A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia

by Blaine Harden

"Superbly reported and written with clarity, insight, and great skill." ― Washington Post Book World After two decades, Washington Post journalist Blaine Harden returned to his small-town birthplace in the Pacific Northwest to follow the rise and fall of the West’s most thoroughly conquered river. To explore the Columbia River and befriend those who collaborated in its destruction, he traveled on a monstrous freight barge sailing west from Idaho to the Grand Coulee Dam, the site of the river’s harnessing for the sake of jobs, electricity, and irrigation. A River Lost is a searing personal narrative of rediscovery joined with a narrative of exploitation: of Native Americans, of endangered salmon, of nuclear waste, and of a once-wild river. Updated throughout, this edition features a new foreword and afterword. 7 maps

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Nature, Environment, Science, Westerns, Politics

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

Harden is an author and journalist who worked for The Washington Post for 28 years as a correspondent in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as in New York and Seattle. He was also a national correspondent for The New York Times and writer for the Times Magazine. He has contributed to The Economist and PBS Frontline.

Harden's newest book, "Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the
American West." New York Times columnist Tim Egan calls it a "terrific" deconstruction of a Big Lie about the West. The LA Times calls the book "terrifically readable." The Spokesman Review (Spokane, Wa.) raves that Murder at the Mission is "a richly detailed and expertly researched account of how a concocted story...became a part of American legend.

Harden is also the author of "King of Spies" (Viking/Penguin 2017), "The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot" (Viking/Penguin, 2015), "Escape From Camp 14" (Viking/Penguin 2012) and "A River Lost" (Norton, revised and updated edition 2012).

Reviews

[Debbie Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I am giving this book 4-stars.
Not because I LOVED it -- (well, maybe I did) but because it's so very interesting -- to ME-- and I thought it very well researched and written.

I grew up next to the Columbia River in Washington State and I love this river, but... if you are from anywhere but Oregon, Washington, Idaho.. I don't think this would have any interest for you.
Unless you are weird like me!
( I do like regional history. and culture! and Food! and people! and stories!)

The Columbia River and its history are really complicated. It's the only river in the United States that is completely controlled by computers.
There are 14 dams on the river -- 3 of which are in Canada, 4 border WA/Oregon, so there is an international as well as bi-state cooperation/agreement on how to manage the river nowadays. It's huge!
The agreement AND the complications of the river.
There are the dwindling salmon, Native American fishing rights, irrigation, hydro-electric power, atomic/plutonium dumping ground, timber industry, the river as a super highway (barges/transportation), etc to deal with.
Federal, State, County, City laws to figure out!
The book talks about all of that--good and bad. It pulls no punches--
and while I found that interesting--and read aloud to the Handyman on the 8 hour trip up to Washington last weekend-- I also found it bittersweet.

We grew up on the river. Or rivers.
We grew up where the Snake River flows into the Columbia.
We picnicked in the park where Lewis and Clark camped, when they too first saw the Columbia.
The smaller Yakima River, another tributary, also meets the Columbia there.
We grew up in the middle of the desert, surrounded by water, water everywhere.
It's hard to explain, unless you've been there. OR read the book.
There is a geological reason for the dry desert with rivers running thru it.
Geology AND Franklin D. Roosevelt (who endorsed the building of the Grand Coulee Dam in 1934)

All that aside---
Home is where the heart is!
I love the Columbia River.
Everything that happened to the Columbia River was a product of it's time... so let's not waste time thinking about 'what might have been'..
even if that's what the book did.
There's no going back now.

[Kerri Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know where your electricity comes from? (I often find myself wondering how often people wonder about where any of their (natural or otherwise) resources originate; this book definitely changed the way I think about a river I grew up near my entire life.)

If you live anywhere from Alaska to California to Oregon to Montana, and all the way southeast to Arizona (and parts of Texas!), your electricity likely comes from the Columbia River, via a huge dam in a tiny town in Washington State that most people wouldn't have ever heard of unless they've also heard of Grand Coulee Dam.

It's a city that wouldn't exist without that dam, just like so much of our current power grid also wouldn't exist without that dam. The dam that successfully harnessed the once wildest river in the West and turned it into a mighty machine to power our every waking moment, while simultaneously shutting down successful salmon spawning and displacing and bankrupting countless Native Americans in the process.

