The Colorado River is a crucial resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado's headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes readers on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks,...

"Leich wrote a rich and expressive account of his travels during the Depression--from riding the rails, floating over 200 miles of the Yellowstone River, and finally his attempt to run the Colorado River from its source to the Gulf of Mexico. His writing is wonderfully engaging and this is a grand adventure story to enjoy. He built a kayak and then a wooden boat to run the river. He is the first person known to have run the Colorado River from its...

If the word "hero" still belonged in the historian's lexicon, it would certainly be applied to John Wesley Powell. Intrepid explorer, careful scientist, talented writer, and dedicated conservationist, Powell led the expedition that put the Colorado River on American maps and revealed the Grand Canyon to the world. Now comes the first biography of this towering figure in almost fifty years—a book that captures his life in all its heroism, idealism,...

A biography of the geologist who first explored the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon.