In Alone on the Colorado, Harold H. Leich recounts his westward journey along the Colorado River in the summer of 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. Although his memoir was not published during his lifetime, Roy Webb and the University of Utah brought his recollections into print in 2019. The foreword by Roy Webb describes in what ways the landscape enjoyed by Leich changed over time, while also emphasizing how it remained the same. The first-hand account narrates Leich's journey through the upper portion of the Colorado River, the wreckage of the boat he built himself, and his on-foot journey to find salvation in the Utah desert. Alone on the Colorado serves as a rich primary source worthy of scholarly and public attention.Leich's story of his time navigating the Colorado River captivates a casual audience, as well as provides significant historical insights for academics. In order to aid the reader, the editor has included contemporary maps of the areas in which Leich traveled. Moreover, Leich took a multitude of photographs during his journey, and many of them are included throughout the book, adding interest for a casual reader. Although many of these photographs are similar in composition and only include Leich, his boat, and the river, they help the reader understand the severity of the rapids navigated by Leich and other river runners. There have been several secondary works published about different river runners along the Colorado River, such as Hell or High Water: James White's Disputed Passage Through Grand Canyon, 1867 by Eilean Adams and Rough-Water Man: Elwyn Blake's Colorado River Expeditions by Richard E. Westwood. However, these sources detail explorations of the Colorado River in 1867 and the 1920s respectively. Therefore, Leich's account provides a unique historical contribution as his journey occurred during a later period than previously studied by historians.Furthermore, Leich's account may give historians a better understanding of Utah during the Great Depression. Leich's account includes ranchers, farmers, and miners, and therefore provides a snapshot of Utah's labor force. Additionally, Leich notes that “hoboes” frequently rode illegally on freight trains to travel, due to economic necessity exacerbated by the economic downturn (31). Leich himself participated in long journeys via freight trains at first by choice, and then by necessity. Taken together with Errol Lincoln Uys's Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move in the Great Depression, Leich's account can help historians better contextualize who rode on freight trains during the Great Depression and, more importantly, why. However, it is important to note that Leich and his family did not face the same economic hardships as others who rode trains, as he repeatedly asked his “father for more money” during the course of his journey (98). In fact, Leich's experience is not shared with most other members of the communities he describes, which may be a detriment to the utility of his account as a primary source.Throughout his account, Leich romanticized the West, an indication of his own education in American history. For example, Leich is fascinated by “flakes of free gold” along the Colorado River “that led to the 1settlement of the American West” (77). Additionally, he notes that a sheriff “looked like a storybook character off the cover of a Wild West pulp magazine” (119). Because he grew up in Indiana, Leich viewed the West as a place for adventure, and he only went west to postpone “a family and a career in the federal civil service” (175). After completing his journey, Leich settled in the East and never returned to the West. Therefore, Leich's account of his journey may help historians understand how people residing in the eastern United States viewed the West during the Great Depression. On the other hand, Leich's romantic version of the West is problematic as it expresses an etic view rather than an emic view. This is best exemplified by Leich's interactions with settlers in Moab, Utah. Leich describes Moab as “a giant hot house” that sustained an “abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables,” but residents may not have agreed (121). In fact, the Dust Bowl likely affected agriculture production in this area, and thus Moab was not as prosperous as Leich attests. Therefore, when utilizing Alone on the Colorado as a primary source, historians must be aware of Leich's outside perspective as his account does not necessarily describe the region as residents would themselves.Another weakness of Leich's account is its format. Alone on the Colorado is a recollection of Leich's adventure, rather than a journal written in the summer of 1933. Therefore, it is possible that Leich did not remember everything correctly, or omitted crucial details because he didn't record them in his initial journal. Leich himself admits that “things happened so fast that I could not have given a detailed account . . . the next day,” much less decades after the events occurred (111). Nonetheless, Leich does provide a detailed account based on his memories and own documentation of the events via photographs and journal entries.Ultimately, Alone on the Colorado is a primary source with remarkable value to both scholars and casual readers. The foreword by Roy Webb provides crucial historical context, while Leich's account and photographs offer a fascinating story about river running in Utah during the Great Depression. Although readers must recognize the biases present in Leich's account, it undoubtedly provides new avenues for historians to understand the Great Depression in Utah.