River to Rim
By Nancy Brian
A guide to place names along the Colorado River
in Grand Canyon from Lake Powell to Lake Mead.
There are only a handful of books that can be considered “must haves” when stocking your Grand Canyon river library and one of the indispensable references I bring on my river trips is Nancy Brian’s “River to Rim”.
– Wayne Ranney, geologist, author, and guide
Of the thousands of publications about the Colorado River through Grand Canyon, Nancy Brian’s “River to Rim” is one of a handful of go to references I consult most often. Besides that, it is a good read on its own.
– Richard Quartaroli, Colorado River historian
One of the first things I do in new country is learn the place names. It has become a ritual, a way to immediately connect with the landscape. Succinct and accessible, “Rim to River” encapsulates a history of Grand Canyon tied to its key landmarks. I find it to be a great tool to check my memory, jog my memory and even better, to learn something new.
– Scott Thybony, anthropologist and writer
Nancy Brian has compiled one of the most extensive resources on the meaning and history of Grand Canyon place names. “River to Rim” is brilliantly researched. The human history of Grand Canyon is fascinating, as it is a long and complex story. I find that by using this book I can help piece together interesting people and their stories in Grand Canyon.
– Chris Zielinski, Arizona Raft Adventures
The true reasons for the names of places are all too often buried by the sands of time and lost to us. Via her excavations into regional history, Nancy Brian offers us a new edition of “River to Rim” revealing the many fascinating histories of what the early explorers, settlers, and mappers of Grand Canyon saw—and imagined—in this most famous of the World’s Seven Natural Wonders. “River to Rim” is an indispensable asset to those interested in Grand Canyon.
– Michael Ghiglieri, author and guide
“River to Rim” is one of my favorite books to bring with me on Grand Canyon rafting trips. Mile-by-mile, she explains the names of all the points of interest as you travel through the canyon from the rapids to camps and everything in between. This makes it a great reference book as you stop at different camps or are hungry for more historical information behind the rapid names.
– Matt Volpert, Pucare Outdoor Center at GoRafting.com
Photograph by Terry Paxson Brian
aBOUT THE bOOK
“River to Rim” tells the stories of rapids, temples, and points in the Grand Canyon: who named what and when, quotations from explorers, names given by tourists and river runners, and the events that gave rise to the place names. Whether you are viewing the scenery from the rim, running the river, or hiking the trails, here are the stories of over 600 place names along 300 miles of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon on a mile-by-mile sequence. The names of the Grand Canyon rock layers tell the deep time stories of the canyon’s geological history. Names are indexed and tied to a bibliography of over 280 entries.
300 pages, 6″ x 9″ x 3/4″ paperback, 31 black & white photographs