A Land Alone, Colorado's Western Slope
Author: Duane Vandenbusche
Publisher:
Published: 1981
Total Pages: 360
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPosts
As Precious as Blood
Author: Steven C. Schulte
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: 2016-10-17
Total Pages: 307
ISBN-13: 1607325004
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe diversion of water from Colorado’s Western Slope to meet the needs of the rest of the state has been a contentious issue throughout Colorado’s history. The source of Colorado’s water is in the snow that accumulates west of the Continental Divide, but the ever-growing population on the Front Range continues to require more municipal water. In As Precious as Blood, Steven C. Schulte examines the water wars between these two regions and how the western part of the state fits into Colorado’s overall water story, expanding the account of water politics he began in Wayne Aspinall and the Shaping of the American West. Slow to build its necessary water infrastructure and suffering from a small population, little political power, and distance from sources of capital, the Western Slope of Colorado has struggled to maintain its water supply in the face of challenges from the Eastern Slope as well as from surrounding states. Schulte explains in detail the reasons, rationalizations, and resources involved in the multimillion-dollar dams and reclamation projects that divert much-needed water to the Front Range and elsewhere. He draws from archives, newspapers, and oral histories to show the interrelationships among twentieth-century Colorado water law, legislators from across the state, and powerful members of congress from the Western Slope, who have influenced water policy throughout the American West. As Precious as Blood provides context for one of the most contentious legal, political, and economic periods in the state’s history. Schulte puts a human face on Colorado’s water wars by exploring their social and political dimensions alongside the technical and scientific perspectives.
The Woolly West
Author: Andrew Gulliford
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 2018-06-13
Total Pages: 594
ISBN-13: 1623496535
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWinner, 2019 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Western Heritage Award for the Best Nonfiction Book Winner, 2019 Colorado Book Awards History Category, sponsored by Colorado Center for the Book In The Woolly West, historian Andrew Gulliford describes the sheep industry’s place in the history of Colorado and the American West. Tales of cowboys and cattlemen dominate western history—and even more so in popular culture. But in the competition for grazing lands, the sheep industry was as integral to the history of the American West as any trail drive. With vivid, elegant, and reflective prose, Gulliford explores the origins of sheep grazing in the region, the often-violent conflicts between the sheep and cattle industries, the creation of national forests, and ultimately the segmenting of grazing allotments with the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. Deeper into the twentieth century, Gulliford grapples with the challenges of ecological change and the politics of immigrant labor. And in the present day, as the public lands of the West are increasingly used for recreation, conflicts between hikers and dogs guarding flocks are again putting the sheep industry on the defensive. Between each chapter, Gulliford weaves an account of his personal interaction with what he calls the “sheepscape”—that is, the sheepherders’ landscape itself. Here he visits with Peruvian immigrant herders and Mormon families who have grazed sheep for generations, explores delicately balanced stone cairns assembled by shepherds now long gone, and ponders the meaning of arborglyphs carved into unending aspen forests. The Woolly West is the first book in decades devoted to the sheep industry and breaks new ground in the history of the Colorado Basque, Greek, and Hispano shepherding families whose ranching legacies continue to the present day.
A Classic Western Quarrel
Author: Lisa Schoch-Roberts
Publisher:
Published: 1997
Total Pages: 164
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA Colorado History, 10th Edition
Author: Maxine Benson
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
Published: 2015-12-04
Total Pages: 504
ISBN-13: 087108323X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor fifty years, A Colorado History has provided a comprehensive and accessible panoramic history of the Centennial State. From the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to contemporary times, this enlarged edition leads readers on an extraordinary exploration of a remarkable place. "A Colorado History has been, since its first appearance in 1965, widely recognized as an exemplary work of its kind." --The Colorado Magazine Experience Colorado with this new, enlarged edition of A Colorado History. For fifty years, the authors of this preeminent resource have led readers on an extraordinary exploration of how the state has changed—and how it has stayed the same. From the arrival of Paleo-Indians in the Mesa Verde region to the fast pace of the twenty-first century, A Colorado History covers the political, economic, cultural, and environmental issues, along with the fascinating events and characters, that have shaped this dynamic state. In print for fifty years, this distinctive examination of the Centennial State is a must-read for history buffs, students, researchers—or anyone—interested in the remarkable place called Colorado.
Becoming Colorado
Author: William Wei
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: 2021-11-08
Total Pages: 656
ISBN-13: 1646421922
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCopublished with History Colorado In Becoming Colorado, historian William Wei paints a vivid portrait of Colorado history using 100 of the most compelling artifacts from Colorado’s history. These objects reveal how Colorado has evolved over time, allowing readers to draw multiple connections among periods, places, and people. Collectively, the essays offer a treasure trove of historical insight and unforgettable detail. Beginning with Indigenous people and ending in the early years of the twenty-first century, Wei traces Colorado’s story by taking a close look at unique artifacts that bring to life the cultures and experiences of its people. For each object, a short essay accompanies a full-color photograph. These accessible accounts tell the human stories behind the artifacts, illuminating each object’s importance to the people who used it and its role in forming Colorado’s culture. Together, they show how Colorado was shaped and how Coloradans became the people they are. Theirs is a story of survival, perseverance, enterprise, and luck. Providing a fresh lens through which to view Colorado’s past, Becoming Colorado tells an inclusive story of the Indigenous and the immigrant, the famous and the unknown, the vocal and the voiceless—for they are all Coloradans.
