangential information. Stegner seems to assume a knowledge of historical figures that have not crossed my path before. He includes a section on who named what physical features and who they were named after. He also has quite a dissertation on who drew/painted/photographed the Grand Canyon. Neither of these sections adds much to Powell's story. His using Gawain and the Round table as a metaphor for betrayal is fine. But to use Walter Murray Gibson as an example of an impostor leaves all but historians of the LDS Church or the Kingdom of Hawaii in the dark.
I would have liked a bit more on Powell's personal life. His wife disappears from the story early (and I think pregnant)only to be mentioned again as Powell retires.
But there is much "meat" here for thought about the federal government's role in science and its application to federal policies.
BUT...this is not a "popular" history book and Stegner includes some distracting tangential information. Stegner seems to assume a knowledge of historical figures that have not crossed my path before. He includes a section on who named what physical features and who they were named after. He also has quite a dissertation on who drew/painted/photographed the Grand Canyon. Neither of these sections adds much to Powell's story. His using Gawain and the Round table as a metaphor for betrayal is fine. But to use Walter Murray Gibson as an example of an impostor leaves all but historians of the LDS Church or the Kingdom of Hawaii in the dark.
I would have liked a bit more on Powell's personal life. His wife disappears from the story early (and I think pregnant)only to be mentioned again as Powell retires.
But there is much "meat" here for thought about the federal government's role in science and its application to federal policies.
cody240fc's review
4.0
This should have been much more boring than it was. Other than Part I, which covers Powell's exploration of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, the majority of this book centers on Powell's career leading the US Geological Survey. In that role, Powell essentially held the ultimate power in determining how the West would be opened up to settlement. The second half of this book covers his futile struggle with politicians who fought against his general plan.
Why is this such an interesting read? Stegner's dry wit and powerful writing are on full display, and his passion for the West bleeds through the passages. He is not afraid to attack those disillusioned optimists who supported blind homesteading (Sam Adams, Gilpin and Stewart are particularly lambasted) and Stegner clearly believes that Powell was on the right track. This is not an objective work, and Stegner does not attempt to make it seem so. He is a Powell supporter and wants to make it clear that Powell is a forgotten name who deserves remembering.
Informative and well written. Excellent read.
Why is this such an interesting read? Stegner's dry wit and powerful writing are on full display, and his passion for the West bleeds through the passages. He is not afraid to attack those disillusioned optimists who supported blind homesteading (Sam Adams, Gilpin and Stewart are particularly lambasted) and Stegner clearly believes that Powell was on the right track. This is not an objective work, and Stegner does not attempt to make it seem so. He is a Powell supporter and wants to make it clear that Powell is a forgotten name who deserves remembering.
Informative and well written. Excellent read.