Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West,   ISBN:9780140159943

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John Wesley Powell was "present at the creation," to use the expression popularized by Dean Acheson. The later was referring to the post-World War II era; Powell was present at the creation of the American West, during the period of its settlement by whites, from the end of the American Civil War to the "closing of the frontier," in the 1890's. Bernard Devoto, in his introduction, says that Powell's report on the Arid Lands is as essential to understanding America as the "Federalist Papers." I would extend Devoto's assertion to cover this work of Stegner, an essential book for anyone wondering why things are the way they are in the United States. Stegner does a brilliant job in weaving Powell's story into the larger background of the settlement of the West. Nothing is "dated" in this book, aside from its 1954 copyright. The lessons still unlearned are as fresh as today's headlines.

Powell lost his arm in the battle at Shiloh, in 1862, and as Stegner says: "Losing one's right arm is a misfortune; to some it would be a disaster, to others an excuse. It affected Wes Powell's life about as much as a stone fallen into a swift stream affects the course of the river." Prior to this book I had associated Powell with his "The Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons," which I read in conjunction with my much more comfortable 6 day descent of the Colorado 30 years ago. Powell's trip, which also encompassed the Green River, was almost certainly the first descent of these rivers by any human. This re-enforced Powell's credentials as a man of action, with considerable skills in organization and leadership. And he was able to write a decent account of his trip. Fortunately for us this was still early in the career of this man of insatiable curiosity, which spanned the need to know what was around the next bend, with a need to know how and why humans behave, particularly the natives of the West. Much of his later career involved surveying the West, particularly the "plateau province" which encompasses parts of four states, CO, UT, AZ and NM. The summation of his life was the development of a blueprint for a dry land democracy, essentially a plan to formulate new rules for the settlement of land where there is insufficient rain to sustain non-irrigated agriculture. The Homestead Act's 160 acres was simple not enough land. The book's title denotes that land, since it is west of the 100th meridian, which passes though that American icon, Dodge City, Kansas, as well as forming the eastern edge of the Texas Panhandle. Though Powell was a good bureaucratic fighter too, the countervailing forces were too strong, and we are saddled today with the consequences of unwise development.

Stegner does not start his book with Powell however; rather he describes the career of the antithesis of Powell, William Gilpin, a huckster and con-man, delusional in his belief that rain would follow the plow, and who thought it would be beneficial if the Mississippi valley supported a population of more than a billion people! Puts today's "pro-growth" advocates to shame. Needless to say, Gilpin had many an ally in the political classes, the "something for nothing" crowd.

Stegner attributes Powell's success as an ethnologist to his ability "to approach a strange culture and a strange people without prejudice, suspicion, condescension, or fear..." qualities useful in ending the latest "clash of civilizations." In tribute to autodidacts everywhere, Stegner says: "His homemade education fitted him to grasp the obvious and state it without embarrassment--he had not been educated into scholarly caution and that squid-like tendency to retreat, squirting ink, which sophisticated learning often displays."

A good companion book, which updates many of the water issues outlined in this book is Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert." At least one good aspect of the bursting of the real estate bubble is the brakes applied to the Gilpins' of today, the endless apostles of housing development in the dry lands. Turning Albuquerque into Phoenix is fortunately viewed as a nightmare by many of my fellow ABQ's.

Overall, Stegner brings a remarkable erudition to his superlative account of Powell and the settlement of the American West, as opposed to the fantasy so often promoted by Hollywood and the developers. Consider this summation, which could equally apply to the bankers of today: "The American yeoman might clamor for governmental assistance in his trouble, but he didn't want any that would make him change his thinking."

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Superb. So well written. Needless to say, Stegner writes of areas he has known first hand, rivers he has navigated and the depth of times and places only he seems capable of knitting together. A must-read for Western American historians and those having just general interest. Reminds one of Bechloss' Undaunted Courage, although slightly different considering the time written and the base purposes of the journeys.
Sandy Greenblat

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Once upon a time in the West, a man named William Gilpin was blown westward along with an expedition of John Fremont that took him as far as Walla Walla, Wash. In 1846 he fought in the Mexican War. In 1861 he went to Washington, DC, after Abraham Lincoln was elected. Later he became the first territorial governor of Colorado. Once upon a time, Gilpin saw the land beyond the 100th meridian (which runs through the center of Nebraska and Kansas) through a mystical fervor. The semiarid lands were no desert, but a pastoral Canaan. Agriculture would be effortless. All that was needed was the plow break the soil so that rain would naturally follow.

