John McPhee’s book Rising from the Plains takes place in Wyoming during the early 1900s. The main character, David Love takes the reader on journey through the high plains and mountain ranges of Wyoming in order familiarize the reader with the physical landscape of the state. In familiarizing the reader with the physical landscape of Wyoming Love describes his own story of how he became a geologist. Love was raised on a ranch in Wyoming. During his younger years Love was educated by his mother about their ecological surroundings which later influenced him to go and study at Yale University. At Yale Love obtained a PhD in geological studies. As Love gained experience in the geology field and many of his peers regarded him as being “one of two …show more content…
or three most influential field geologists” (McPhee 5).
Once Love gained enough experience in the geology field he decided to return and work with the government in Wyoming to protect the environmental landscape of the state. As Love discusses the landscape in Wyoming he presents specific points that connect with the information we have learned in lecture and in field trip project and major scientific points. In the beginning of the book, Love discusses how each geographical feature in Wyoming has some benefit to the state either geographically and/or economically. For example, in the state of Wyoming bentonite, a type of clay is mined and used as a protective layer around oil rig pipes or as an adhesive in household products (McPhee 11). Additionally, Love talks about how oil was found in Lost Soldier, Wyoming (McPhee 16). The discovery of oil in Wyoming meant that the state had another source of income. Similarly, at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science exhibit on minerals …show more content…
discusses how gold played an important role in the development of the state of Colorado economically. When gold was discovered in Colorado it helped convince people from all across the country to move in luck of getting rich. With the migration of people to Colorado businesses, housing areas, and government development started to form. In the cases of gold and bentonite both helped to create a source of revenue resulting in an economic foundation for the states of Wyoming and Colorado. Additionally, Love brings up the point that Wyoming is rich with oil deposits due to geographical location. Love describes that thousands of years ago Wyoming was, “a picture of meandering streams, over bank deposits, and natural leeves” (McPhee 24). Love’s description is similar to the one of the points we made in lecture in regards to why Saudi Arabia has large oil deposits. Both Wyoming and Saudi Arabia were landforms originally underneath water that have large amounts of oil due to animal and leave deposits being pressurized underground for over hundreds of years. Love not only focuses on Wyoming’s rich oil history, but also the geographical features of the state. In the middle of the book Love begins to talk about the formation of the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are s a mountain range that goes across the west of North Americas and Canada. The creation of the Rocky Mountain range has baffled geologist for many years because there is “a great distance that separates the mountains from the nearest plate tectonics” (McPhee 151). At the many geologists thought there was a huge force that caused for the collision between North America and Japan in creating the Rocky Mountains. However, many geologists’ views on how the Rocky Mountains formed have changed. In class we discussed that one way the Rocky Mountains could have been formed due to the convergent plate tectonics. The convergent plate tectonics is one two plate collide with one another causing one plate to rise above another plate; resulting, in the formation of mountain ridges. As a result of the Rocky Mountains the continental divide forms. The Continental Divide is a drainage for basins along the Rocky Mountains. As the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide are discussed in the book Love remarks on how cartographers “have difficulty determining where [the Continental Divide] is and that the [Continental Divide] location varies from map to map” (McPhee 155). The reason why cartographers have had a difficult time mapping the Continental Divide is because maps are flat and the earth is a sphere. When mapping geographical features on a map scaling and distance are difficult because a map can make some regions in the world look more disproportionate compared to others. For example, in most maps North America is depicted larger is size compared to Africa, when in reality Africa is larger than North America. Another reason why cartographers have a hard time mapping the Continental Divide is due to constant change in earth’s landscape. Over the past hundred years’ maps have changed drastically due to the new landforms and landscapes being discovered. For example, the first map of earth has all the maps clumped up into one continent. Now, each of the continents are mapped separately from one another including oceans and sea separating each of the land masses. As Love explains how maps affect the depiction of landforms he also includes how each landform carries a story of time. Later in the book Love talks about how different rock formations of sediments carry a “tectonic history” (McPhee 191). For example, in the book the Uinta Mountain is said to describe the history of how the Wind River came to be based on the age and erosion of the sediment layers. The sediment layers formed on Uinta Mountain due to different sediments being transported to the area of the mountain slowly over long periods of time creating thick layers of sediment. Once the sediment makes its way to the mountain the sediments are interlocked with one another because of the enormous amount of pressure on the particles. As the water from the Wind River fills up cracks between the Uinta Mountain gradually eroding the walls of the mountains. In addition to the walls of the mountain eroding due to water from the river the characteristics of the sediment can tell a story to the formation of the river. Pedon profiles, are soil samples that are taken to see how thick or thin each soil layer is. The soil profiles also show the combination complexities of the soil, the harder the soil the older it is and the younger the soil the softer it is and the more nutrients it has. Usually the older soils are like bedrock which is tougher and contains weathered rock. On the other hand, younger soils contain more nutrients and are darker in color resulting in great soils to grow crops. Furthermore, in the chapter Love shifts gears again towards the importance of oil in the state of Wyoming. The geologist in the state were working with mining engineers on how to get oil from the crevices of shale. The mining engineers did not want to “destroy the face of the earth” by removing the shale (McPhee 193). The reason why the engineers were worried about shale was because it is a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock is usually weak compared to other rock because it is made up of layers of thick layers of sediment that are interlocked with one another due to pressure. Another reason why it is so hard to work with sedimentary rock is that it is so fragile and any wrong move with machinery can cause for an oil leak causing harmful effects for the environment. Finally, in the book the engineers use the method of strip mining in order to remove the shale oil. The method of strip mining is safe because a pit of layers is created so the sedimentary rock does not collapse when trying to remove oil. As geologist have learned more about how to stabilize the layers of sediments better methods of acquiring shale oil are now used. Overall, McPhee’s book Rising from the Plains gives the reader thoughtful insights to the ground breaking work geologist have done in the North America in regards to understanding the regions landscape.
