I wish I could say I thought this book was worth everyone’s time. The topic is certainly worth it. John Wesley Powell’s running of the Colorado river from Wyoming through the Grand Canyon was the first of its kind—at the least showing that such a trip could be done and adding to America’s knowledge of itself if nothing else. Not up for debate is the trip’s status as the first to ever explore these realms (yes, not even the indigenous peoples had run and recorded the length of the Colorado) and return news of them. No one knew if the river was navigable or what features, geology, flora or fauna could be confirmed held within its canyons. Powell sought to uncover these and return news of them to the American public.
The trip’s faults—poor planning, inexperience, internal conflicts, lack of resources, etc. are worth examining as are the personalities of Powell and the others involved.
Unfortunately this book doesn’t cut it for quality or depth of work. Cecil Kuhne is reportedly a writer for the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and many others. I would hope his other works are better compiled but in reality given his other works are largely “anthologies” and collections of other peoples stories…I suspect not. I’d instead guess that he is largely a human version of a “adventure literature food processor” consuming lots of other people’s information and material, chewing it up and spitting it out in some sort of reconstituted form, putting his name on it and making a buck off claiming the content as his own. Good work if you can get it.
This work in itself needs to be MASSIVELY edited. There are literally pages and pages of repeated events and descriptions. Beyond shear repetition of content, Kuhne’s vocabulary appears to be a tad limited as well given. Descriptions of waves and stone color are heard over and over and over.
Kuhne saves the only real analysis for the final pages of the book—and I agree with his viewpoint that Powell has been not nearly criticized enough for he and his trip’s failings. Powell’s elevation to near American sainthood alongside Lewis and Clark, Robert Peary, and Hiram Bingham, should definitely be under scrutiny (as should Peary…but that’s a different story) given the exploration’s as well as Powell’s personal failings.
The rest of the book seems to be merely a reprint of other sources and works, little original material is to be found here. A mere wikipedia reading would give you as much information. In short? This is a weak effort at a worthy topic. Powell’s exploration of the Colorado and the unknowns that surrounded were a huge and dangerous undertaking, one worthy of admiration and examination. Unfortunately this book doesn’t cover it to the extant it deserves.
