In The Footsteps of John Wesley Powell: An Album of Comparative Photographs of the Green and Colorado Rivers, 1871–72 and 1968 by Hal G. Stephens and Eugene M. Shoemaker

Abstract

284 Western American Literature This is an important and interesting volume, however; the authors are well worth our attention. They are professionals, all: teachers of writing, journalists, or editors. They have extensive publications in little magazines and anthologies; several have published novels or short story collections; a number have won national prizes such as the O. Henry Award, or PEN. Professional craftsmanship is evident, and the variety of themes and styles is one of the strengths of the book. The themes suggest the universal, rather than the provincial. To mention only four, Conger Beasley, Jr.’s “Foster in his Dotage” combines fantasy with the problems of aging to produce a story both humorous and touching. G. S. Sharat Chandra’s “The Reincarnation” treats the paradox of failure and maintenance of faith, as a series of holy men in India attempt to walk on water. Gordon Weaver’s “The Cold,” probably the bleakest of the lot, uses a fieri:- blizzard in Minneapolis to reflect the bitterness in one man’s life. Black comedy occurs in Bob Shacochis’s “Celebrations of the New World,” in which the narrator’s WASP relatives from Missouri come to Philadelphia for a family gathering to meet his wife’s urban Lebanese rela­ tives, this complicated by his wife’s father and uncle, both of whom have Alzheimer’s Disease. These authors write well; the book is enjoyable. And while their coming together as they have in the midlands (first at the University of Missouri at Kansas City) may be merely fortunate, their work belongs in the heartland. HELEN WINTER STAUFFER Kearney State College In The Footsteps of John Wesley Powell: An Album of Comparative Photo­ graphs of the Green and Colorado Rivers, 1871-72 and 1968. By Hal G. Stephens and Eugene M. Shoemaker. (Boulder: Johnson Books, 1987. 286 pages, $34.95.) In 1968, as the centennial of the first Powell expedition approached, mem­ bers of the newly formed Powell Society undertook to trace Powell’s two journeys (1869 and 1871-72) and rephotograph sites taken on the latter expe­ dition (no photographer accompanied Powell on the first trip). The 1968 expedition formed part of a larger commemoration by the U.S.G.S., the Smithsonian and the National Geographic Society—all institutions with which Powell was associated. Now at long last we have the results of that endeavor and the fruit is splendid indeed. At each site, located by geologist Shoemaker, Hal Stephens set up to photograph from the exact location whence the Powell photographers—E. O. Beaman and John K. Hillers—worked. In all cases but a few, where new trees or rocks obstructed, they succeeded. Accompanying each set of before-andafter photographs are notes pointing out deletions, additions or other changes to a particular scene. For example, at Warm Springs Draw on the Yampa, Reviews 285 photographs show and notes explain the changes caused by a massive flash flood in early June, 1965. This flood rerouted the river and overnight formed a major rapid. Moreover, the accompanying notes point out the various geo­ logic formations visible in the frames as well as changes in vegetation, streambed deposition or erosion, and, in some cases, man-made intrusions like powerlines , reservoirs and buildings. In tandem, the images and notes provide much food for the student of western landscapes. In working from the original plates, Stephens and the U.S.G.S. cartog­ raphers, thanks to retouching and modern developing techniques, have made the originals appear better than ever before. Certainly in their own day, Beaman and Hillers never obtained images as crisp and clear as these. And besides the originals appearing in their bast light, Stephens’s black and white photographs are themselves first-rate. The over-all excellence of the original photographs and their importance in the history of photography is a point wellmade by the authors and by Bruce Babbitt in his Foreword. Beaman and Hillers especially deserve more recognition as giants of early western photog­ raphy, in the same company as Timothy O’Sullivan and W. H. Jackson. JIM ATON Southern Utah State College Crossing Open Ground. By Barry Lopez. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. 208 pages, $17.95.) In...