A classic work by a classic author, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian recounts the successes and frustrations of John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of Indian tribes of the American Southwest.

A prophet without honor who had a profound understanding of the American West, Powell warned long ago of the dangers economic exploitation would pose to the West and spent a good deal of his life overcoming Washington politics in getting his message across. We are now coming to recognize how accurate a prophet he was.

Larry McMurtry in reviewing another book about Powell said, “Stegner’s book…ranks as one of the most influential books ever written about the West, and more than any other work its publication explains Powell’s resurrection to sainthood after World War Two.

Ruth provided this helpful link to a recent story in The Atlantic entitled, “How the West was Lost.”