CHAPTER ONE HOW OUR FIRST ANCESTORS LIVED Before these fields were shorn and tilledFull to the brim our rivers flowed;The melody of waters filledThe fresh and boundless woods;And torrents dashed, and rivulets play'd,The fountains spouted in the shade. William Cullen Bryant,quoted in American Forestry, XIV. 520 The earth is our home. It is a great treasure house filled with the most wonderful things. Although people have lived on the... more...

THE WORK OF THE COLORADO RIVER The Colorado River is not old, as we estimate the age of rivers. It was born when the Rocky Mountains were first uplifted to the sky, when their lofty peaks, collecting the moisture of the storms, sent streams dashing down to the plains below. Upon the western slope of the mountains a number of these streams united in one great river, which wound here and there, seeking the easiest route across the plateau to the... more...