Harden's premise (and an undeniably factually accurate one): A mighty working river is a double-edged sword, and this country is bleeding.

We're bleeding at our rivers, at our dams, and that's trickling down to our oceans, and our groundwater, and our food sources.

This book is a deep-dive into both the river in its historical form, and the working river as it existed in 1996, when this book was originally researched and published. (Sadly, very little has changed since then.) Harden doesn't skirt any issues surrounding what it means to create and maintain a "working river," and instead spends copious amounts of time talking to people on both sides of the proverbial and literal waters, including a great recap of farm and irrigation subsidies, and how many small and large farms were (and potentially still are) misusing water allocations and other assistance provided by the government and taxpayer dollars.

Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year, and a book I know I want for our home library.

[Four-point-five stars for historical accuracy and the inherent power of telling the truth, no matter how unpopular it may make you.]

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five years I lived in Wenatchee. While there, I learned a bit about the Columbia, a bit about the dams, but had no idea the full history, the power plays involved.

Harden's research is astounding, and he manages to present all sides without dehumanizing or failing to understand what's at stake for any of the players, while also giving clear facts. (For instance, he does a great job of debunking quite a few common myths re: dams and dam advocates, as well as pointing out the economics of such projects, which benefit a few at cost to many.)

I read this just after The Big Burn, and both books together changed my idea of what historical nonfiction could be, but in different ways. Both are also books I'm sure I'll return to, and books I thoroughly recommend to anyone looking for good natural history reads.

[4.5 stars for excellent research, great writing, and solid insights.]

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in Western Washington (Seattle area) in the 1960s and 70s I did not spend a lot of time thinking about the Columbia River. I did visit Eastern Washington on occasion, including a visit to Grand Coulee Dam when I was a kid, but I certainly had no inkling of the way that humans had reengineered the Columbia River and its major tributaries. Since then I have become much more environmentally conscious, being a trained biologist, and have also become more aware of how devastating the modifications to the river were for Native Americans. I don't think most people are aware how large the salmon runs once were and how significant fishing was to the state (it was the 4th largest industry in the state economically) prior to the multiple dams that now have all but destroyed many of the salmon runs.

The Bureau of Reclamation was essentially given a free hand in the 30s and 40s to build multiple dams to provide water to irrigate the drylands of Eastern Washington and to produce power. Later, the Bonneville Power Administration continues to operate without hardly any regard for the environmental effects of so many dams in the Columbia River system. The result of this unbridled industrialization of the river was decimation of the salmon runs the Native Indians depended on, the destruction of Native lands and archaeological sites, and the displacement of most tribes from ancestral areas.

Harden tries his best to tell the story of the river from both the industrial/agricultural side and the Native American/environmental side, but once the numbers are crunched it is hard not to see the whole thing an environmental disaster that has only begun to be addressed fitfully in recent decades. Harden grew up in Eastern Washington, his father worked on Grand Coulee Dam, and he retains a connection tot the land as a result. It is clear that his own attitudes toward the river have shifted over the years as his bittersweet story unfolds.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. The industrialization of theColumbia River is a metaphor for the misuse of all natural resources. The mighty Columbia and Snake Rivers have been turned into slack water all the way to Lewiston Idaho. Blaine Harden has covered this terrible destruction, from the native Americans, the lost of fish habitat , the agricultural canals, power dams, slack water barges, and Hanford Nuclear waste dump. The book introduces the people involved. The past idealists, greedy barons, politicians, farmers, Indians, barge pilots, environmentalists, and windsurfers. We have created a dilemma, and Blaine Harden has created a fantastic book.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good case study about the variety of interests surrounding a body of water. It covers a lot of topics, although I found some details about the interviewees a bit unnecessary. I appreciate the candidness of the author’s writing and his efforts to hear from all sides, no matter how gritty or ridiculous their complaints were

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fascinating book. Well-written and well-researched. Very fair in depicting the differences of opinion while also fact checking claims.

[Ian Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge eye opener for someone who grew up near the Columbia Basin Project in a farming community. The treatment of many interviewees appeared significantly biased based on their perspective on the river, but overall a great read.