The Bassett Women
Author: Grace McClure
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 2019-05-09
Total Pages: 371
ISBN-13: 0804041032
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn the late nineteenth century, Brown’s Park, a secluded valley astride the Utah-Colorado border, was a troubled land of deadly conflict among cattle barons, outlaws, rustlers, and small ranchers. Homesteader Elizabeth Bassett gained a tough reputation of her own, and her daughters followed suit, going on to become members of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch’s inner circle. Ann—who counted Cassidy among her lovers—became known as “queen of the cattle rustlers.” Both sisters proved themselves shrewd businesswomen as they fended off hostile takeovers of the family ranch. Through the following decades, the sisters became the stuff of legend, women who embodied the West’s fearsome reputation, yet whose lived experiences were far more nuanced. Ann became a writer. Josie, whose cabin still stands at present-day Dinosaur National Monument, applied her pioneer ethics to a mechanized world and became renowned for her resourcefulness, steadfastness, and audacity. For The Bassett Women, Grace McClure tracked down and untangled the legends of Brown’s Park, one of the way stations of the fabled “Outlaw Trail,” while creating an evenhanded and indelible portrait of the Bassetts. Based on interviews, written records, newspapers, and archives, The Bassett Women is one of the few credible accounts of early settlers on Colorado’s western slope, one of the last strongholds of the Old West.
A Symbol of Wilderness
Author: Mark W. T. Harvey
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2011-10-01
Total Pages: 401
ISBN-13: 0295803533
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHarvey details the first major clash between conservationists and developers after World War II, the successful fight to prevent the building of Echo Park Dam. The dam on the Green River was intended to create a recreational lake in northwest Colorado and generate hydroelectric power, but would have flooded picturesque Echo Park Valley and threatened Dinosaur National Monument, straddling the Utah-Colorado border near Wyoming.
Western Colorado Fruit & Wine
Author: Jodi Buchan
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2015-07-27
Total Pages: 176
ISBN-13: 1625853238
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEnterprising pioneers transformed the isolated lands of the North Fork and Grand Valleys into blossoming oases. Sowing cultural roots in this arid rocky landscape, the settlers cultivated what became delectable destinations boasting world-class wine and award-winning fruit. Midwestern immigrants cultivated orchards, Europeans produced their own table wine and growers delivered their harvest by horse and wagon to the first locavore market--area miners. Sit down, pour a glass of wine or cider and join journalist Jodi Buchan on a journey through the Western Slope's fruit and wine country. Meet orchardists and viticulturists, and celebrate the discoveries, traditions and innovations thriving today across the region.
The Politics of Western Water
Author: Stephen C. Sturgeon
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 2022-12-13
Total Pages: 268
ISBN-13: 081655093X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAs the Democratic congressman from Colorado's Fourth District from 1949 to 1973, Wayne Aspinall was an advocate of natural resource development in general and reclamation projects in particular. A political loner, considered crusty and abrasive, he carved a national reputation by helping secure the passage of key water legislation—in the process clashing with colleagues and environmentalists alike. Fiercely protective of western Colorado's water supply, Aspinall sought to secure prosperity for his district by protecting its share of Colorado River water through federal reclamation projects, and he made this goal the centerpiece of his congressional career. He became chair of the House Interior Committee in 1959 and ruled it with an iron fist for more than a dozen years—a role that placed him in a key position to shape the nation's natural resource legislation at a time when the growing environmental movement was calling for a sharp change in policy. This full-length study of Aspinall's importance to reclamation in the West clarifies his role in influencing western water policy. By focusing on Aspinall's congressional career, Stephen Sturgeon provides a detailed account of the political machinations and personal foibles that shaped Aspinall's efforts to implement water reclamation legislation in support of Colorado's Western Slope, along the way shedding new light on familiar water controversies. Sturgeon meticulously traces the influences on Aspinall's thinking and the arc of his career, examining the congressman's involvement in the Colorado River Storage Project bill and his clash with conservationists over the proposed Echo Park Dam; recounting the fight over the Frying Pan-Arkansas Project and his decision to support diverting water out of his own district; and exploring the battles over the Central Arizona Project, in which Aspinall fought not only environmentalists but also other members of Congress. Finally he assesses the Aspinall legacy, including the still-disputed Animas-La Plata Project, and shows how his vision of progress shaped the history of western water development. The Politics of Western Water portrays Aspinall in human terms, not as a pork-barrel politician but as a representative who believed he was protecting his constituents' interests. It is an insightful account of the political, financial, and personal variables that affect the course by which water resource legislation is conceived, supported, and implemented—a book that is essential to understanding the history and future of water in the West.
