This Is Dinosaur - by Wallace Stegner (Paperback)

About the Book

This Is Dinosaur was first published in 1955, in the midst of a bitter controversy over the proposed construction of dams at Echo Park. The outcome of the controversy--a congressional vote to prohibit the dams--"set in brass the principle that any part of the national park system should be immune from any sort of intrusion and damage," wrote Wallace Stegner in the 1985 edition of the book. Reprinted with new color photographs, This Is Dinosaur still stands as a classic introduction to the historic, scenic, archeological, and biological resources of the Monument by an impressive array of writers.

Book Synopsis

This Is Dinosaur was first published in 1955, in the midst of a bitter controversy over the proposed construction of dams at Echo Park. The outcome of the controversy--a congressional vote to prohibit the dams--"set in brass the principle that any part of the national park system should be immune from any sort of intrusion and damage," wrote Wallace Stegner in the 1985 edition of the book. Reprinted with new color photographs, This Is Dinosaur still stands as a classic introduction to the historic, scenic, archeological, and biological resources of the Monument by an impressive array of writers.

Contains the following essays:

• "The Marks of Human Passage" by Wallace Stegner
• "Geological Exhibit" by Eliot Backwelder
• "The Natural World of Dinosaur" by Olaus Murie and Joseph W. Penfold
• "The Ancients of the Canyons" by Robert Lister
• "Fast Water" by Otis "Dock" Marston
• "A Short Look at Eden" by David Bradley
• "The National Park Idea" by Alfred A. Knopf

Review Quotes

An eloquent, practical and convincing plea to abandon the project of constructing the Echo Park Dam on the Utah-Colorado border for hydroelectric power, comes in the form of several articles by people in various occupations, all of whom have the common desire to preserve one of our few remaining wilderness areas for rest and recreation. In his own essay, Wallace Stegner points to the natural wonders of the district. It is full of wonderful scenery; it is a rich archeological site of Indian cultures and the bones of prehistoric animals--all of which the proposed dam would destroy by gouging out and submerging the land around the Green and Yampa Rivers. Articles by Eliot Blackwelder on geology; by Olaus Murie and Joseph Penfold on animals; by Robert Lister on ancient Indian settlements, and others--give information of general as well as particular interest and are a powerful persuasion to leave the area unimpaired. An extensive photographic supplement shows many of its striking beauties.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

About the Author

Wallace Stegner (editor) 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.