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Riverine Dreams
The inspirational story of grassland rivers—and the people who paddle and protect them.
The North American grasslands that once covered vast areas of the central United States are now our most endangered ecosystems. But not far from any spot in the grasslands is a river. Grassland rivers are as central to the story of prairies as bison and bluestem. Defined as rivers that drain prairie watersheds, these waterways are crucial to plains ecosystems and no less endangered than the grasslands surrounding them. They are also some are restricted by local access laws and others have simply been forgotten. In any given year, fewer than a dozen people might lay eyes on tens of thousands of miles of America’s grassland rivers. But, as environmental writer George Frazier shows, following their twists and turns is one of the best ways to experience the wild essence of the prairies.
Riverine Dreams invites us on a trip along eight grassland rivers—including the Missouri, the Niobrara, and Purgatoire—traversing their environmental and cultural histories and introducing us to the people who study, paddle, and conserve them. This journey takes Frazier across the North American interior—from Montana and Colorado to Nebraska and Missouri—where he uncovers a remarkable movement to celebrate and preserve these natural nothing less than a grassland river revival.
The first accessible introduction to these waters, Riverine Dreams is a personal exploration of the rivers that are so vital to the health of the prairies.
The North American grasslands that once covered vast areas of the central United States are now our most endangered ecosystems. But not far from any spot in the grasslands is a river. Grassland rivers are as central to the story of prairies as bison and bluestem. Defined as rivers that drain prairie watersheds, these waterways are crucial to plains ecosystems and no less endangered than the grasslands surrounding them. They are also some are restricted by local access laws and others have simply been forgotten. In any given year, fewer than a dozen people might lay eyes on tens of thousands of miles of America’s grassland rivers. But, as environmental writer George Frazier shows, following their twists and turns is one of the best ways to experience the wild essence of the prairies.
Riverine Dreams invites us on a trip along eight grassland rivers—including the Missouri, the Niobrara, and Purgatoire—traversing their environmental and cultural histories and introducing us to the people who study, paddle, and conserve them. This journey takes Frazier across the North American interior—from Montana and Colorado to Nebraska and Missouri—where he uncovers a remarkable movement to celebrate and preserve these natural nothing less than a grassland river revival.
The first accessible introduction to these waters, Riverine Dreams is a personal exploration of the rivers that are so vital to the health of the prairies.
- GenresNonfictionNature
296 pages, Hardcover
Published October 3, 2025
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
George Frazier
2 books12 followersGeorge Frazier is an author of books about the environment and wild places. He lives in Kansas with his wife and daughter. His work has appeared in Wild Earth, National Parks Magazine, and many other magazines and journals.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 24, 2025
Highly recommended to all libraries and personal collections for all who care for our public lands, nature lovers, paddlers, armchair adventurers, and others with roots in the great plains!
If you're able to be in Lawrence, Kansas October 5, 2025 consider attending the author's talk.
George Frazier's Riverine Dreams
SUN | Oct 5 | 2:00–3:30 PM | Lawrence Arts Center Auditorium
Lawrence's own George Frazier, author of The Last Wild Places of Kansas, has a new book! Join us as he shares stories from Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America. Prepare for tales of strange riverine forests left over from the ice age, leviathan fish migrations, modern grizzlies roaming the plains, endangered plants as rare as mastodon ivory, an audacious plan to return 10,000 bison to a Great Plains biosphere reserve—and, of course, river otter mayhem. Lawrence Public Library is partnering with Friends of the Kaw, Great Blue Heron Outdoors, and Raven Book Store to offer this community event.
If you're able to be in Lawrence, Kansas October 5, 2025 consider attending the author's talk.
George Frazier's Riverine Dreams
SUN | Oct 5 | 2:00–3:30 PM | Lawrence Arts Center Auditorium
Lawrence's own George Frazier, author of The Last Wild Places of Kansas, has a new book! Join us as he shares stories from Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America. Prepare for tales of strange riverine forests left over from the ice age, leviathan fish migrations, modern grizzlies roaming the plains, endangered plants as rare as mastodon ivory, an audacious plan to return 10,000 bison to a Great Plains biosphere reserve—and, of course, river otter mayhem. Lawrence Public Library is partnering with Friends of the Kaw, Great Blue Heron Outdoors, and Raven Book Store to offer this community event.
June 14, 2025
This is a four star book for me. I was raised in Oklahoma so I have a fondness for the plains. This book made me want to go on a road trip to visit some of these wonderful, albeit neglected, places. If you like learning more about the natural world around us and how humans change it, you may enjoy this book. Despite the loss of much of the grassland river ecosystems, Frazier highlights pockets of progress and hope.
The book covers a lot of ground (and water) in exploring 8 different grassland rivers, such as the Missouri, the Kaw, and the South Platte. What you get in this book is the author's trips through segments of these rivers by kayak, the history of the river and how it has changed - and different attempts at recovering and rewilding the grasslands around them. Frazier talks about flora, fauna, soil and sand, water, kayaking, farming, ranching, climate change, unlikely coalitions, parks, and reserves. Lest this sound too dense, he has a colorful way of writing, sometimes whimsical or dramatic. He does not the follow the school of using plain words whenever you can!