McPhee captures the reader’s attention by having a relatable main character Love, shares what he has learned through his experience as a geologist, using the correct terminology when describing a landform or a tool used to measure and object. By using geological terminology McPhee forces the reader to step into the world of a geologist and understand their perspective of the earth. From Love helping the reader understand how to remove oil from shale rock in order to gain revenue to help the state of Wyoming economy, to figuring out how the Rocky Mountain range came to be, and to help share the knowledge of how different methods of removing rock can disturb earth’s natural landforms. McPhee has done a remarkable job in helping people from non-geology background understand in the beauty of the world we live in through
examples.
During the years between 1840 and 1890, the land west of the Mississippi River experienced a wild and sporadic growth. The natural environment contributed greatly to this growth spurt and helped shape the development of the trans-Mississippi west. The natural environment dictated and facilitated the development of the west by way of determining who settled where, how the people survived, why people wanted to settle, and whether they were successful or not.
How the author plays with your mind during the story is also commendable. The reader, along with the main character Norman think that they are going “prospecting”; getting gold, but what turns out is unbelievable. The irony behind Roy taking Norman to a dump to find valuable items really surprised me.
Historians have viewed the idea of white dominance as a key element to the legacy of slavery. Losing this dominance with the concept of emancipation was mind boggling. However, the admission of California into the Union required it to enter as a free state according to the Compromise of 1850. Losing white dominance in the newly acquired regions in the West frightened Southern slave holders. Leading to the long trek of individuals from both the North and the South to ensure their version of destiny in the West.
The population of a community is vital to ensure that the needs of that community are met. A greater population allows for a larger vote in a democracy meaning a higher probability of attaining what that population wants. Indigenous communities were left hopeless when European settlers took over and slashed the numbers of their community making it impossible for them to ever overpower the Canadian government. The book “Clearing the Plains” by James Daschuk explains this critical period of time in which the population of Indigenous people dwindled based on the political, economic and ecological circumstances that were evident creating a society where Indigenous people lost their say, however Daschuk fails to mention the effects this population deflation has on society today and the racism that our society has perpetrated on Indigenous people.
There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough knowledge of what came before the white settlers; “I came to believe that the dramatic, amusing, appalling, wondrous, despicable and heroic years of the mid-nineteenth century have to be seen to some degree in the context of the 120 centuries before them” .
The Europeans changed the land of the home of the Indians, which they renamed New England. In Changes in the Land, Cronon explains all the different aspects in how the Europeans changed the land. Changing by the culture and organization of the Indians lives, the land itself, including the region’s plants and animals. Cronon states, “The shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes well known to historians in the ways these peoples organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations less well known to historians in the region’s plant and animal communities,” (Cronon, xv). New England went through human development, environmental and ecological change from the Europeans.
Born in Home, Pennsylvania in 1927, Abbey worked as a forest ranger and fire look-out for the National Forest Service after graduating from the University of New Mexico. An author of numerous essays and novels, he died in 1989 leaving behind a legacy of popular environmental literature. His credibility as a forest ranger, fire look- out, and graduate of the University of New Mexico lend credibility to his knowledge of America’s wilderness and deserts. Readers develop the sense that Abbey has invested both time and emotion in the vast deserts of America.
Changes in the Land by William Cronon depicts the changes in New England brought upon by the European settlers in the 1600s. What was once only occupied by Native Americans, New England’s resources were sustainably consumed by the indigenous people of the land. However, in Cronan’s perspective, the arrival of the settlers brought upon drastic and detrimental consequences that would go on to affect the ecology of New England today. An apparent theme brought up in Changes in the Land is adaptation. Cronan arrays the theme of adaptation by displaying how the natives had to adapt to a sporadically changing lifestyle that the colonists attempted to assimilate into the land and its people.
