Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History

by Paul Horgan

An epic history of the American southwest.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History (1954)
Winner of the Bancroft Prize in History (1954)

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize for History, Great River was hailed as a literary masterpiece and enduring classic when it first appeared in 1954. It is an epic history of four civilizations―Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American―that people the Southwest through ten centuries. With the skill of a novelist, the veracity of a scholar, and the love of a long-time resident, Paul Horgan describes the Rio Grande, its role in human history, and the overlapping cultures that have grown up alongside it or entered into conflict over the land it traverses. Now in its fourth revised edition, Great River remains a monumental part of American historical writing.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Nature, Natural History, Travel, Westerns

1038 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Paul Horgan was an American author of fiction and nonfiction, most of which was set in the Southwest. He received two Pulitzer Prizes for history.

The New York Times Review of Books said in 1989: "With the exception of Wallace Stegner, no living American has so distinguished himself in both fiction and history."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ho...

Reviews

[Zach Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling narrative, sticks fairly close to the river. I especially liked the sections that detailed the customs and outlooks of each of the four - civilizations, I guess? - that occupied the Rio Grande. It really gives character to the groups and explains motivations, desires, and actions.

There is definitely homerism. The Americans aren’t painted as heroes, but their brutalities are somehow absent while the worst actions of the Indians, Spanish, and Mexicans are described in some detail. But this is why we learn to read critically and see everything in context: so a flawed, old book can still reveal wonders and tell stories that can matter to us today.

And this one does: the Rio Grande, rapidly disappearing, will matter a lot in the coming decades. Understanding the course of human history there will serve us well. And this book is the best I know to do it.

Loved the chapter on the charting of the Big Bend. One of many that read with the excitement and suspense of an adventure story.

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This four (4)-volume text covers material from time immemorial to the First World War in about 950 pages, material about New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Exactly wht I have been seeking: A text covering an area larger than Texas in order to put Texas history in context of people, places, and time. An Impressive work. . . . A Challenging read.

This is a must-read book if you are interested

* in coming to a concise understanding of the worldviews of various social groups along the Rio Grande and areas nearby.

* in learning how the various social groups interacted.

*in understanding the various historical narratives/threads.

* in reading a history that is respectful of all groups. Once,.maybe twice, I noticed that Horgan slipped in his group-neutral writing.

* in reading how the borders wars of the early 20th century fish failed with Germany's offer to Mexico: If you help us in the war against the US, we will help.you regain lands lost to US. (It could have all been very different.)

However this is in no way whatsoever a comprehensive text. Missing are (more) references to French, Germans, Slavs, Jews, and Blacks would provide a more comprehensive understanding of Texas. The inclusions would be work of a lifetime perhaps.

Overall, this book The Great River provides an overview of a regional history that holds and weaves through various history threads.

[SamIam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing...

A most thorough and incisive history of life as it evolved along the Rio Grande. As a native New Mexican whose family has lived in, and traversed this state for several centuries as Puebloans, colonizers, traders, trappers, merchants, políticos, this book in its extraordinary thoroughness brings to life in harrowing detail the tragedies, heartaches, and triumphs of the Native American, Hispanic and Anglo cultures which peopled settlements along the Rio Grande. In astonishing detail Horgan relates how life evolved from the ancient Pueblo people to Modern day. This is one of those books which will remain in my memory forever having changed the way I view the history of my people...

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book is a gem. This history of the Rio Grand River will open your eyes to the cultural and political roots of the desert Southwest, and key developments in the USA-Mexico relationship. The author is not afraid to make startling conclusions regarding the cultures of Mexico and Native Americans. Woke readers will not be happy. Perhaps people raised in the school systems of New Mexico know this history, but for me it was all new information, and provides interesting historical explanations for the social and economic challenges in New Mexico. No wonder it won the Pulitzer.

[Noel Charchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look into a geographical history

I ordered this book as I have been interested in the Rio Grande and visited at some of the locations mentioned in the book.
I enjoyed how the author set the scene for the populations in the introduction to each section of the book and for his vast knowledge of the history of the eras he covers.
It was quite revealing to see the parallels between past history along the border and events happening today.

[Jerre Mcquinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rio Grande

Although I was raised in New Mexico, I forget that the greater length of the river flows through Texas. This is a good history of the entire length of the river, but sometimes too exhaustive to read in entirety. I had to concentrate on New Mexico, where I learned some new history.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic story of life on both sides of the Rio Grande, told from the perspectives of the First Nations, Spanish, Mexican, Americans (and Confederates) peoples over 500 years. Later years have more details, but the author does cover the archaeological and oral traditions of the earliest humans along the river as well.

[Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reads like a novel across its 900+ pages. The author twice spent energy to describe, separately, the frontiersman psyche and the cowboy psyche. The results were typical broad stroke caricatures that could have been omitted. Otherwise, it was a pleasure to read.

[Milton Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent! I spent much of my childhood in New Mexico and, additionally, I love history. I am amazed by how many details were beyond my knowledge. Several eras were covered much more thoroughly than I thought possible. Many blanks were filled in.

[Lazlo Nibble · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully-written summary of the region’s history that’s hamstrung by its near-complete ignorance of the indigenous perspective. Possibly still worth your time if you go in knowing and accepting that limitation, but it’s still a disappointment.

[Thomas Rosenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed history of a great American River shared with Mexico

The author takes the reader back before recorded time but in the end the book wanders off to Mexican history that I thought was only minimally related to the river or the river’s influence or inhabitants.

[Bern J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book as big as the river , at least north of the Big Bend in TX.Horgan delivers the goods. He writes knowingly & lovingly about it. Didn't realize most of the history involving the Rio Grande. Most familiar with the Rio Grande gorge near Taos, NM.

[July]

DNF. I wanted to read this; it's about the Rio Grande. But, I couldn't get past Horgan's "noble savage" narrative of the Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley. He oversimplified and greatly diminished their cultural and intellectual contributions.

[David R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A monumental history of the mangy changes of civilization along the Rio Grande from the golden age of Pueblo culture to the frictions between the U.S. and Mexico in the early 20th century. Along the way we meet conquistadors, friars, explorers, filibusters, warriors, and farmers. The language is wonderful: even the most rigorously historical segments evoke a dreamy quality. I could easily imagine the very tenor of a river cutting through dry country. Take your time! This one is huge, but well worth the read.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read, if the river has in any way ever shaped your life that you're aware of. Read it anyway if you've lived within 200 miles of it, because if you had, the river and the peoples who have come to live on it has probably has influenced you in ways you're likely not even aware. I wish I could find this same type of history, in terms of depth and richness, for many other "geographical/sociological" regions, as Horgan did so uniquely, and so thoroughly, for the Rio Grande.

[Kurt]

How persistent the Spanish explorers of the Rio Grande were. While America was being founded between Boston and Philadelphia, great things were happening 2,000 miles away on a muddy river in what would later be called New Mexico.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, this is one of the few books that I finally gave up on. Much too much detail for my purposes. Well written history of the Rio Grande and I would have completed it if I were writing a paper on the area. As it was, I was looking for more of an overview.

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A leisurely, comprehensive, and novelistic history of New Mexico and Texas from the earliest times up to the Mexican revolution. Some of the observations of national character are outdated, but these are obvious and more than made up for by passages of beautiful prose and brilliant storytelling.

[Robert Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

won the Pulitzer Prize...the best book ever written on the history of the Rio Grande River..a must read for all people in the southwest

[Rose Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly readable but rather fictionalized account of the history which took place along this river in the development of the United States.

[Benny Kjaer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possible the best book about the American Southwest. Without the Rio Grande river and the people associated with it, what would US history look like?