The Jewel of the Sierras There is something transcendent about it. The first time you indulge in its beautifully blue water and breathtaking natural surroundings, you are instantly mesmerized. To the Washoe Native Americans, Lake Tahoe is the center of their very existence. In respect to its beauty, the Washoe entitled the lake, “Da Ow ga” and believed Tahoe was the jewel of the Sierras. In my first experience with this jewel, Lake Tahoe captivated me the same way it has done to many others for thousands of years. The trip started off as a last minute decision, considering that my friends and I were all free for the weekend and were open to try something new for the first time. Because of this choice, we only brought what was necessary; a
Billy affectionately described his homeland (the key component of “peoplehood” i.e., the Nisqually watershed on South Puget Sound of the Nisqually River, creeks (Muck Creek), rolling prairie and forestland as well as the foothills of the Cascades Mountains and Mt Rainier) as “a magical place” where his family “never wished for anything: fish from the water¬shed, vegetables up on the prairie, medicines, shellfish, and huckleberries…clean water, clean air.” He describes the arrival of L...
Many people know ‘Lake’ Powell as a fact of life. Since its creation in 1963, the reservoir, known as Lake Powell, is just there. Few people that are alive today have had the opportunity to see the true beauty of Glen Canyon, which rivals the Grand Canyon. Glen Canyon, equivalent to one hundred eighty river miles with dozens of side canyons, was flooded for the purpose of power and water resources. ‘Lake’ Powell also generates an enormous cash flow due to the tourism it receives. Although the ‘lake’ has a few reasons to remain in existence, there are many more reasons to drain it.
The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyze Katrine Barber's book, "Death of Celilo Falls". In this book, Barber successfully seeks to tell the story of a momentous event in the history of the West, the building of the Dalles Dam in 1957. Celilo Falls was part of a nine-mile area of the Long Narrows on the Columbia River. Despite the fact that the Celilo Village still survives to this day in the state of Oregon (it is the state's oldest continuously inhabited town), the assembly of The Dalles Dam in 1957 changed the way of life for the surrounding areas forever. Barber tells this story very well, and as it is the first book-length account of the inundation of Celilo Falls, it is a very valuable and insightful look at an influential event in the history of the American West. Barber's purpose for writing the book is summed up in the introductory chapter of the book when she says, " this book examines what happened to two neighboring communities when a large public dam was built adjacent to them." (pg. 9). She goes on to say "This is not a story about impersonal federal force swooping down to rearrange two defenseless communities: it explores relationships between federal representatives and local residents, as well as between residents of The Dalles and Celilo Village." (pg. 9). Barber argues that the Columbia River and those living in its vicinity would never again be the same. The effects of the building of the dam have impacted society up until this very day, with Barber describing the dam as "a tangible reminder if the complexity of Indian-white treaties and their ongoing negotiation, the simultaneous promise and destruction of progress, the loss of a natural river and the life it sustained, and the transformative power ...
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” .
“There is one Acoma. It is a class by itself. The peer of it is not in the world…The longest visit never wears out its glamour: one feels as in a strange, sweet, unearthly dream, whose very rocks are genii, and whose people swart conjurors. It is the spendthrift of beauty”-Lummis, 1983 (James 18). Acoma was a beautiful, strong village, drawing many people to it, even though they were usually unwelcome. “From the very outset Acoma excited the curiosity and even the fear of pioneers because of the strangeness of its position and the reputation of its inhabitants for ferocity” (Sedgwick preface). Although Acoma had such a reputation, it did not stop Don Juan de Onate from taking over such a magnificent place. Once Onate gained control, the Acoma reputation vanished and all lives of the Acoma Indians changed politically, economically, and especially socially.