...to Americans: if their prospects in the East were poor, then they could perhaps start over in the West as a farmer, rancher, or even miner. The frontier was also romanticized not only for its various opportunities but also for its greatly diverse landscape, seen in the work of different art schools, like the “Rocky Mountain School” and Hudson River School, and the literature of the Transcendentalists or those celebrating the cowboy. However, for all of this economic possibility and artistic growth, there was political turmoil that arose with the question of slavery in the West as seen with the Compromise of 1850 and Kansas-Nebraska Act. As Frederick Jackson Turner wrote in his paper “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” to the American Historical Association, “the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history.”
“The only real nation is humanity” (Farmer 123). This quote represents a huge message that is received in, Tracy Kidder’s, Mountains Beyond Mountains. This book argues that universal healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Kidder’s book also shows the audience that every individual, no matter what the circumstances, is entitled to receive quality health care. In the book Kidder represents, Paul Farmer, a man who spends his entire life determined to improve the health care of impoverished areas around the world, namely Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world. By doing this the audience learns of the horrible circumstances, and the lack of quality health care that nations like Haiti live with everyday, why every person has the right to healthcare no matter what, and how cost effectiveness should not determine whether or not these people get to live or die. Two texts that also argue this idea are Monte Leach’s “Ensuring Health Care as a Global Human Right,” and Darshak Sanghavi’s “Is it Cost Effective to Treat the World’s Poor.” Leach’s article is an interview with Benjamin Crème that illustrates why food, shelter, education, and healthcare are human rights that have to be available to everyone. He shares many of the same views on health care as Farmer, and the two also share similar solutions to this ongoing problem. Leach also talks about the rapidly growing aids epidemic, and how it must be stopped. Like farmer, he also argues that it is easier to prevent these diseases then to cure them. Furthermore, Sanghavi’s article represents many of the questions that people would ask about cost effectiveness. Yet similar to Farmer’s views, Sanghavi argues that letting the poor d...
As history cascades through an hourglass, the changing, developmental hands of time are shrouded throughout American history. This ever-changing hourglass of time is reflected in the process of maturation undertaken by western America in the late nineteenth century. Change, as defined by Oxford’s Dictionary, is “To make or become different through alteration or modification.” The notion of change is essential when attempting to unwind the economic make-up of Kansas in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Popular culture often reveres the American cowboy, which has led him to become the predominate figure in America’s “westering” experience (Savage, p3). However, by 1880 the cowboy had become a mythical figure rather than a presence in western life. The era of the cowboy roaming the Great Plains had past and farmers now sought to become the culturally dominant figure and force in the American West. Unlike the cowboys, farmers were able to evolved, organizing and establishing the Populist Party. The farmers’ newly formed political organization provided them with a voice, which mandated western reform. Furthermore, the populist ideas spread quickly and dominated western thought in the 1880’s and 1890’s. The period of the 1880’s and 1890’s marked the end of the American cowboy and gave farmers a political stronghold that would forever impact the modernization of the West.
Robbins, Jim. Last Refuge: The Environmental Showdown in Yellowstone and the American West. New York: Morrow, 1993. Print.
When looking at the vast lands of Texas after the Civil War, many different people came to the lands in search for new opportunities and new wealth. Many were lured by the large area that Texas occupied for they wanted to become ranchers and cattle herders, of which there was great need for due to the large population of cows and horses. In this essay there are three different people with three different goals in the adventures on the frontier lands of Texas in its earliest days. Here we have a woman's story as she travels from Austin to Fort Davis as we see the first impressions of West Texas. Secondly, there is a very young African American who is trying his hand at being a horse rancher, which he learned from his father. Lastly we have a Mexican cowboy who tries to fight his way at being a ranch hand of a large ranching outfit.
The plants growing among Montana’s peaks and valleys range from tall evergreen trees to grasses. The mountainous areas are covered with forests. However, at each level, from the mountaintops to the valleys, there are different, distinct collections of plant life. The mountainsides are largely covered with towering spruce, pine, cedar, and Douglas fir trees (Av2
For example, Carter explains how the flora of wildlife is brilliant and how all the wildflowers, mosses are mosaic and beautiful. Even further Carter also explains how fantastic fauna is of the that park by saying “... Dall sheep cling to cliffs and wolves howl in the midnight sun.” Cater describes how the park has one of the most magnificent landscapes with “... never-setting sun circled above the horizon …”. Carter shows how some people call the park as “America’s Serengeti”, because it is the birthplace of some of the most beautiful creatures on the Earth. Carter provides evidence of how many indigenous people believe that their culture will be gone along with the caribou if the park turns into an oil drilling