Glen Canyon Dammed

by Farmer, Jared

• ISBN13: 9780816518876
• ISBN10: 0816518874
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arizona Pr

Summary

Growth is a major issue in the contemporary American West, especially as more and more towns and states turn to tourism to spark their economies. But growth has a flip side—loss—about which we seldom think until something is irrevocably gone. Where once was Glen Canyon, with its maze of side-canyons leading to the Colorado River, now is Lake Powell, second largest reservoir in America, attracting some three million visitors a year. Many who come here think they have found paradise, and for good reason: it's beautiful. However, the loss of Glen Canyon was monumental—to many, a notorious event that remains unresolved. Focusing on the saddening, maddening example of Glen Canyon, Jared Farmer traces the history of exploration and development in the Four Corners region, discusses the role of tourism in changing the face of the West, and shows how the "invention" of Lake Powell has served multiple needs. He also seeks to identify the point at which change becomes loss: How do people deal with losing places they love? How are we to remember or restore lost places? By presenting Glen Canyon as a historical case study in exploitation, Farmer offers a cautionary tale for the future of this spectacular region. In assessing the necessity and impact of tourism, he questions whether merely visiting such places is really good for people's relationships with each other and with the land, suggesting a new ethic whereby westerners learn to value what remains of their environment. Glen Canyon Dammed was written so that the canyon country's perennial visitors might better understand the history of the region, its legacy of change, and their complicity in both. A sobering book that recalls lost beauty, it also speaks eloquently for the beauty that may still be saved.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	viii
List of Maps	ix
Preface	xi
Part 1 The Road to Discovery
Road Map	2	(2)
Hole in the Rock	4	(6)
Fix the Roads, the Tourists Are Coming!	10	(12)
U-Boom	22	(11)
The Golden Circle	33	(8)
Right-of-Way	41	(4)
Boulder Blues	45	(3)
Dandy Crossing	48	(10)
Coda	58	(4)
Part 2 Exploration and Thrill
The Moving People	62	(4)
The Summer of 1909	66	(6)
Desert Dudes	72	(22)
Down the River	94	(17)
The Most Exciting Lake on Earth	111	(5)
Closing Time	116	(6)
Part 3 Beauty Made Accessible
Deja Vu	122	(4)
Was It Worth It?	126	(3)
The Reclamation Dream	129	(8)
Echo Park	137	(9)
Rival Crown Jewels	146	(12)
Paradise---For a Price	158	(5)
The Problem of Rainbow Bridge	163	(8)
Beach Party!	171	(4)
Lake Foul	175	(2)
Squawfish Memories	177	(5)
Drain This?	182	(9)
Afterword	191	(22)
An Outline History of Glen Canyon before the Dam	213	(10)
Acknowledgments	223	(2)
Notes	225	(30)
Suggestions for Further Reading	255	(6)
Illustration Credits	261	(2)
Index	263