Preview

Dams

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
15023 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dams
When Dans Weren't Damned: The Public Power Crusade and Visions of the Good Life in the Pacific Northwest in the 1930s Author(s): Wesley Arden Dick Reviewed work(s): Source: Environmental Review: ER, Vol. 13, No. 3/4, 1989 Conference Papers, Part One (Autumn - Winter, 1989), pp. 113-153 Published by: Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3984393 . Accessed: 05/12/2011 13:41
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Environmental Review: ER.

http://www.jstor.org

"When Dans Weren't Damned: The Public Power Crusade and Visions of the Good Life in the Pacific Northwest in the 1930st*
Wesley Arden Dick
Albion College

Yourpower is turningour darknessto dawn, roll on, Columbia, roll on! -Woody Guthrie, "RollOn Columbia."(1941) In EncountersWith the Archdruid, 1971 biographical account of a environmentalistDavid Brower,writer John McPhee comments that for conservationists, there is something special about dams, "something-as conversation problems go-that is disproportionately and metaphysically sinister." McPhee continues: The outermost circle of the Devil's world seems to be a moat filled mainly with DDT. Next to it is a moat of burning gasoline. Within that is a ring of pinheads covered with a million people-and so on past phalanxed bulldozers and bicuspid chain saws into the absolute epicenter of
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Summary: Night Comes To The Cumberlands
    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Summary: Night Comes To The Cumberlands

    Writing for a 300-year span of time, he does not spare the rough, the crude, the greedy and the mean. He uses an historical approach combining the economic, the political, the sociological, the psychological and the anthropological. There is much information that only a native like Caudill himself could have gathered from family, friends and the hills themselves. A fine lawyer by profession, he was even better as a storyteller. Caudill knew as much about the problems of this part of Appalachia as anyone and could accurately describe its symptoms. However, in terms of corrective measures, his prescriptions for cure fall largely off the mark. Solutions to the chronic, severe and long-standing problems in this region of the country are not easy and not fast. The coal counties in southern Appalachians are still losing population. Mountain top removal and valley fills, a type of coal mining just starting when Caudill completed his book are destroying tens of thousands of acres of southern hardwood forest. The landscape is permanently altered and will never recover after this type of mining has taken place. I’m sure if Caudill were around today, he would have more than enough material to write a book on this subject…

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A review of Richard White's "The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River"
    • 601 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A review of Richard White's "The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River"

    In this riveting study, White carefully outlines the history of the river beginning with its discovery in the early nineteenth century. The one characteristic most commonly noted in all early accounts was that of the river's extreme power and force, and is detailed by account after account of failed attempts to sail the river. With attempts to travel along the river came the increased encounters with various tribes of the Pacific Northwest. White writes that passage along the river was "not just physical; it was social and political" (14). It was factors like this that forced racial interaction, growth, and the spread of ideas to the region.…

    • 601 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Great West Dbq
    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Great West Dbq

    Without the railroads, the West could never have become as populated as it did. And while the creation of Western railroad tracks only came about after interest had been sparked in the region by its natural potential, the tracks were nevertheless essential in realizing and acting on the interest. Before railroads were available, the trek west had been done by wagon, and had deterred many with its length, risk, and hardship (Doc. E). Thus, the transcontinental railroad and its subsidiary lines were central to Western development. Not only did their completion result in a massive westward migration and the virtual overnight creation of towns, but the massive labor required to create the tracks prompted the railroad companies to recruit over 12,000 Chinese workers (many from China itself), and the need for a market for the completed railroad convinced the companies to actively encourage Western settlement by selling their land cheaply and setting railroad rates low enough to be affordable by virtually anyone (Doc. G). The government similarly promoted expansion into the West with the Homestead Act and other decrees, which also offered land at token prices. Even before the highly nationalistic and pro-expansionist regime under the Republican Party came into play during and after the Civil War, the government had been partial to expansionism through such leaders as James K. Polk. Polk’s seizure of Oregon from the British and the Southwest and California from Mexico reflected the growing popularity and power of Manifest Destiny in justifying expansionism, and set the scene for the American dominance of the West (Doc.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Squigonometry by W. Wood (Disclaimer: I Do Not Own This Research Paper)
    • 4026 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Squigonometry by W. Wood (Disclaimer: I Do Not Own This Research Paper)

    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp…

    • 4026 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Hunger For Indian Land In Andrew Jackson S America
    • 817 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Hunger For Indian Land In Andrew Jackson S America

    In writing his essay The Hunger for Indian Land in Andrew Jackson’s America, Anthony F. C. Wallace briefly examines Andrew Jackson’s presidency from the perspective of the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homes. His analysis of Jackson’s time in office makes Indian removal just as important as the traditional focal point: Jacksonian democracy. By drawing attention to this previously neglected aspect of the period, Wallace raises very important questions about the much lauded President Jackson and America. In doing so, Wallace highlights the complexity of the interactions between Native Americans and the new “Americans”; he exposes corruption in the early United States; and he unearths the role the industrial revolution played in the loss of much of Native American culture.…

    • 817 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Economy of Trans Mississippi West
    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Economy of Trans Mississippi West