At the same time that Gilpin was convincing the country that the West was a Biblical Paradise, an exploration party headed by John Wesley Powell was camped a few miles from Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was 1868. At this time Powell was not the pioneer that Gilpin was, and he was 34 compared to Gilpin's 55. Powell's interests were always varied. In 1860 his *mollusk* collection won awards at the Illinois State Agricultural Society fair. In 1861, he volunteered to join the army in the Civil War. Within six months he rose through the ranks to become a captain, an expert on *fortifications*. In April of 1862, Powell lost an arm due to a Minie ball at Shiloh. Powell continued through the war. In 1865, Powell began a professorship in *geology* at Wesleyan.

Powell began his exploration of the Green and Colorado rivers on July 6,1869. On August 30, 1869, only six of nine men and two of four boats managed to go all the way through the Grand Canyon to come out near Yuma, Az. The rest of the Colorado had already been explored. In a few short months, John Wesley Powell had gathered enough data to challenge Gilpin's portrayal of the West. For the rest of his life, he would try to convince Congress of what he had learned about the proper way to treat the land beyond the 100th meridian.

Powell's geological and *ethnological* work and his study of Native American *languages* continue today to form the basis for our understanding of these subjects for southern Utah and northern Arizona.

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I re-read this book and Powell's own "Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons" over the Holidays and have decided that these 2 books are absolutely inseparable. You must read both and I'm glad to see that Amazon offers a special deal for the purchase of these 2 books together. In my opinion, you should read Powell's "Exploration..." first and then read Stegner's book. Stegner's book is very readable but I hesitate to call it an easy read. While you are reading this book, you have to stop now and then to absorb and reflect on the opinions, actions, and counteractions of that particular moment. Everything must be placed in some historical, political, and personal context (3 dimensions which necessitate contemplation by the reader). Stegner does a wonderful job in maintaining the general flow of the text and he supplies an extensive listing of notes for those who want more information and detail. In my opinion, this is a wonderful book about a brilliant man with incredible foresight. Now, it seems that we need a beacon like Powell warning the Easterners about their relentless development of land with no thought or planning on the impact to their water resources and water quality. Most folks in the Eastern U.S. take their water resources for granted. We need a modern day Powell to warn us about the consequences of increased impervious area before its too late.

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Almost everything that could be done wrong in the development of the modern American West (and not just the Rockies westward, but the High Plains as well) was warned against by Maj. John Wesley Powell, but done anyway by the federal government and various states.

The result? Water crises, fights over water rights, lying, chicanery and stealing in the name of water rights, corporate farms squeezing out small farmers, urban sprawl and smog in the middle of deserts, dust bowls and more, were either forseen or hinted at by Powell.

The 100th meridian of latitude is the U.S.'s "dry line." Areas to the west, generally, before you get to the Pacific Coast, average less than 20 inches of rain a year. Hence the title, and the basis of Powell's warnings.

And, AND, all of that came after this one-armed Civil War veteran led the first navigation of the entire whitewater section of the Colorado, actually starting on the Green River in Wyoming and running all the way down past the Grand Canyon. (Despite some claims otherwise, it seems pretty clear James White did NOT do this.)

It was this trip, in the name of scientific research, that gave Powell his standing to eventually found the Bureau of Ethnography, do further Western research and make some top-notch recommendations for the development of the west.

The reason I didn't five-star this is that I would like to have seen a little more depth to Powell's post-exploration career. Also, a little more personality profile of Powell's struggle with disappointment over the Newlands Act and other repudiation of his ideas would have been nice.

True, Stegner may not be a professional historian, but it would have been nice to see him incorporate this.

To get an idea of what I mean by the end of this critique, please read Donald Worster's "River Running West." Also, Worster provides a bit of corrective to Stegner's occasional near-hagiographical approach to Powell.