Book Description
Three friends bound by love of the Southwest's canyonlands undertake the first traverse of the Comb Ridge, in search of the lost civilization of the Anasazi • A cultural pilgrimage as well as an athletic one • Story blends personal adventure, middle-aged angst, the beauty of a landscape, history of exploration, and mysteries of the rise and fall of an ancient culture • By a critically acclaimed travel and adventure writer also famous for his exploits in Alaska's mountains • Includes photos by Greg Child of the landscape, Anasazi and Navajo ruins and rock art On September 1, 2004, three middle-aged buddies set out on one of the last geographic challenges never before attempted in North America: to hike the Comb Ridge in one continuous push. The Comb is an upthrust ridge of sandstone—virtually a mini-mountain range—that stretches almost unbroken for a hundred miles from just east of Kayenta, Arizona, to some ten miles west of Blanding, Utah. To hike the Comb is to run a gauntlet of up-and-down severities, with the precipice lurking on one hand, the fiendishly convoluted bedrock slab on the other—always at a sideways, ankle-wrenching pitch. There is not a single mile of established trail in the Comb's hundred-mile reach.
The friends were David Roberts, writer, adventurer, famed mountaineer of decades past, at age 61 the graybeard of the bunch; Greg Child, renowned mountaineer and rock climber, age 47; and Vaughn Hadenfeldt, a wilderness guide intimately acquainted with the canyonlands, age 53. They came to the Comb not only for the physical challenge, but to seek out seldom-visited ruins and rock art of the mysterious Anasazi culture. Each brought his own emotions on the journey; the Comb Ridge would test their friendship in ways they had never before experienced.
Searching for the stray arrowhead half-smothered in the sand or for the faint markings on a far sandstone boulder that betokened a little-known rock art panel, becomes a competitive sport for the three friends. Along the way, they ponder the mystery, bringing the accounts of early and modern explorers and archaeologists to bear: Who were the vanished Indians who built these inaccessible cliff dwellings and pueblos, often hidden from view? Of whom were they afraid and why? What caused them to suddenly abandon their settlements around 1300 AD? What meaning can be ascribed to their phantasmagoric rock art? What was their relationship to the Navajo, who were convinced the Anasazi had magical powers and could fly?
DAVID ROBERTS is the author of On the Ridge Between Life & Death, Escape From Lucania, In Search of the Old Ones, and Escape Routes among other titles. His adventure and travel writing have appeared in Outside, National Geographic Adventure, The New York Times, and other publications.
Customer Reviews:
Good Travelogue.......2007-08-23
After reading David Roberts other book "In Search Of The Ancient Ones", I had to pick this one up as well. As a native Southwesterner and interested in ancient southwestern Indian history, I was eager to read about his trek across the "The Comb" with two friends. There was some interesting tidbits on how they went about placing their water caches and meetings with some of the locals before and during their trip. It was a fairly interesting read if you are an outdoors person but I as far as the Anasazi ruins, while several are mentioned, it would have been more interesting if more photos were included. Like a few previous reviewers I did find it annoying to read about David's arguments with his fellow companions as they all seemed to be instigated by David himself. I got the impression that he thought he was the "leader" of the group and the others were supposed to listen to him and follow "his" rules. It wouldn't have been too bad except he brings it up about 4 or 5 times throughout the book which I thought was a little excessive. Also, he makes a few remarks about others he has met or traveled with in the back country of the Southwest which, to me anyways, he thinks that we are not worthy of visiting these ancient ruins. Because others have vandalized ruins (which has been going on for about a hundred years now)does not mean that there some of us who are just as interested in the Anasazi and want to experience the thrill and wonder of finding an undiscovered site on our own or visit some of the ruins that are accessible, without looting them or damaging them. He gave me the impression that he is one of the "elite" who is one of the few who is knowledgable and because he's done some extensive backcountry travelling, "qualified" to visit these sites. Overall I thought the book was a good read. Not as good as his earlier one, "In Search Of The Ancient Ones." (Which I highly recommend). You should consider "House Of Rain" by Craig Childs.
Disappointing........2007-06-26
I enjoyed reading "The Secret Knowledge of Water" and "House of Rain;" both books written by Craig Childs. So,I bought and read this book because Greg Childs acted as photographer in this traverse of Comb Ridge. And, Indeed, the photos are good. Unfortunatly, David Roberts, the author and traverse participant, comes off as needing total control of his hike companions. The writing seems choppy and more a personal journal than an adventure.
