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Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West Paperback – Illustrated, March 1, 1992

by Wallace Stegner (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 333 ratings
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From the “dean of Western writers” (The New York Times) and the Pulitzer Prize winning–author of Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety, a fascinating look at the old American West and the man who prophetically warned against the dangers of settling it
 
In Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wallace Stegner recounts the sucesses 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. Only now, we may recognize just how accurate a prophet he was.
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  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 1992
  5. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.81 x 7.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0140159940
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0140159943
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book goes far beyond biography, into the nature and soul of the American West. It is Stegner at his best, assaying an entire era of our history, packing his pages with insights as shrewd as his prose." —Ivan Doig

About the Author

Wallace Stegner (1909–1993) published more than two dozen books throughout his life, including the novels Angle of Repose, which won the Pulitzer Prize; Crossing to Safety; The Big Rock Candy Mountain; and The Spectator Bird, which won the National Book Award. An early environmentalist, Stegner was instrumental—with his now famous “Wilderness Letter”—in the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (March 1, 1992)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140159940
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140159943
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.81 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 333 ratings

About the author

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Wallace Stegner

Wallace Stegner

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Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
333 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and well-written. They appreciate the interesting information and insightful writing style. The story is described as an adventure tale that captures the excitement and danger of the exploration. Readers describe the biography of John Wesley Powell as excellent and extraordinary, describing him as a great historical figure for his time period. They also find the character development fascinating and brave.

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ReadabilityInformation contentStory qualityBiographyCharacter development
39 customers mention "Readability"31 positive8 negative

Customers appreciate the book's readability and literary depiction of Powell's Grand Canyon transit. They find the writing vibrant and lyrical, with exceptional detail and footnotes. The book looks great and the author knows Powell well.

"...The writing is vibrant and often lyrical, without being overblown or self important...." Read more

"Wallace Stegner writes wonderful descriptions. I think the description of the first Colorado trip is much better than Powell's. I felt right there...." Read more

"...Beyond the Hundredth Meridian is a highly literary depiction of Powell's concomitant American go-and-do-it-ness and its ironically corrosive effect..." Read more

"...in a voice Wallace Stegner would have approved, and the text version contained photos and survey drawings that brought the words to life...." Read more

38 customers mention "Information content"32 positive6 negative

Customers find the book's information interesting, insightful, and well-written. They say it provides great background knowledge on 19th and early 20th century American science and the birth of modern science. Readers appreciate the author's extensive research and sophisticated discussions of the cultural climate and the intersection of antebellum political mores. The book keeps readers interested from start to finish with its fluid style.

"...He illustrates fine points of topography, geology, geography and river hydrology as he focuses on the essential element of any migration to the west..." Read more

"...The rest of the book about the development of the west was llso interesting and absorbing" Read more

"...Recommended reading for the intellectually independent. Learned and beautifully wrought." Read more

"...Information on geology, anthropology and even western art fill the pages along with what (I hope)presents an accurate human portrait of a man I..." Read more

13 customers mention "Story quality"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the story engaging and well-told. They appreciate the author's skill at crafting a tight narrative that captures the adventure, danger, and unknowns faced by Powell. The book is described as an excellent chronicle of the trip down the Colorado River.

"...He captures the adventure, the danger, the great unknowns that faced Powell's crew...." Read more

"...It's a truly beautiful story in its own right...." Read more

"...It is an adventure story to begin with but then gives one a much greater appreciation for all of Powell's life...." Read more

"...chapters (first half of the book) very interesting, with the stories of the rapids and the quarrels among the explorers...." Read more

6 customers mention "Biography"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the biography of John Wesley Powell. They find it informative with a nice description of his career. The book also details his adventure on the Colorado River and the dangers and unknowns faced by his crew.

"...He captures the adventure, the danger, the great unknowns that faced Powell's crew...." Read more

"...Beyond the Hundredth Meridian is a pioneering history of John Wesley Powell, who was not only explorer of the American west but also an individual..." Read more

"The first half of this book was about the incredible adventure conducted by John Wesley Powell, running the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon..." Read more

"This is an older book by Stegner. It is a biography of Powell including his first trip down the Colorado River with many original source entries...." Read more

5 customers mention "Character development"5 positive0 negative

Customers like the character development. They describe John Wesley Powell as a fascinating, brave, and resourceful explorer.

"...All after a military career. He was an outstanding individual and certain a great historical figure for his time period." Read more

"...The first is the remarkable story of a very remarkable man, who had such important contributions to make to America...." Read more

"...Of course Wallace Stegner's writing is a big plus also. Wonderful man(Powell) daunting country but he over came it...." Read more

"This is an amazing book about an incredible person, written by a stupendous author. Too many superlatives? I think you'd agree after you read this." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Long-Suffering Technology Consumer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Adventure, religion, culture, politics, geography and WATER in the American west...
    Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    ...wrapped up in a lyrically written and finely researched history.

