Dismissed by the first Spanish explorers as a wasteland, the Grand Canyon lay virtually unnoticed for three centuries until nineteenth- century America rediscovered it and seized it as a national emblem. This extraordinary work of intellectual and environmental history tells two tales of the Canyon: the discovery and exploration of the physical Canyon and the invention and evolution of the cultural Canyon--how we learned to endow it with mythic significance.Acclaimed historian Stephen Pyne examines the major shifts in Western attitudes toward nature, and recounts the achievements of explorers, geologists, artists, and writers, from John Wesley Powell to Wallace Stegner, and how they transformed the Canyon into a fixture of national identity. This groundbreaking book takes us on a completely original journey through the Canyon toward a new understanding of its niche in the American psyche, a journey that mirrors the making of the nation itself.
This groundbreaking book takes us on a completely original journey through the Canyon toward a new understanding of its niche in the American psyche, a journey that mirrors the making of the nation itself.
How the Canyon Became Grand: A Short History
Starting with a brief overview of how national parks came into being, this book covers all aspects of the canyon--how it formed, which early native people lived there, and what varied wildlife can be found there now.
Presents an introduction to the Grand Canyon, including how it formed, its end-to-end exploration in the late 1860s, the early native people who lived there, and its varied wildlife.
Carving Grand Canyon provides a synopsis of the intriguing ideas and innovative theories that geologists have developed over time. This story of a fascinating landscape is told in an engaging...
Presents an anthology of stories, essays, and poems that looks at the Grand Canyon.
Along the entire route the gigantic panorama of the Grand Canyon unfolds for miles and miles . " 53 Visiting the canyon promised a cinematic spectacle for a spectator whose vision reached the heights of an ...
With The Promise of the Grand Canyon, John F. Ross tells how that perilous expedition launched the one-armed Civil War hero on the path to becoming the nation's foremost proponent of environmental sustainability and a powerful, if ...
The book will appeal to both general readers and scholars interested in seeking a broader understanding of the canyon.
The Grand Canyon is one of America’s loveliest landmarks.