Amazing reading..simply outstanding!.......2007-06-12
From the moment I saw this book on the shelf, I couldn't wait to get to a computer and order it from Amazon. I neglected to write down the name, but was able to find it with a search. This book is one I had a very hard time putting down. Roberts is a fine writer, however, some terminology will most likely have you pining for a dictionary! Roberts has you feeling the burn of the climb and the heat of the desert, along with the blisters on ones' feet! I am just about done with it, and already ordered "In Search of the Ancient Ones" for my next read.
One-Part Cultural Exploration of the Anasazi (with a little Navajo as well) and One-Part Adventure Story.......2007-05-07
Overall, I really enjoyed *Sandstone Spine*; nothing overly ground-breaking here - no new revelations or significant finds in regards to the Anasazi were accomplished on the trip. But, that doesn't necessarily matter. Between the party's discovered and revisited sites there is something to learn about the Anasazi for those not already deeply versed in the history. The most interesting parts of the book in regards to the history are the tangents Roberts takes talking about previous historical understanding and research, and some of the local history surrounding the Comb Ridge. In the beginning, the reader also gets a peak at the Navajo Nation off the beaten path.
As for the trek itself, it is essentially a 100+ mile hike in late summer in a sometimes unforgiving landscape. The party's adventures have the usual desert travel moments of having to find water, a safe place to camp, and how to travel across a varied terrain. But, in the end, it is merely interesting and not too adventurous. This is not the fault of Roberts and his traveling companions; though the Comb Ridge is a fantastic example of the geology of Colorado Plateau that presented some challenges to the traverse, it is not all that daunting to the experienced backcountry travelers on this adventure (this is not to say that it wouldn't kill the unprepared).
At times I found myself frustrated along with David Roberts when he spends moments in this book complaining about how his friends travel in relation to his expectations - mostly about one of the friends. On one hand, I completely agree with him; when a travel companion goes off on one's own and especially doesn't communicate what he or she is doing, this is absolutely annoying! And dangerous in the backcountry - even for experienced hikers. And one of Roberts' co-hikers does this often. But, I don't know that it really adds to the book any; except maybe at the end (I won't give away why or how). Or, maybe I just relate so well to it in regards to someone I used to travel often with that I can't take it any more than Roberts can.
In the end, a good read; but, maybe not quite up to the same level as some of Roberts' other books in regards to history or adventure - essentially, not the fault of the three travelers, just the circumstance of the Comb Ridge and the high skill level of the hikers. I would classify this as essential for anyone interested in backcountry travel in the Comb Ridge area; and a good quick read for everyone else.
See a slice of the Four Corners and existential hiking as part of a travelogue.......2007-04-18
This is a good book in many ways. Let me list just a few of them.
First, you get David Roberts' intimate love of the Four Corners/Colorado Plateau, as well as that of his two fellow hikers. Second and related is Roberts' and their appreciation for the Anasazi ruins and artifacts they encounter, and the appreciation to not disturb them.
Related to that, you can learn the basics about their "museum of the outdoors" ethos that is a cornerstone of this care to not disturb these remains. Not everybody fully appreciates this; it is part of what motivates the trio to get snarky about people's trail register comments. But, this isn't an "environmental" book or an "archaeology" book; it's also a travel book. And to fully appreciate this book, I think you have to understand that. If you want "just" an archaeology/hiking book, there's always "In Search of the Old Ones."
Beyond that, you get a sense for the vastness and ruggedness of this land, both today and 700-7,000 years ago as it confronted the Anasazi and their various forbearers.
But, wait, that's not all.
You also get the story of the 61-year-old Roberts, wondering how much major hiking he has left, the 53-year-old Vaughn Hadenfelt, fearing he'll soon be stuck behind a desk rather than guiding people around the Plateau, and the 47-year-old Greg Child, a new father. You get the three of them trying to not wear on each other's last nerve through a couple of weeks of hiking with almost no human contact. The "whining" that some people may note, I rather saw as the personal wrestlings of three aging hikers knowing they are approaching turning points in their lives. I think it misses the point of this book to "just" look for nature photography or Anasazi ruins.
Finally, you get Roberts' exquisite writing ability, and 16 pages of full-color photography by Child. A definite winner.
I've driven through Comb Ridge and hiked areas of Cedar Mesa and Grand Gulch; I deeply appreciated this book.
Book Description
In his provocative ethnohistory, Christopher Miller offers an innovative reinterpretation of relations between Native Americans and Christian settlers on the Columbia Plateau. Miller draws on a wealth of ethnographic resources to show how culturally-derived perceptions and systems of rationality played more of a determining role in the interactions between these two groups than did material forces. Initially, Plateau Indians and the American missionaries who came to convert them perceived each other as crucial to the fulfillment of their own millennial destiny. When these views were contravened, relations quickly and fatally soured. In explaining this devolution, Prophetic Worlds provides a novel and insightful rendering of the cultural understandings that underwrote the mid-nineteenth-century transformation of life on the Plateau.
