What do you think?
Rate this book
The Muskegon: The Majesty and Tragedy of Michigan's Rarest River
Muskegon is a derivation of a Native American word meaning "river with marshes." Jeff Alexander examines the creation, uses of, devastation, and restoration of Michigan's historic and beautiful Muskegon River.
Four of the five Great Lakes touch Michigan's shores; the state's shoreline spans more than 4,500 miles, not to mention more than 11,000 inland lakes and a multitude of rivers. The Muskegon River, the state's second longest river, runs 227 miles and has the most diverse features of any of Michigan’s many rivers. The Muskegon rises from the center of the state, widens, and moves westward, passing through the Pere Marquette and AuSable State Forests. The river ultimately flows toward Lake Michigan, where it opens into Muskegon Lake, a 12 square-mile, broad harbor located between the Muskegon River and Lake Michigan.
Formed several thousand years ago, when the glaciers that created the Great Lakes receded, and later inhabited by Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians, the Muskegon River was used by French fur trappers in the 1600s. Rich in white pine, the area was developed during the turn-of-the-century lumber boom, and at one time Muskegon Lake boasted more than 47 sawmills. The Muskegon was ravaged following settlement by Europeans, when rivers and streams were used to transport logs to the newly developing cities. Dams on rivers and larger streams provided power for sawmills and grain milling, and later provided energy for generating electricity as technology advanced.
There is now an ambitious effort to restore and protect this mighty river's natural features in the face of encroaching urbanization and land development that threatens to turn this majestic waterway into a mirror image of the Grand River, Michigan's longest river and one of its most polluted.
Four of the five Great Lakes touch Michigan's shores; the state's shoreline spans more than 4,500 miles, not to mention more than 11,000 inland lakes and a multitude of rivers. The Muskegon River, the state's second longest river, runs 227 miles and has the most diverse features of any of Michigan’s many rivers. The Muskegon rises from the center of the state, widens, and moves westward, passing through the Pere Marquette and AuSable State Forests. The river ultimately flows toward Lake Michigan, where it opens into Muskegon Lake, a 12 square-mile, broad harbor located between the Muskegon River and Lake Michigan.
Formed several thousand years ago, when the glaciers that created the Great Lakes receded, and later inhabited by Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians, the Muskegon River was used by French fur trappers in the 1600s. Rich in white pine, the area was developed during the turn-of-the-century lumber boom, and at one time Muskegon Lake boasted more than 47 sawmills. The Muskegon was ravaged following settlement by Europeans, when rivers and streams were used to transport logs to the newly developing cities. Dams on rivers and larger streams provided power for sawmills and grain milling, and later provided energy for generating electricity as technology advanced.
There is now an ambitious effort to restore and protect this mighty river's natural features in the face of encroaching urbanization and land development that threatens to turn this majestic waterway into a mirror image of the Grand River, Michigan's longest river and one of its most polluted.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Read
July 26, 2019Eye opening, scientifically sound look at a natural feature that I grew up with and love. It's a bit dated, but still important and valid.
October 7, 2008
Well written and carefully researched, The Muskegon: The Majesty and Tragedy of Michigan's Rarest River, by Jeff Alexander — environmental reporter for the Muskegon Chronicle — is an important book if only to ensure the many amazing twists and turns of this river's history are laid out for historians to know and remember.
All aspects of the river are dealt with — its tributaries, the dam situation, the damage human activities have done to both the river head and delta, fisheries, et. al.
Alexander envokes a bit too much 'god talk' for my tastes — sometimes failing to see the hand such sky-buddy beliefs have in the way people view and treat the river. However, the many mornings I've driven across the river flats just east of Muskegon proper, or the legendary trip I took down Ceder Creek all by my lonesome, have led me to see it is easy to conclude the hand of some creator reached down and carved out the river basin itself, using the functions of hydrology and geology of course.
At any rate, this is a book that should be on the shelves of anyone who has every loved a river, stream or creek.
I know I do...
All aspects of the river are dealt with — its tributaries, the dam situation, the damage human activities have done to both the river head and delta, fisheries, et. al.
Alexander envokes a bit too much 'god talk' for my tastes — sometimes failing to see the hand such sky-buddy beliefs have in the way people view and treat the river. However, the many mornings I've driven across the river flats just east of Muskegon proper, or the legendary trip I took down Ceder Creek all by my lonesome, have led me to see it is easy to conclude the hand of some creator reached down and carved out the river basin itself, using the functions of hydrology and geology of course.
At any rate, this is a book that should be on the shelves of anyone who has every loved a river, stream or creek.
I know I do...
July 15, 2015
A really enlightening book. Having grown up on the Rogue, the Grand and lived within 5 miles of Texas' Brazos for 25 years I found I had never appreciated the remarkable qualities of the Muskegon. This book explained it masterfully. The only shortfall, and it is a minor one, is that the chapters appear to have been originally mid-length magazine or newspaper pieces, so there's a bit of repetition that is noticeable--really an editing critique rather than content. For any resident of Michigan, or any other state as ribbon-ed with rivers as we are, this is required reading. Wonderful book!
April 18, 2013
Great book! Alexander does not just tell boring facts, he has a great style of writing in stories and real problems that have and are still happening. A must read if one lives in Michigan because it makes people really consider how everything they do/use could potentially affect so many other aspects of our state! Great read!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews