Coyote Valley: Deep History in the High Rockies

by Thomas G. Andrews

What can we learn from a high-country valley tucked into an isolated corner of Rocky Mountain National Park? In this pathbreaking book, Thomas Andrews offers a meditation on the environmental and historical pressures that have shaped and reshaped one small stretch of North America, from the last ice age to the advent of the Anthropocene and the latest controversies over climate change.

Large-scale historical approaches continue to make monumental contributions to our understanding of the past, Andrews writes. But they are incapable of revealing everything we need to know about the interconnected workings of nature and human history. Alongside native peoples, miners, homesteaders, tourists, and conservationists, Andrews considers elk, willows, gold, mountain pine beetles, and the Colorado River as vital historical subjects. Integrating evidence from several historical fields with insights from ecology, archaeology, geology, and wildlife biology, this work simultaneously invites scientists to take history seriously and prevails upon historians to give other ways of knowing the past the attention they deserve.

From the emergence and dispossession of the Nuche--"the People"--who for centuries adapted to a stubborn environment, to settlers intent on exploiting the land, to forest-destroying insect invasions and a warming climate that is pushing entire ecosystems to the brink of extinction, Coyote Valley underscores the value of deep drilling into local history for core relationships--to the land, climate, and other species--that complement broader truths. This book brings to the surface the critical lessons that only small and seemingly unimportant places on Earth can teach.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ecology, History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2015

About the author

Thomas G. Andrews specializes in the social and environmental history of the Rocky Mountain West. The recipient of grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Huntington Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and other organizations, he has authored prize-winning articles on assimilation and native resistance in federal day schools for Native American children; intercultural conflict and cooperation between Hispanos and Native Americans on the southern Colorado frontier; and the erasure of labor from Colorado’s leisure landscapes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is unusual for books about RMNP in that it focuses on the West side of the Park, on the Kawuneeche Valley. (I grew up perceiving that valley as part of my backyard.) Starting with the Utes who lived and hunted in the valley during the warm seasons, and ending with some of the management issues the Park is currently dealing with, Andrews describes ways the valley has changed over the years. The documentation is thorough.

The book is divided into three parts. The first, about the native peoples, was overdrawn. He makes the point that this area was not a pristine wilderness but has always felt the impact of people. In my way of thinking, the native's use of the land was more in line with that of the other mammalian species who used the valley. This is in huge contrast to the impact of more modern usage that involves machinery and massive numbers of people.

The second part, re the Settlers (miners, farmers and conservationists) added insights and brought in resources of which I was unaware. There has often been conflict between those who want to let the valley return to its 'natural' state and those who want to preserve the history. Personally, I'm glad they removed most of the structures and signs of human influence.

Part Three, Feds, dealt with issues that are of concern to me now. (I wouldn't have entitled this 'Feds,' maybe 'Consequences' or 'Long Term Results' ... something along those lines.) He describes the loss of willows and declining bird species, the effects of growing numbers of elk and moose, and the disappearance of the beaver. And he devotes a good many pages to the impact of the Grand Ditch, which I consider a major disaster that should be removed.

All this heightens my concerns over present-day management. Most people have very little understanding of the natural world, yet they don't hesitate to throw in their opinions. I'd like to see some way to increase people's awareness of human impact on ecosystems. I just may follow-up with him re some of these issues.

[Beth Balser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thouroughly researched and chronologically organized--my kind of book! Excellent writing but perhaps reads a bit more like a textbook than a recreational book. However, the information was insightful and thought provoking. Having been to that area, this book makes me hungry to go back and see it through more educated eyes. Progress is a fact. The impact of progress sadly does not become apparent with immediacy. Dealing with the consequences opens up so many variables. It is sad to contemplate what has happened to the Colorado River even in the valley of it's birth. One of the big pluses of this book was the lack of opinion. The information is presented and the reader is allowed to draw their own conclusions.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a few things about this valley, also called by an Arapaho-derived misnomer (Kawuneeche), including that moose are not really native to Colorado, and that the unchecked population of elk and the exotic moose have eaten the beavers out of house and home.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A practice of “Deep History,” Andrew’s “Coyote Valley” chronicles the history of a small slice of the Rocky Mountain National Park area from its original indigenous population to the modern era. Looking at the Nuche, the miners, the settlers, the conservationists, and so on, the book stands above all else as a testament to the immense changes man can make in small spaces.

I don’t have too terribly much to say on this book. The content, while riveting, is marred by the bone-dry tone of the author. Coming in expecting a piece on nature, I was disappointed to see it erred more on the side of history. Still, I am nonetheless grateful that I read it, and grateful how it’s deep history perspective has allowed me to add some more nuance to my own present nature-concepts.

[Ike Rakiecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focused on the history of the Coyote Valley region of Rocky Mountain National Park. It started within the prehistoric setting and moved forward to modern times. The writer did a sufficient job of blending the history, ethnography, biology, politics, and natural history of a localized region in Colorado.

[Salvatore Marino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overall read. However Author does not abbreviate anything and repeats themselves quite often

[timv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed history of the Colorado River Valley within Rocky Mountain National Park. I enjoyed reading about the evidence for the original peoples, the Utes and also enjoyed learning about the National Park Service insistence to turn the valley back to its "natural" state. recommended book for anyone interested in the history of Rocky Mountain national Park or visiting the park.