Sagebrush Country Land and the American West

The Uinta Mountains stretch through parts of Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, and in Sagebrush Country Philip Fradkin shows that what has happened to this rugged and little-known country is symptomatic of what is taking place all over the West. Alternately tracing the history of the region and taking us with him on his travels by foot and by raft, Fradkin knits together past and present in a narrative focused on the use and abuse of natural resources. He writes about the early Indians, fur trappers and scouts, Mormon settlers, ranchers, railroaders, and energy workers. But he also addresses such current issues as the effects of expanding recreational use, wilderness areas, grazing, and mineral extraction. First published in 1989 as the acclaimed complement to A River No More: The Colorado River and the West, Fradkin's classic study of water in the West, Sagebrush Country is still fresh and relevant today. Fradkin revisits the Uinta Mountains to write an epilog for this new edition. What he finds is both comforting and disturbing. The same historical cycles of hope and despair and boom and bust are grinding away; many of the specific names and general issues are the same, or if.Fradkin, Philip L. is the author of 'Sagebrush Country Land and the American West', published 2004 under ISBN 9781555663308 and ISBN 1555663303.