Book Description
Among Tibetan Texts is part of Wisdom's acclaimed Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism series. For three decades, E. Gene Smith ran the Library of Congress's Tibetan Text Publication Project (PL480)—an effort to salvage and reprint the Tibetan literature that had been collected by communities and exiles of Sikkim, Bhutan, India, and Nepal. Smith wrote prefaces to these reprinted books to help clarify and contextualize the particular Tibetan texts: the prefaces served as rough orientations to a poorly understood body of foreign literature. Originally produced in print quantities of 20, these prefaces quickly became legendary, and soon photocopied collections were handed from scholar to scholar, achieving an almost cult status. These essays are collected here for the first time. The impact of Smith's research on the academic study of Tibetan literature has been tremendous, both for his remarkable ability to synthesize diverse materials into coherent accounts of Tibetan literature, history, and religious thought, and for the exemplary critical scholarship he brought to this field.
Customer Reviews:
An essential reference.......2002-01-06
It is impossible to overestimate the impact Gene Smith has had on Tibetan Studies. Smith is universally respected by Tibetologists, Western Buddhists, and Tibetan Lamas. The essays compiled in this book have something for everyone. Their scope covers all four of the major Tibetan lineages, their depth and specificity will interest specialists, their brevity and clarity will interest amateurs. Unfortunately so many publications these days lose their value shortly after publication. Despite their age (up to forty years old), Smith's essays still read like cutting edge research because he proposes so many roads of enquiry yet untrodden.
Book Description
The remarkable photographs in Peoples of the Plateau capture the lives of Pacific Northwest Indians at the turn of the twentieth century--and at a turning point in their own history.
The Columbia River Plateau, in the interior Pacific Northwest, was populated for centuries by the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse Indians. By the late nineteenth century, after the U.S. government had confined these peoples to a single reservation, their lives began to change irrevocably. Major Lee Moorhouse, a businessman and former militia officer, served as an Indian agent during this period. Believing that the Indians he encountered were a "dying race," Moorhouse was driven to collect their artifacts and, for posterity, take their photographs.
Although he was not a professional photographer, Moorhouse produced more than 9,000 glass-plate negatives, one-third with Indians as his subjects. Although his works to some degree reflect a stereotypical view, they are an invaluable aid for tribal researchers and historians because they identify their subjects by name.
This book marks the first major examination of Moorhouse and his work. Featuring eighty exquisite plates, it not only showcases Moorhouse's extensive photographs but also tells the story of the man--about whom little is known--and of the world in which he lived and worked.
Book Description
In spite of their past losses of land and independence in the wake of European settlement, Plateau tribes have maintained links to their religious and cultural traditions and to ccontinue to grow in number and political influence.
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Introduction To Rock Art.......2000-08-13
This book provides a wonderful overview of petroglyphs and pictographs in general, with the emphasis on the Northwestern states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana) and British Columbia. There are images on nearly every page including black and white photos and drawing recreations. Many elements of rock art are described and defined. There is a time line illustrating eras from pit and groove to modern, and a brief description of what Native American Indians were doing during that time. There are also some quantitative charts of elements. This is a great book for anyone interested in Native Americans, Archaeology, Rock Art, or a great way to get interested.
Amazon.com
The Colorado Plateau of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, and northern Arizona and New Mexico is the site of some of America's most prized national parks, among them Zion and Grand Canyon. It is also the center of ongoing conflict about the best use of natural resources, as the federal government, Indian nations, and ever-growing municipalities struggle to obtain control of water, minerals, and rangeland. As a former natural-resources attorney and now professor of law at the University of Colorado, Charles Wilkinson knows that struggle well, and his new book provides an on-the-ground overview of some of the most pressing conflicts. Some of his fieldnotes will come as no surprise to Westerners and students of the environment; others come as eye-opening news, whether the fact that Navajo Indian children are regularly bused to schools far away from home, traveling as much as 150 miles a day, or that radioactive waste and fallout from cold-war mining and testing remains a critical danger to public health across the plateau. Wilkinson's findings are often depressing; as he writes, "Thirty-five years ago I saw the West as clean and fresh, open and uncluttered. I no longer see it that way. I love it still, with all my heart, but I fear for it. For it is aging rapidly." Even so, he offers a few success stories to temper the bad news, notably the hard-won designation of large sections of the plateau as protected wilderness, with the promise of more extensive protection to come. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
"This book recounts my journey through the Colorado Plateau, a journey through place and time and self.... During my explorations of more than three decades, I found a land that sears into my heart and soul, a place that has taught me and changed me. I also discovered a land of conflict and endurance, a land that has given birth to one of the great chapters in American history." -from the Introductio.