[Pete Danko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read this book way back in 1998 when I was living in Southern Oregon, with no connection to the Columbia. This rereading, aloud to Niko, came after five-plus years living just a couple of miles from the Columbia. In one sense, the book suffers from the passage of time, because it is written in a very current/newspapery style. But the thrust of the book remains as true now as it did then -- that the Columbia long ago ceased to be a river but is now simply a piece of the machinery of the West. One has to acknowledge all that it has given us -- cheap power, a means to move goods, etc., all things that make life for many much easier. But the callous disregard for the impact of these changes -- it's pretty staggering to think about. We're not perfect now, but for goodness sakes, we are much better.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book manages to be both passionate and objective about the challenges besetting the Columbia River. Little has changed in the 20 years since it was written. The irrigators and shippers still call the shots and the politicians still quiver at the mention of dam breaching. One difference is that there seems now to be at last some momentum on the removal of the four lower Snake River dams - part of the Columbia watershed, dams that Harden traverses - for they are operating at a loss. It will be a momentous day when the salmon once again can traverse the Snake without those concrete clogs in their way.

[Brian]

If you've ever been on or driven alongside the Columbia River, you should read this book. Meticulously researched (including stories and interviews from the author's days spent floating down the river on barges) and compassionately narrated, you will have a much fuller vision of this part of the planet.

[Dylan Gomes · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book. Harden weaves a story about a river, the mighty Columbia, and where it’s water goes - to the hydroelectric system and to irrigation for farmers - and doesn’t go - to the salmon. Harden includes words from many differing views and does an amazing job in his investigations and story telling of this historical (and contemporary) piece. Well done.

[Perri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harden does a great job of sharing the story of the damming of the Columbia River and its effects. A complex issue, he breaks it down and shares opposing viewpoints What most impressed me was how fairly he balanced the benefits and the cost of the project.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be easy to write book about the damming and polluting of America’s mightiest river in a heavy-handed and depressing way. Yet author Blaine Harden wrote A River Lost like the excellent journalist he is, presenting all sides of the issues and letting the ignorant and brainwashed speak for themselves. Nor does the author abstain completely from editorial comment, which he adds in small doses when the stories told don’t quite reflect the facts. The author gives equal voice to all who have an interest in the Columbia, and is much less biased than I might seem in this review.

Harden grew up on the Columbia, and his father helped build the Grand Coulee Dam, a structure so large that it can be seen from space. He spent his early years with families who believed that damming the river for electrical power and irrigation was crucial to a prosperous US. These farmers, builders, and townspeople quickly came to expect that government subsidies offered were their permanent right. It is sad and unfair that such subsidies were initially offered but not given to displaced Native Americans, whose towns, burial grounds, and salmon runs/food supplies were submerged in favor of cheap water for farms and flat water for industry.

A major part of the book is a river journey that Harden takes on barges moving merchandise down the Snake and Columbia Rivers between the dams. Harden describes people and places exquisitely, and I could imagine each captain’s appearance and personality, as well as the feel of being on a craft with significant tonnage and limited steering/stopping capacity. Having enjoyed observing windsurfers on the Columbia, I can understand the conflict between this recreational use and barges operating on a timetable. Harden does a good job of representing both groups.

I had no idea that radioactive waste was leaking into the Columbia, so the chapter on the Hanford Project was particularly shocking and enlightening. Ironically, this is the only part of the Columbia that is “wild and scenic,” because plentiful cold water was needed for making plutonium during the 1940s – 70s. Although this industry shut down in 1987, efforts to clean up radioactive waste continue. Hanford contains 2/3 of the US’s high-level radioactive waste. 53 million tanks of highly toxic radioactive waste in leaky underground tanks await cleanup. Radioactive groundwater has been detected. Both workers and downwind neighbors have been exposed to radiation. Harden interviews a number of workers and is taken on a tour of the low-radiation areas of the plant. His interviews with downwind neighbors are rather surprising.

Throughout the book, there are useful maps that illustrate the entire Columbia watershed, both in toto and as detail maps representing the subject of each chapter. This gives the reader a good sense of the areas discussed, as well as an overall appreciation for the hugeness of this river system.