    I had not read anything by Wallace Stegner for many years, until a recent trip to the Grand Canyon restored my interest in the history of its exploration. Many choices are available to discover the history of the last part of the American west to become marked as something other than "unknown" on government maps. In "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian" Stegner expands the horizon beyond the confines of the dangerous canyon walls that threatened John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition through the Grand Canyon.

    To be sure, Stegner is an excellent chronicler of the that trip down the Colorado. He captures the adventure, the danger, the great unknowns that faced Powell's crew. That voyage is the centerpiece of the first half of the book, and could stand on its own as a a tour de force of American discover.

    Stegner gives us much more. He incorporates sophisticated discussions of the cultural climate, and the intersection of antebellum political mores in Washington, the fabric of relationships between the US government, native Americans, the Mormons and western settlers. He illustrates fine points of topography, geology, geography and river hydrology as he focuses on the essential element of any migration to the west: water. He explores the grand topics and the often overlooked (would "Big Canyon" be as good a name as "Grand Canyon" ? It almost got this name!).

    As these lessons unfold, the book never comes across as a textbook. The writing is vibrant and often lyrical, without being overblown or self important. If you've spent any time in the parts of the United States where the rain is scarce and the vistas are vast, this book will provide an important education in the many forces that came to bear on its settlement. Even if you haven't, you'll acquire a solid foundation in the complex calculus that provides the initiative for discovery.

    This quite simply a great piece of historical writing.
    40 people found this helpful
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  • ann c. mcdonald
    4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing History
    Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Wallace Stegner writes wonderful descriptions. I think the description of the first Colorado trip is much better than Powell's. I felt right there. I have been down most of the Colorado In fact was on a reenactment of Powell's trip with dories built like his several years ago with Holiday Expeditions and Oars.
    The old dories spilled in most of the rapids and were not at all like our present day dories. Those men were a breed apart. We do this for fun with good food and equipment. They did it with inadequate everything. They were amazing adventurers. The rest of the book about the development of the west was llso interesting and absorbing
    3 people found this helpful
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  • The Captain
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stegner and the art of history
    Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    History, from the perspective of individual ambitions and conflict have always been more interesting than anything undertaken with the academician's wider view to social impact and development. Stegner seems to know this going in and makes Powell's personality the locus of his narrative. Beyond the Hundredth Meridian is a highly literary depiction of Powell's concomitant American go-and-do-it-ness and its ironically corrosive effect on the optimism of the time. It's a truly beautiful story in its own right. As a moral tale it has few parallels, in my reading anyway, in quietly dismantling cultural myth and boosterism in favor of the objectivist's creed of seeking truth without agenda.
    There is a cautionary tale here that rings true politically today, in as much as the story is a call to resist group think in any form, the extremes of alarmist predictions of doom on one hand, and, as well, the sometimes dismissive pursuit of human enterprise and exploitation on the other. In reading it, I wondered if the global warming crowd could meet the standard of Powell's commitment to truth any better than, say, a mindless real estate developer more interested in industrial nodes than in the land being subjected to his economic models. Stegner makes waypoints of the hyperbole of Powell's time in both directions.
    Recommended reading for the intellectually independent. Learned and beautifully wrought.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • TomBob
    3.0 out of 5 stars Great Topic - Too Much Information
    Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I have enjoyed several of Stegner's books and was looking forward to this look at John Wesley Powell's foresight about water woes in the West. I thoroughly enjoyed some the earlier parts in the book where Powell's travels along the Colorado River and in parts of the Southwest were detailed, but this book eventually became mostly an ordeal to finish. Stegner obviously did an incredible amount of research before writing this book, and he must have been extremely interested in his topic. He certainly covered it thoroughly, but for my interests, he was just TOO THOROUGH. Things about which I did gain some insight, though, were the politics and federal involvement that led to the great Northern California water projects of my youth in the 1950s. A big problem that plagued Powell at the close of the 1800s and perplexed Stegner when he wrote the book in the early 1950s still remains today - TOO many people for the available water supply.
    18 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Dan Earle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Expanded Understanding
    Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I have read earlier stories about Powell and his trip down the Grand Canyon and enjoyed them for their important exploration and adventure aspects. What I did not realize then and do now is how important a person Powell was in government and his contribution to the scientific approach and mapping of the West. We also see the political intrigue that took place in the past. Seeing it historically, it makes one think about how today's events will be seen in 100 years. It is a engaging read.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Gordon
    4.0 out of 5 stars Another Stegner Treasure...
    Reviewed in Canada on September 1, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Saskatchewan has produced some able people, Stegner amongst them. HIs writing has a timelessness admired by many.
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