The Colorado Plateau, stretching across four states and covering nearly 80 million acres, is one of the most unique and spectacular landscapes in the world. Remote, rugged, and dry - at once forlorn and glorious - it is a separate place, a place with its own distinctive landscape, history, and future.
In Fire on the Plateau, legal scholar and writer Charles Wilkinson relates the powerful story of how, over the past thirty years, he has been drawn ever more deeply into the redrock country and Indian societies of the Colorado Plateau. His work in the early 1970s as staff attorney for the newly formed Native American Rights Fund brought him into close contact with Navajo and Hopi people. His growing friendships with American Indians and increasing understanding of their cultures, along with his longstanding scholarship and experiences on federal public lands, led him to delve into the complicated history of the region.
Wilkinson examines that history-the sometimes violent conflicts between indigenous populations and more recent settlers, the political machinations by industry and the legal establishment, the contentious disputes over resources and land use-and provides a compelling look at the epic events that have shaped the region. From centuries of habitation by native peoples to Mormon settlement, from the "Big Build-Up" of the post-World War II era to the increased environmental awareness of recent years, he explores the conquests of tribes and lands that have taken place, and the ways in which both have endured.
Throughout, Wilkinson uses his own personal experiences as a lawyer working with Indian people, and his heartfelt insights about a land that he grew to love, to tie together the threads of the story. Fire on the Plateau is a vital and dynamic work that is sure to strike a chord with anyone interested in the past or future of the American Southwest.
Customer Reviews:
Indian rights (and red rocks and more) - an unbiased expert's view, contrary to a possible conflict-of-interest reviewer.......2006-01-21
I grew up on the Colorado Plateau, just minutes from the "Big Rez," and Charles Wilkinson paints a detailed social, natural and geologic picture of this land, about as close as you can get to the Third World here in the United States, in some ways.
Having one of the largest American Indian populations in the country, and certainly so going by percentage of the population, Indian relations with whites, whether private citizens or the state and federal governments, form a large part of this area's history. Wilkinson, with extensive experience in Indian law, gives an expert's eye view to how this has played out on the Plateau, especially since the rise of the Indian rights movement in the 1970s.
No less a person that Southwestern Indian-oriented novelist Tony Hillerman praises this work for that very expertise. And Hillerman, who has included Navajos, Apaches, Hopis and Zunis as protagonists in various of his novels, would know biased opinion if he saw it. (Contrary to one reviewer here, John Boyden's apparent conflict of interest in representing the Hopi HAS drawn calls for investigation.)
Wilkinson's exposure of how politically connected Salt Lake City attorney John Boyden sold the soul -- and massive coal mining rights -- of the Hopis out to Peabody Coal while also on retainer to Peabody takes up a good-sized chunk of this book. As Wilkinson was the person who discovered the smoking gun, and that in turn was partial motivation for this book, you can feel his anger in defense of Indian rights come through.
For an outside thumbnail history of this, read this Phoenix New Times story at: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/Issues/1997-05-01/feature_1.html
The next two factors in this area are the hardness of its natural features and its aridity, as pointed out by explorers like John Wesley Powell. And, per Powell, communal-minded Mormons appear to continue to have the best success of Anglos in dealing with this land.
Then, this area has been America's energy frontier ever since the Manhattan Project at nearby Los Alamos. Much of the country's uranium in the early years of the Atomic Age came from this area. Radiation poisoning, Indian treaty negotiations and environmental hazards are part of that mix.
Oil and natural gas, touched on by Wilkinson, are part of that picture, too, as are logging rights.
Getting back to the American Indian theme, Wilkinson shows how development of these resources has caused fractures in governments of most Southwestern Indian tribes, fractures exacerbated by the fact that their current government structures were imposed by Washington without regard for traditional native systems.
Meanwhile, the start brilliance of red rocks, painted desert, deep canyons and twisting slot canyons serves as the unchanging existential background for this thin-veneered modern story.
======
NB: Yes, it's commenting about another reviewer, but I highly suspect "Tom Scadden" has an axe to grind, political or otherwise, with his one-star review. Google had only eight links any Tom Scadden; half of them were to his review of this book. And, though he wrote that review three years ago, it's the only book he's reviewed on Amazon. So, take his rating with a huge grain of salt.
And, I have a hunch that I know who this really is. I think it may be Stephen Boyden, younger son of John Boyden, and himself an attorney -- indeed, he is on record as claiming his father did NOT work for Peabody at the same time he worked for the Hopis. If this is actually Stephen Boyden, well, he learned his conflicts of interest out of the cradle, I guess.