Anyone who has visited the Columbia or Snake River and wants to learn more will find plenty of information about the watershed, its history, and the variety of the people who depend upon it. People who live in or love the Pacific Northwest, as I do, might want to give it a try. The book is alive with conversations and characters, as well as complex issues about river use. The next time I see the Columbia, I will be looking at it with a deeper understanding.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written back in this mid-1990s but still a superb account of the history of the how the mighty Columbia River was turned into one of engineering marvels of the world along with it's destruction as a natural river system (hence 'lost'). It is also a semi-autobiographical account of the fierce tension between the need for economic development, especially electricity, and the cost to the functioning of the river in its original state. The untamed Columbia was simply an amazing river, with fantastic runoff from melting mountain snows, teeming with salmon and a mainstay of tribal Indian life along its route. The descriptions by Lewis and Clark upon encountering the river were stunning. Today there are over 250 reservoirs with 18 dams along the mainstem Columbia and the Snake rivers, the crown jewel of course is the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state. Nearly every drop of water is 'managed' by huge Federal agencies like the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Army Corps of Engineers for both hydroelectric power and irrigation. The book describes in very human terms what is like to operate barges on the river, run irrigated farms dependent on it, windsurf (one of the biggest recreational activities in certain sections) or try to eke out a living as tribal Indians dependent the salmon runs, which have obviously been nearly exterminated. Blaine Harden attempts to be fairly even-handed about these conflicting visions of usage even while his obvious sympathies lie with the salmon-backers and the Indian tribes disrupted by the development of the Columbia. The tension between 'east- and west siders' (of the Cascades. that is) is amusingly depicted with a journalists eye, and foreshadows many of the deeper divisions that have come to characterize current-day America. But these are complex issues with no easy answers no matter what your position. This is especially true some 20+ years later as reliance on fossil fuels is being reduced with 'alternative' sources of energy needed more than ever. There is also a description of the environmental impact of the Hanford nuclear facility located along the banks of the Columbia (cheap power!). That could be a book in itself. There are numerous useful maps to guide the reader downstream in what is a fascinating though slightly depressing tour of nature and humanity in conflict. It always seems that humanity is 'winning' but that ultimately may not be the case as the costs of our civilization come due.

[Charlie Petters · Rating 5 out of 5]

The truth about a once vibrant river. It is easy to get engrossed in a well written book, which Blaine Harden’s book “A River Lost, the Life and Death of the Columbia” is one such book. He did his research, interviews, and leg work to make a very fine “read” out of this book.

He gives us some accurate geology about the Columbia River, from a very long time ago- even before the great Missoula Floods. He also gives us a nice history lesson about the Columbia River and those who lived on it and its tributaries. He writes about how the Native Peoples reaped the rewards from the river for millenniums past down to a time just before Lewis and Clark saw the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers for the first time. The Columbia River gave the Native Peoples from the mouth of the Columbia, through Celilo Falls and beyond Kettle Falls, a yearly sustenance year after year for millenniums- with enough left over to trade and barter for goods with others. He also writes about how that all changed after Lewis and Clark canoed down the river to the Pacific Ocean.
He also writes about the “Upsuch” (read the book to find out its meaning) changing all that and taking from the river for their own profit at the demise of the Native Peoples and others, and how politicians were bought and paid for during the process. He does not hide anything. He does tell us who, for the last 100 years, has profited the most from the Columbia River and who the losers have been. Additionally, gives the readers references so that they can do their own research, which I am doing.

After reading this book I began to wonder if there are any honest politicians left and is there anyone that is looking out for the welfare of the 99-percent that are not the elites in this country. He gives us the facts: the way it was and the way it is. He doesn’t tell us how to think, but let’s us draw our own conclusions.

I highly recommend this book for those that want some factual information about the Columbia River, it’s past and present.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia" takes the reader on a journey through the history of the Columbia River and the tribalism of special interest groups that have accompanied it. It isn't a pretty sight. Featuring the usual suspects: latte-drinking environmentalists, know-it-all engineers, bitter Native Americans, eccentric windsurfers, hypocritical barge drivers and more, Harden skillfully exposes the river's political clashes. There are also chapters about the Hanford nuclear site, and the irony of how Eastern Washington's politically conservative farmers, business people, etc. owe their prosperity to government subsidies and construction projects is on display.

Most of all, this book focuses on the loss of salmon, mostly due to dams (although seals, corruption, and sweetheart irrigation/farming deals add to the mix). I did not realize just how many salmon there once were until I read this book. Apparently, around 2.3 lbs. were caught per Native American per day in one stretch of the river, and the Natives used it as their staple of food and trade (including the slave trade)! Overall, this is a wonderful mix of geography, science, politics, and history, and there are no easy answers.

Hopefully we can find a sweet-spot solution to this issue. Dams, salmon, nature, Native American traditions, business, etc. are all important. No matter what, there will be losers and winners to some extent. From the sounds of it, author Blaine Harden thinks that much more could be done for the salmon, and I would agree.

PS A similar case study to this (different perspectives of an environmental issue) is Jared Diamond's piece on Montana's Bitterroot Mountains in "Collapse."

[Sheila Mulcahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a companion book with Deep River by Carl Marlantes (fiction) for a deeper perspective of the river itself and how civilization interferes with nature. I have learned a boatload. I am a deep reader/listener to what authors wish to impart with their research, insight into characters, the movers, and shakers in what they ultimately push through into fruition. The nonfiction is an eye-opener on several levels, not only the sheer magnitude of trying to harness a world natural wonder, the Columbia River, but the engineering accomplishment in doing so. On the human level, or might I say inhumane, is the total disregard to what the river gave to its inhabitants, salmon. Salmon is a way of life for many. On the fictional side, I read about a Finnish family with magnificent but infuriating 'sisu' who chose this area to set down roots and make a new way of life - on and around the river. The fiction Deep River chronicles the lives of a family with strong personalities and character who shape their political, environmental, and domestic existence. A River Lost chronicles the way people and government shape and reshape the environment and portray the consequences of those feats. Both books are excellent and I would recommend them to be read together for a broader view of the Pacific Northwest.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having finished this 2012 reprint update only acquired by my local as of 4/2022, it was the color cover that caught my eye. As a child I recall seeing Native fishermen on those wooden piers out over a raging river with nets to catch the salmon. The sight made a lasting impression, along with the racks of drying fish an the smoking sheds. This was seen on some car trip from a landlocked state through the NW to reach Prince Rupert BC on north via the AlCan road before paving.

A wonderful engrossing read, one that further confirms how we have fouled the planet. For such an enlightened, advanced society I feel disappointed of the future. This author made me much more aware of the European expansion of destruction.

The author provided me with much more history of the river, the dams, the environment and our ignorance. To this day I eat canned salmon, my early introduction to salmon. The days of truly fresh Rainbow trout caught, cleaned at the water edge, prepared & tossed into a cast iron skillet over a firepit as in my youth are just memories. Now our fish are loaded with drugs, contaminates and Indigenous people are still lied to. PBS series of Lewis and Clark, now on my list for the 4th viewing as a reminder of pristine lands.

[Ingrid Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, very engaging. Harden details his own experience growing up near the Grand Coulee Dam. He also interviews river users with different perspectives on the highly mechanized river and asks their thoughts about the declining salmon populations. Barge captains, irrigators, nuclear engineers, wind surfers, indigenous fishermen, white fishermen, dam operators, power agents, urban environmentalists…all provide a unique lens in which to view the history of the river and the “best” way to manage it.

I’d consider this the most wicked of problems. Because the thriving urban cities of the PNW are made possible by the hydroelectric power generated and flood control provided by the dam system along the Columbia River. So as someone who was born in Portland, and enjoys cheap(ish) electricity, I’m part of the system whether I like it or not. This makes me sound like I’m pro-dams, which I’m also not. I dream of what the Columbia looked like before the 1900’s, with its wild and raging waters, and millions of salmon returning to spawn in its tributaries each year. What a sight that must have been.


Because this book was written almost 30 years ago, I wonder what Harden would say about the state of the salmon if he wrote an epilogue today?

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First written in 1996 and revised in 2012, journalist, Harden, returns to his home town of Moses Lake, Washington and endeavors to tell the story of how the mighty Columbia River has become a series of stagnant lakes, nearly empty of salmon, and managed exclusively by the Bonneville Power Administration. He hooks a ride on a barge beginning at Lewiston, Idaho and rides it all the way to Portland. Along the way he interviews the barge captains, the Hanford employees in Richland, the "downwinders" in Eastern Washington, the Colville Indians, the irrigation farmers. What he finds is a complex conglomeration of opinions and facts; he experiences the deep philosophical divide between west of the mountains and east of the mountain residents. What he found is that the Columbia and Snake Rivers are encumbered by 15 hydroelectric dams which make it possible to ship huge cargoes from inland to the sea and provide the cheapest electric power in the nation to the NW and beyond. Those dams were built without fish ladders and the decline of salmon is at more than critical levels. Hanford and irrigators continue to use massive amounts of Columbia water. It is not a pretty story.

