The Colorado

"Colorado" is a superb early work of non-fiction by Frank Waters. It is among over 20 of his books still in print. It is written in an epic style and may be the best piece written about the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. Certainly it is required reading for anyone interested in those subjects. Frank Waters novels such as "Man Who Killed the Deer" and "People of the Valley" are classics of Southwestern Literature causing many to name Frank Waters the Grand Father of Southwestern Literature. Since his death, the Frank Waters Foundation in Taos, New Mexico works to promote Waters work and ideas.

This is one of the best entries in the wonderful Writer's Project series that arose from the WPA era....many of the books are still available in libraries...this is wonderfully engaging writing, the kind that makes you feel you have had a great conversation with the writer, I found that I had mentally retained much of the information long afterwards, as a result...I found the most interesting part of this book to be the description of the old Colorado River steamers; not many are now aware that the river once coursed as far South as old Mexicali; there is a wonderful description of the great tidal bore of the old river which of course was obliterated by damming...a wonderful companion to Waters' novel, "The Yogi of Cockroach Court," which takes place in Mexicali. Highly recommended.