FIRE ON THE PLATEAU.......2005-06-22
LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN.SEE www.blackmesatrust.org as the rest of the story in this book unfolds.
I like this lawyer........2004-07-19
Its definitely not everyday that I find a lawyer to admire, so Charles Wilkinson is that rare exception. A bit reluctant at first to pick up a first hand account of recent resource and tribal issues on the Colorado Plateau as seen through the eyes of a lawyer, my attitude changed within a few pages. Charles Wilkinson writes with heart! It doesn't take long to see this writer has an obvious emotional investment in the clients and cases he goes to bat for.
The book opens with a telling case of Navajo high schoolers commuting long hours to attend classes. Wilkinson and his firm made the case that long bus rides were leaving students tried before and after class and hurting their grades. With evidence and conviction, they got high schools built on the reservations. With each case recounted, I could sense Wilkinson's attachment to the Colorado plateau and its people grow and grow.
Fire on the Plateau also provides a much broader telling of both the social and natural history of the Four Corners area. But what really set this book apart from others in my mind is Wilkinson's emergence from a lawyer who is just doing his job to someone who bonded to the land and the people he served.
Important Resource for Understanding.......2003-06-04
Anyone with interest in the Four Corners/Colorado Plateau, Native America, Public Land issues, wilderness, law or Western Americana must read this book. Wilkinson's credentials and legacy of work for justice are impeccable. His "Land and Resource Planning in the National Forest" is the best on the subject.
Critics on this site claim that it never happened; that is, Mormon attorney John Boyden never created a conflict of interest by represented Peabody Coal Company and Native America concurrently. (Read: "a Mormon simply wouldn't do it"). Mormons might think themselves irreproachable but greed and the need for glory know no boundaries. The veracity of Boyden's conflict of interest is archived at the University of Utah Marriott Library Special Collections. Anyone can read Boyden's own documents and come to their own conclusion. I have.
Conflict with Peabody or not, the critics have not disputed and cannot dispute the fact that Boyden represented both Hopi and Navajo horrendously over decades, advising them to accept legislation, water and mineral contracts that favored Anglo government and industry -- not the Indian or his land. (I use both "Native American" and "Indian" because some of my Native acquaintances prefer "Indian.") The contracts were so obviously bad and so far below market rate, they were successfully renegotiated many years later.
Wilkinson does a great job of explaining the cultural roots of both Mormons and Native Americans on the plateau that led to such travesties. The ultimate tragedy is that the Hopi and Navajo will never get back any of the plateau land that defines -- or rather defined them culturally.
Don't believe everything you read.......2003-03-31
Being somewhat familiar with the history of the Navajo-Hopi conflict, I was naturally drawn to the premise of this novel which resulted as being a one-sided, extremely inaccurate account of the 20th century Hopi history. After performing my own "due diligence" on the subject, I was appauled to learn that the author's slanderous accusations of attorney John Boyden are not substantiated and grieviously misleading. Peabody Coal has officially denied and submitted written proof that Boyden was never engaged in any "conflict of interest" nor on any payroll while representing the Hopi. I discovered that Wilkinson's mysterious "proof" of Boyden's affiliation with Peabody is painfully erroneous as the author draws awfully creative conclusions from very little evidence.
In 1997, Wilkinson suggested that legal recourse would be sought for Boyden's "devious conduct" against the Hopi, but seven years later, Wilkinson's claims have not been substantiated at any significant level. Why is this? I was very unimpressed to learn that after writing with such conviction and certainty, Wilkinson's "shocking revelation" about Boyden's "misconduct" as a focal point of the novel is and will most likely remain a hollow witch-hunt. I would not recommend that anyone read this novel because of it's poorly executed investigation of John Boyden's service to the Hopi Indian Tribe.
Book Description
Provides a summary of what is known about the prehistory, history , and culture of the American Indians of the Plateau Culture area. This area is defined by the region in northwestern United States and southwestern Canada drai ned by the Columbia and Fraser rivers excepting certain portions of the northern Great Basin drained by the Snake River. The Plateau culture area includes the Interior Salishan peoples, the Sahaptian peoples, and several cultural isolates, Athapaskan outliers, and the Kootenai and Cayuse.
Customer Reviews:
i find it to be interesting........1999-02-12
i learned about things i wasn't aware of
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House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
In Search of the Old Ones
Cowboys and Cave Dwellers: Basketmaker Archaeology in Utah's Grand Gulch
Canyon Spirits: Beauty and Power in the Ancestral Puebloan World
Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen
