The Very Hard Way: Bert Loper and the Colorado River

by Brad Dimock

The river was found, rowed and loved by working people, the kind of folks who get scant notice in the books and bluster of the official expedition chroniclers. At last Brad Dimock has brought their hard world to the page. Meet Bert Loper, the man who knew the river and never left it.—Charles BowdenTough as boot leather, stubborn and indomitable, Bert Loper was a drifting, uneducated, hard-rock miner, laborer and boatman who came to know and love the rivers of the Southwest like no-one else before or since.This splendid biography, which also tells the definitive history of river-running in the Southwest, takes us down into the canyons and whitewater and shows how they brought grace and meaning to the very hard life of a very hard man.—Richard Grant ( American Nomads )Bert Loper was born in 1869 the very day that Major John Wesley Powell discovered the confluence of the San Juan and Colorado Rivers. Loper spent much of his life devoted to those two streams. But it was never easy. Orphaned and abused, Loper worked most of his life at the very bottom, the nameless grunt in hard rock mines, the sore-backed shoveler on a placer bar, the subsistence rancher on a lonely gravel delta in Glen Canyon. Whatever Loper got, he got the very hard way.But on the muddy whitewater streams of the Southwest, Loper found a joy, a thrill, and a peace. By the time he died at his oars in a Grand Canyon rapid at eighty, he had covered more river, run more boats, and known more rivermen than anyone. Two weeks before he vanished in the Colorado, the very first motorboat had run Grand Canyon--bookending Loper's incredible career.Bert Loper's is the tale of river running in the West, and his life encapsulates the spirit of the Colorado.

456 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2007

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bert Loper's West: "I belong to the wondrous west and all of the west is mine...".

Incredible journey through history and the life of Bert Loper. 1869-1949

"Thoughts that come in the night" of his reflections of the river and his feelings of being beside the river, listening to it it, are beautiful. Brought to my mind the times we have spent alongside the Green and the Colorado. We have been lucky, indeed!

[Zack Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bert Loper is a fascinating character and Dimock certainly does him justice. The book is more than 600 pages, covering a man who didn't necessarily do anything earthshaking but changed the world in his own small ways. A reminder that all of us have something to contribute to the world - if this random miner can have a 600 page biography, so could any of us.

[Jim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several biographies about real people, however, few have been written with the honesty and joy of a real human being. My heart goes out to people like Bert and Rachel Loper. People much like my grandparents, kind, thoughtful , and flawed humans. Brad Dimock brings these people to life. I would have been honored to claim Bert and Rachel Loper as my grandparents.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great read if you fancy yourself as an armchair adventurer. Bert Loper, an inveterate tale teller, boat (primitive) enthusiast and river runner had an amazing life filled with hard work and great river trips. I wish I could have been in a boat with him.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 8 in 2024: The Very Hard Way: Bert Loper and the Colorado River by Brad Dimock (2007, Fretwater Press, 457 p.)

Bert Loper was a whitewater man...

I didn't know much about Bert Loper, except for a wildly inaccurate song from the Songs from the River collection.

Loper was indeed a whitewater man, continuing boating the major Colorado Basin rivers until his 80th year. He seemed destined for a life on the River, having been born in 1869 during the first Powell expedition. He died early in his second run of Grand Canyon, likely of a heart attack and drowning. While his boat was found (and still can be seen in the Canyon and marked on river maps), his remains weren't discovered until the 1970s.

Dimock writes a captivating biography of man who lived life the very hard wsy, with little education, struggling with poverty, and doing hard manual labor throughout his life. Dimock brings out both loves of Loper's life...the river and his wife Rachel.

It was inspiring to me as a 62 year old how long ol' Bert kept boating. I can only hope.

This highly readable biography is recommended.

Thanks to my kayaking buddy Jim Hanson for loaning it to me.

[Ants · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brad Dimock has written an excellent book, but it will likely not be a fast reader. There are 457 numbered pages, plenty of references and an abundance of pictures.

Albert Loper, commonly referred to as Bert, lived a life that I could not imagine. For those who may be curious, I am a much bigger fan of history and story than a river rat. The history of activities in the Grand Canyon (other than native Americans) is surprisingly well documented. Loper's life leading up to his river adventures was a hard scrabble existence. It didn't change much, but his River enthusiasm never waned.

Dimock's unique approach in presenting the material was executed well. I would imagine the 'aha' moment when the approach revealed itself was well remembered. With the abundance of material, the opportunities must have been plenty to get lost in the writing the book.

To Bert, may your spirit continue to inspire others around the rivers. To Brad, congratulations - I appreciate your efforts and the results. To future readers, take the time to read the details of an amazing life, an era that was profoundly different than the current, and appreciate how plain folks survived in a more demanding life.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but, 400 pages is a lot to read about some old river rat who didn't really accomplish that much in his life. My enjoyment came from the fact that I was personally familiar with the rivers he ran and like learning about those who preceded todays river runners. It was interesting to see the connections between Mr. Loper and the young river guides that he trained who were the old timers and pioneers I learned about when I worked on the Colorado river in the 1970's. I was surprised that the names of the rapids in the Grand Canyon have remained constant over the years. It was also interesting to learn more of the history of the towns and communities in Southern Utah in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of the river access points today are at the same locations as in 1900 but the mining and ranching communities that once existed there have disappeared and I never understood who or why they had built roads to access these remote spots like Cisco, Sand Wash and Hite.

[Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched history of Bert Loper ... who was quite a guy. Interesting two-track structure (odd# chapters = life, even# chapters = legend) - which in the beginning I thought would drive me crazy, but really ... we know how it ends, so he might as well just start there, right? I really enjoyed seeing the interplay between Loper and other characters from river history that I've read about over the years. And, this adds to the number of people I want to read about!

[River James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Dimock is a very good writer, excellent researcher, and can spin a damn good story sitting in his boat on the Colorado River. Unlike his other books, Sunk without a Sound or The Doing of the Thing, there is no captivating mystery or heroic story here, just the details of a life and the evolution of the art of running rivers. I think this book is more for the completist, whereas the other two mentioned will appeal to a broader audience.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book I ever wrote.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book about the first known explorations of the Colorado by boat/raft and the crazy-ass people that first ran the river!

[Corey Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former river guide, it was great to read about the pioneers of river running. I found I can track my guide training back to Burt via Ken Sleight and the first generation of SPLORE guides!