Gila: The Life and Death of an American River

by Gregory McNamee

For 60 million years, the Gila River, longer than the Hudson and the Delaware combined, has shaped the ecology of the Southwest from its source in New Mexico to its confluence with the Colorado River in Arizona. This richly documented history of the Gila from its geological origins to the present was first published in 1994 and is now available only from UNM Press.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, History

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Gregory McNamee is a writer, journalist, editor, photographer, and publisher. He is the author or title-page editor of thirty-five books and more than four thousand periodical publications, including articles, essays, reviews, interviews, editorials, poems, and short stories.

Reviews

[Emily Devenport · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's easy to get the wrong impression about rivers in Arizona, even if you've lived here for many years. As a desert dweller, you spend so many years on the highway crossing dry river beds that you think every river in Arizona, except for the Colorado, is dry most of the time. Sometimes it takes a geography class to teach you that the story of Arizona rivers is more complicated. That's where I first heard of the Gila River. So when I found this book, my curiosity was piqued.

One thing you can't doubt, no matter where you live, is that water is highly political. This will become increasingly obvious to everyone as the 21st Century progresses, and groundwater disappears. This process is well documented in Gila, The Life and Death of an American River, by Gregory McNamee. You may choose to see it as the diatribe of a conservationist about the destruction of one desert river, but the proof of his arguments can be found in the ruins and canals of ancient tribes in Arizona. Like us, these people suffered from too much success. They irrigated fields with river water, which led to the concentration of mineral salts in their soil, until they had to abandon those fields.

The story of a river is also the story of the people, plants, and animals that live alongside it – and this book does an admirable job of telling it, from the formation of the Gila River, to its discovery by various tribes and immigrants, to its mismanagement and destruction by modern men, and finally to the current signs of hope for its recovery. In these pages you'll find out why the slaughter of beavers may have been one of the two most damaging things ever done to Arizona rivers (the other thing being the construction of large dams, behind which tons of sediment are currently piling).

It may seem that the story of one desert river is irrelevant to anyone but the people who live alongside it, but reading this book may change your opinion about that. All over the world, people are beginning to realize that the way we manage our water resources must change, drastically. Reading this book will inform you in that argument, and possibly give you some ideas about what can and should be done. At 232 pages, it's a well-paced and punchy read, and makes my yearly list of top ten recommended books.

[Chris Michel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The history portion of this book is great, although hard for me to follow without a map. Although I totally agree with the authors stance on restoring the Gila, without proper citations it was difficult to tell what sections of the book were based on science or merely opinions/observations of the author.

[River James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but you must know that I deeply love the Gila River and have run nearly 300 miles from the Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico past the State Prison complex in Florence, AZ. (Yup, in the canal!)
Gila Reading:
River of the Sun by Ross Calvin
Gila, The Life and Death of an American River by Gregory McName
The Gila River of the Southwest by Edwin Corle
Gila Descending A Southwestern Journey by M.H. Salmon

[Nancy Mumpton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is just a fantastic book on the history of the Gila River and its area. Anyone interested in the water situation in the West (and Southwest) needs to read this book. Highly recommended!