    In 1850 and later on, several transcontinental railroads were built for easier transportation. The government also granted federal land for the laissez-faire ideologists for building the railroad (Doc. A). However, the process was slower than it’s planned. “More than 800 petitions were presents to Land Commission, and already 10 years of delays have elapsed and only some 50 patents have been granted” (Doc. B). The petitioners eventually have to sell their possessions little by little. Richest landholders ended up “living as objects of charity” (Doc. B). Red Cloud was also upset by the poor work of the government. He believed that “commissioners are sent out there to do nothing but to rob [us] and get the riches of this world away from us” (Doc. C). As the chief of Oglala Sioux, the Native American felt that the new American had come to kick them out of their lands and to steal their properties and possessions. In addition, Native American was suppressed by the colonists. “White man a teacher who tortured an ambitious Indian youth by frequently reminding the brave changeling that he was nothing but a “government pauper” (Doc.J). They lost trust and faith in the new government of the United States. Furthermore, the freight rates had done more injuries to the Western region than anything else. “The railroads have retarded its growth as they first hastened it” (Doc. I). F.B. Tracy…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tecumseh Research Paper
    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tecumseh Research Paper

    With the Confederation almost complete, forwarded Shawnee decision to send Tecumseh, a young renowned warrior and a strong speaker ‘to traverse the Miscopy Valley, seeking to revive Neolin’s pan Indian alliance of the 1760s. Feeling that the only alternative to westward expansion was extermination, as one chief asked “Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pocanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? ‘They have vanished before the avarice {greed) and oppression of the white man, as snow before the sun.’ Indians, he proclaimed, must recognize that they were a single people and equal right in the land. He repudiated, “chiefs who had sold land to the federal government were no better than their white rivals.”…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Reagan Interview
    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Reagan Interview

    References: Brinkley, A. (2012). American History (14th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Exploration Of The Great Northwest Essay
    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Exploration Of The Great Northwest Essay

    “The exploration of the Great Northwest produced some of the most heroic figures in our history” (MRL,22). The book fails to mention the heinous acts committed by many of the “heroes” of the nation in the name of “civilizing” the West. History is filled with people doing things “for the good of their country”. For example, it is easy to point out our founding fathers going to war with Great Britain to grant us freedom. It is almost even easier to point out that when Hitler started World War II, he was doing it “for the good of his country”. In the successes and failures of these undertakings, there is a certain amount of pride that individuals hold when discussing the exploration of the “Great Northwest”. By looking at various historical examples, it is clear that nationalism played a gigantic role in the exploration of the West.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Death in Prime Time
    • 3086 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Death in Prime Time

    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.…

    • 3086 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Manifest Destiny Movement
    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Manifest Destiny Movement

    During the mid 1800s, Manifest Destiny was presented as a positive “benevolent movement”, though in reality, it promoted cultural superiority, aggressive foreign policy, and extended the already existing sectional crisis. A belief in the racial and cultural superiority of white Americans was a principle of the Manifest Destiny movement. Because it was widely accepted that it was America’s destiny, even duty to go west, many accepted aggressive foreign policy as a means of fulfilling that duty. Westward expansion during this era only deepened the debate between north and south about whether slavery would exist in these new territories. Manifest Destiny was indeed aggressive in nature, but this position for expansion was a necessary sentiment for congressmen and citizens alike, seeking territorial, financial, and social gain. Western expansion in the 1840's was achieved primarily through the Mexican American War. The war concluded with American victory and a treaty that boosted the nation's size by more than half a million square miles. The following diplomatic settlement of a controversy over the boundaries of the Oregon Territory supplied another quarter million square miles, forming a transcontinental nation-state. Because it resulted in a brutal Mexican War in which many people lost their lives, the philosophy of Manifest Destiny was indeed an aggressive and selfish phenomenon of the…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Alamo
    • 5195 Words
    • 21 Pages

    The Alamo

    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.…

    • 5195 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Manifest Destiny: Discrimination In The United States
    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Manifest Destiny: Discrimination In The United States

    Even after the Indian’s had been removed from their land and displaced from their homes, the distasteful treatment of Indians prevailed, and even became worse. The California “Indian Problem” was a dark time in history, where California did not view “Indians as citizens with civil rights, nor did it treat Indians as sovereign people” (Olson-Raymer, “Whose Manifest Destiny...”). As more settlers came into California in search of gold, the Indians were soon a source of controversy. Indian slavery was allowed, and militias were given the power to decimate Indian populations. California’s Act for the Government and Protection of Indians did little to actually protect Indians, instead actually promoting oppression (Olson-Raymer,“Whose Manifest Destiny...…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Market Revolution
    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Market Revolution

    Cited: Roark, James L. et al., eds. The American Promise: A Compact, Vol. I: To 1877. 3rd edition.…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Indian War
    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Indian War

    During the late 1800s while the United States were making advancements into the west, the United States Government had to enforce certain policies towards the Native Americans that they came across. These policies although made the movement to the west easier for the United States, it did not serve the Native American population very well. The purpose of these policies was to assist the federal government in the formation of the transcontinental railway that would be traveling through the Native American land, also known as the “Great American Desert”. Even though the government policies were necessary, the harsh attacks and reservations towards the Native Americans were not. Though these treaties harmed the Indian’s, they served to be beneficial to the United States Government, because it allowed them to hold some control over the Indians and was effective in having them do what they needed them to do.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More