The story of the Sevier-Fremont people’s evolution and existence in the Great Basin parallels Williams’ life in Utah during the 1980s. They Sevier-Fremont evolved from the Anasazi people, a Native American tribe indigenous to the Great Basin. The Anasazi had remained in the Great Basin despite the rise in the lake and later evolved into a new people. Following the recession of the lake’s waters, its boundaries flourished, as did the Sevier-Fremont because they relied heavily on the vegetation and animals of the Great Salt Lake. The Sevier-Fremont were a semi-nomadic people who occupied the basin from 650 AD to 1250 AD when they were forced out. The sudden replacement of their artifacts suggests that the Sevier-Fremont were not integrated into but forced out of the basin by Numic-speaking groups. (Masden) Williams also has to survive a rise in the lake as the 1982 rise in the lake is the beginning of a period of change for her—the rise in the lake threatens to destroy the bird refuge and her mother’s cancer returns. Diane Tempest, Williams’ mother, is the personification of her childhood and the Great Basin is the setting upon which her fondest childhood memories were enacted. ...
“To discover, understand, and encounter the cultures and intricate natures of the California Indian people, it is necessary to search the past” –Nancy Wahl. Tracing back in California history, Spanish explorers, commanded by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, found the tip of what is now Baja California in the year 1533 and named it "California" after a mythical island in a popular Spanish novel. It is evident that from the time Spanish monarchs set foot in California, the world as Native Americans knew it was never the same again. The late 1700s initiated and marked the colonization of Spaniards in the “Golden State” which in turn provoked the massive persecution and extermination of Native American population as well as the disappearance of Native heritage and culture. As a result, the recurring despairs and adversities of the Indian population began.
Lake Tawakoni was impounded in 1960 and is located on the Sabine River in Texas. It is approximately 15 miles from Greenville TX. It has 37,879 acres of water with a maximum depth of 70 ft. and a pool level of 437 ft. Lake Tawakoni Texas (TX), is located on the South Fork and Cowleech Fork of the Sabine River.
This extended essay will analyze the rhetoric of authors discussing the Glen Canyon Dam. These authors include: Jeff Rubin (The Place No One Knew), John McPhee (Encounters with the Archdruid), Russell Martin (A story that stands like a dam: Glen Canyon and the struggle for the soul of the West), and Jared Farmer (Glen Canyon dammed: inventing Lake Powell and the Canyon country). There are always two sides to an argument, one for one against.
Mauna Loa is Earth’s largest volcano and most massive mountain as it takes up nearly half of the flourishing landscape of the island of Hawai’i. This island is actually made up of five volcanoes, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea, all in such close proximity that they fused together to form one whole island. Mauna Loa is located in the south central area of Hawai’i, in the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and its coordinates are 19°5' N, 155°6' W. It is 13,680 ft above sea level, but if one measures from its true base on the ocean floor, it is estimated to be 30,080 feet tall. Its name is quite fitting as it means “Tall Mountain”.
“It’s difficult to recall the first time I went to Switzerland. The actual experience of flying across the ocean at a young age felt like journeying to a different world. That eleven-hour flight was such a tedious part of the very exciting journey ahead. I remember once looking out the window of the plane as we touched down and feeling such a deep comfort and contentment. I felt as though I was home. What awaited me were days of family and friends, hiking and exploring, and delicious food. It was always such a beautiful experience being i...
Lake Tahoe is a popular vacation destination. The lake is two million years old. South Lake Tahoe is a populous city near Lake Tahoe. The city is on the border of California and Nevada. In 2013, the population of South Lake Tahoe was 21,387.
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States.
...Seattle uses emotional appeal to reach his audience. Moreover, he tells how the earth is important to the people, but the strangers that are coming are the ones that do not understand the earth and the joy that it offers to the people. In the letter Chief Seattle use his words carefully so that all the readers reading his letter will understand that the land is essential to the people of the land. The lives that the Indians live are bonded to the land and Chief Seattle tries to let the “white man” know that I they do not stop what they are doing they will not only suffer but the land will suffer as well. (1373 words)
After few years, according to a strange tradition, we had to leave our carefree land and begin a journey to, as older people used to say, gain some experiences essential in the future life. My peers packed the most important stuff and some food into their bundles so I did.