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Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon
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About This Book
In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off down the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious expedition leader and three amateur boatmen. With its churning rapids, sheer cliffs, and boat-shattering boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. But for Clover and Jotter, it held a tantalizing appeal: no one had surveyed the Grand Canyon's plants, and they were determined to be the first. Through the vibrant letters and diaries of the two women, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny traces their forty-three-day journey, during which they ran rapids, chased a runaway boat, and turned their harshest critic into an ally. Their story is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a little-known corner of the American West at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever.
Reviews
"As she brings both intriguing botanists vividly to life, Sevigny also captures the intensity of the expedition's dangers and the seemingly miraculous ability of the scientists to collect and preserve 500 plant specimens, some new to science, under nearly impossible conditions while also doing all the cooking."
"And it pays homage to a pair of scientists far ahead of their time."
"When the narrative rapids slow, Sevigny leaves space to further speculate about the era, the people, the river, and the environment."
"A beautiful tribute to two pioneering women of science."
"Drawing on Clover and Jotter's journals and letters, Sevigny recreates their expedition in novelistic detail, producing a narrative as propulsive as the current of the Colorado."
"She sees women doing their job and doing it well."
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