[Allyson Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blaine Harden has a point of view about the Columbia, which he sees as transformed from a wild, fertile river ecosystem to an efficient hydroelectric machine. He includes other points of view - the bargemen who depend on the dams which allow them to navigate the Columbia halfway to Canada, the farmers who depend on the subsidized irrigation from the Columbia to water their crops and generate illicitly-marketed electricity, the indigenous people whose salmon-based cultures and livelihoods have been eradicated, the technicians of Hanford whose bomb ended WWII but whose waste continues to threaten whole populations, even the windsurfers who are the bane of the bargemen…all have their say.

I read this while cruising down the Snake and Columbia rivers on almost the exact route Harden traces, visiting the REACH museum near Hanford, going through the massive locks of a half-dozen dams, and admiring the antics of the wind-surfers. It is a worthy counter-point to the more conventional books about Lewis and Clark which also accompanied my trip.

[Shawn Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, very readable book for anyone who lives in the PNW. I grew up 90 minutes from Grand Coulee Dam, and for me it was just "there".

But this book walks through the history of the damn and how it has not only provided power for the PNW but at great cost to salmon, Native Americans, and the environment.

In a nutshell: Eastern Washington people view themselves as self-reliant individualists who in fact have their entire way of life heavily subsidized by the federal gov't and Western Washington city-folk talk a lot about the salmon, the enviornment, and native cultures but get cheap power from a system that has done massive damage to all three!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. While a fairly old book, this was a great read about the Columbia River and showed me a much different side of the river than the Columbia Gorge haven of waterfalls I loved in Oregon. The author reminded me of myself in a way, as he is the son of a man involved in the dam making he investigates and I am the daughter of a family of power plant engineers. Harden does a great job of investigating all sides of the issue and humanizing every one of them. I learned about the dams, lots and lots about salmon, and nuclear waste alongside the river of which I’ve heard a little about before. I’d love to kayak on the Hanford section of the Columbia some day.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history of the Columbia and Snake Rivers and the multiple dams that harness them. Good reporting of how the dams effect those who live in that region and beyond. After reading this book, I feel like it may be time to dismantle all the dams - even the Grand Coulee - and let the river return to as natural a state as possible. It seems there is a lot of waste happening. This isn't the 1950s anymore, we have new and different technologies. It's time to move into the future for power and commerce and give the Native Americans, the animals and the fish their rivers back.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readable but uneven. Parts of this book, especially in the front half, are just beautiful and yet the writing doesn't get in the way. This book comes across as balanced and sad, kind of a hard middle. Basically it's the technological and political story of the Columbia River. It doesn't go into the geological history or the recreational usage. It's mostly about the barging and the dams and Hanford and how it relates to Salmon. Given how much I go up and down the Gorge, definitely was worth reading.

[Kathy Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book most interesting, I think because I grew up in both eastern and western Washington where the Columbia and salmon are a big deal. We sang ‘Roll on Columbia’ in grade school and bought in to the idea of harnessing the great river to open up the deserts to farming as a very good thing.
More recently I have come to see that that reining in of the living river has had dire consequences.
The book explores a variety of interests at play in the future of the river, which has been damned for most of its length.

[Zubin Abraham-Ahmed · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the single most boring, infuriating, unbearable, exasperating, irritating, riling, disturbing, galling, and vexing book I have ever read at school.
Every chapter served a stale, banal, insipid, tedious, monotonous, and stagnant view that was garnished by longwinded writing.

DO NOT MAKE YOUR 7TH GRADE CLASS READ THIS BOOK @UniversityPrep.

We out,
Mr. Faucher's former 7th grade English

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a good job elucidating the political issues plaguing the Columbia without succumbing to biased diatribes or issuing overly boring details. I thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions, historical facts, and musings of the common folk. The Epilogue was poignant. Unlike Reisner's Cadillac Desert, this story only made me cry a little bit.

[Eagonflow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly informative and rounded book. Reads like a float down a river with calm to rough patches. Rough meaning harsh and sad indictments of greed over beauty.
Being from Washington, spending much time in her embrace, this tale affected me deeply.
Hold fast to your wildlands and when they are no longer wild nurture them back to a proud degree.