Many thanks to Net Galley and the University of Chicago Press for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
The book covers a lot of ground (and water) in exploring 8 different grassland rivers, such as the Missouri, the Kaw, and the South Platte. What you get in this book is the author's trips through segments of these rivers by kayak, the history of the river and how it has changed - and different attempts at recovering and rewilding the grasslands around them. Frazier talks about flora, fauna, soil and sand, water, kayaking, farming, ranching, climate change, unlikely coalitions, parks, and reserves. Lest this sound too dense, he has a colorful way of writing, sometimes whimsical or dramatic. He does not the follow the school of using plain words whenever you can!
Many thanks to Net Galley and the University of Chicago Press for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 10, 2025
Chock full of information on prairie, plants, animals, fish, history on six grassland rivers in five states through the eyes of the author George Frazier (canoeing for the most part). Enjoy the style of the authors writing. Wouldn't say poetic, but certainly some great phrasing - two of my favorites. 1) " The Missouri river itself is a blockbuster, as is the Mississippi on the state's sunrise border." 2) "My phone was worthless in the sandhills backcountry, the wind the only network with a dependable five bars." Enjoyed learning about some of the people involved in the prairie restoration work as well as Appendix A that lists all the organizations and places mentioned in the book by chapter. Glad your daughter got to experience some of it with you and thank you for writing such a detailed and enchanting travel log.
November 25, 2025
Part travelogue, part history lesson, and part ecology text. If this book doesn't make you want to get out on the water on a prairie river, I don't know what would. Lyrical and elegiac. Full review to follow.
December 16, 2025
After finishing George Frazier's The Last Wild Places of Kansas: Journeys into Hidden Landscapes, I had to venture out to my local indie bookstore and pick up a copy of Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America.
I wasn't disappointed. Riverine Dreams is Frazier's travelogue of visiting prairie rivers in the Great Plains to tell the stories of these river systems and their adjacent prairie ecosystems. As someone who enjoys paddling and adventuring in wild places, Frazier's stories inspire me to get out there, to learn, and more fully appreciate the wilderness.
I wasn't disappointed. Riverine Dreams is Frazier's travelogue of visiting prairie rivers in the Great Plains to tell the stories of these river systems and their adjacent prairie ecosystems. As someone who enjoys paddling and adventuring in wild places, Frazier's stories inspire me to get out there, to learn, and more fully appreciate the wilderness.
January 19, 2026
Riverine Dreams is a quietly compelling work of nature writing that brings overdue attention to some of North America’s most overlooked ecosystems.
George Frazier makes a persuasive and deeply felt case for grassland rivers as essential, endangered arteries of the prairie not merely geographic features, but living systems shaped by history, access, and care. By moving along eight distinct waterways, the book reveals how rivers structure both ecological health and human relationship to the land.
What stands out is the balance between reportage and reverence. Frazier’s paddling journeys and encounters with scientists, conservationists, and local advocates never tip into romanticism. Instead, the narrative remains grounded in specificity: access laws, altered flows, forgotten stretches of river rarely seen by human eyes. These details give the book its quiet authority.
The prose invites attentiveness rather than urgency. Rivers are not framed as spectacles to be conquered or destinations to be consumed, but as teachers slow, winding, resistant to easy summary. In following their courses, the book offers a way of understanding the grasslands themselves: expansive, vulnerable, and often misunderstood.
Riverine Dreams succeeds as both an introduction to grassland rivers and a meditation on stewardship. It will resonate strongly with readers of contemporary nature writing who value patience, place based knowledge, and stories rooted in sustained engagement with the land.
George Frazier makes a persuasive and deeply felt case for grassland rivers as essential, endangered arteries of the prairie not merely geographic features, but living systems shaped by history, access, and care. By moving along eight distinct waterways, the book reveals how rivers structure both ecological health and human relationship to the land.
What stands out is the balance between reportage and reverence. Frazier’s paddling journeys and encounters with scientists, conservationists, and local advocates never tip into romanticism. Instead, the narrative remains grounded in specificity: access laws, altered flows, forgotten stretches of river rarely seen by human eyes. These details give the book its quiet authority.
The prose invites attentiveness rather than urgency. Rivers are not framed as spectacles to be conquered or destinations to be consumed, but as teachers slow, winding, resistant to easy summary. In following their courses, the book offers a way of understanding the grasslands themselves: expansive, vulnerable, and often misunderstood.
Riverine Dreams succeeds as both an introduction to grassland rivers and a meditation on stewardship. It will resonate strongly with readers of contemporary nature writing who value patience, place based knowledge, and stories rooted in sustained engagement with the land.
December 9, 2025
Excellently written and takes you into the captivating beauty of the grassland rivers of American prairies. The author does a wonderful job describing the ecological and historical importance of the grassland rivers, all the while you will be cheering him along on his journeys. There are many surprises along the way. I grew up in America’s heartland and this book has deepened my respect and understanding of the nature I never knew was in my backyard. Must read!!
December 10, 2025
Delicious reading! Perfect for winter if you are not a cold-water paddler and yearning to get out on the water again. It is a nice combination of ecology, botany, cultural history, and having an adventure on a river. Don't rush through but savor each river. Especially enjoyed the rivers I have paddled that are represented in the book as I got to relive my adventure in addition to sharing George's adventure.
January 20, 2026
Fun-to-read account of the author's search for rivers that exemplify the changes in the landscape over the past few centuries. Good balance of the cultural and natural history, current state of the rivers, restoration efforts, and his experiences paddling them.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews