How The 鈥楪rand鈥 Became The 鈥樑访揽诒悠碘 And What It Says 欧美口爆视频 Our Relationship To Nature
Original article can be found at听听听
Originally published on December 20,听2017听By Luke Runyon听
Pull out a map of the United States鈥 desert southwest and see if you can locate these rivers: Rio del Tizon, Rio San Rafael, or Rio听Zanguananos. How about rivers named Tomichi, Nah-Un-Kah-Rea or听Akanaquint?听
Having some trouble? None of these names are used widely today, but at some听point听in the last 500 years they were used to label portions of what we know now as the 欧美口爆视频 River and its main tributaries, the sprawling river basin that supports 40 million people in seven U.S. states and Mexico, across one of the world鈥檚 driest regions.听
Until 1921, the 欧美口爆视频 River didn鈥檛 start in听the听state that bears the same name. It began in Utah, where the Green River from Wyoming and the Grand River from 欧美口爆视频 met. The story of how the 欧美口爆视频 River finally wended its way into the state of 欧美口爆视频 less than a century ago is a lesson in just how fickle our attitudes toward nature can be.听
The names we give to places, mountain tops, rivers and vast stretches of land shape how we feel about them. Names are full of meaning, powerful symbols to rally behind or fight against. Conflicts over the names of neighborhoods and mountains aren鈥檛 uncommon. They鈥檙e attempts to correct wrongs of the past and reflect present day realities.听
Turn of the century Democratic 欧美口爆视频 congressman and avowed booster Edward Taylor knew that names matter. So much so that he made the Grand River鈥檚 renaming a personal cause.听
As a boy, Joseph E. Taylor III heard all about Edward Taylor 鈥 his great-grandfather 鈥 especially during long summer road trips to desolate stretches of the Rocky Mountain West. During one, the car rumbled across cattle grates out onto Bureau of Land Management rangelands, 鈥渇ollowed by my mother waving her arms and saying, 鈥榶our great-grandfather created all this,鈥欌 Taylor recalls.听
Taylor and his brothers groaned from the back seat. It鈥檚 hard to get a 10-year-old boy to care too much about anything, he says, let alone a family member he鈥檚 never met. It wasn鈥檛 until Joseph Taylor got into Western history in college that he had to reckon with his own family history.听
鈥淥ne of my relatives showed up in every single historical study of the American West,鈥 he says.听
Taylor is now a professor of American history at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. He鈥檚 currently writing a biography of his great-grandfather. While Edward Taylor is best known for his eponymous grazing legislation 鈥 the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 which allowed for livestock grazing on听on听vast swathes of federal public land 鈥 he also staunchly defended West Slope water.听
According to his testimony in front of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Edward Taylor said he鈥檇 been carrying the torch for his river renaming proposal for more than a decade, from his time as a state senator. He felt slighted that the river his state was named after didn鈥檛 start high up in its mountains.听
鈥淚t seems to have rankled a fair number of people on the West Slope of 欧美口爆视频, where the 欧美口爆视频 River headwaters were, that they had a name that really didn鈥檛 resonate with the state,鈥 Joseph Taylor says.听
The Grand River just didn鈥檛 cut it. Edward Taylor wanted the 欧美口爆视频 River 鈥 the same river that cut the Grand Canyon 鈥 to extend into his district and flow near his constituents. He wasn鈥檛 going to let Utah or Wyoming lay claim to the river鈥檚 headwaters,听despite the fact that听the Green River is the larger drainage basin. Undeterred, and backed up with statistics that showed the shorter Grand River contributing more water to the 欧美口爆视频 River, he took on the river鈥檚 renaming as a personal crusade in Washington, D.C.听
鈥淗e was known from time to time to get up on the floor and make glowing听five to ten minute听speeches about his adored state, and I think it was a genuine love affair between Edward Taylor and 欧美口爆视频,鈥 Joseph Taylor says.听
You can read the over-the-top affection Edward Taylor felt toward 欧美口爆视频 in his comments to his fellow lawmakers. One of his speeches has taken on legendary status among Western historians. 欧美口爆视频 State University鈥檚 archives听has听a copy of it on file. From start to finish Edward Taylor delivers an embellished, flowery pitch to Congress to boost his state 鈥 and belittle the Green River.听
To get a sense of his rhetorical flavor, here鈥檚 a passage:听
We have in 欧美口爆视频 no State pride in the name 鈥淕rand.鈥 That name is merely an adjective, and does not mean anything but large or great, and might be applied to any large or beautiful stream. Practically everything in 欧美口爆视频 is grand, and as applied to a river it is a very commonplace name. 鈥 For the past 60 years, 鈥溑访揽诒悠碘 has meant the heart of the Golden West, the actual top of the world, the land of sunshine, good health, and gorgeous scenery, the summer playground of the nation, the Switzerland of America, the bright jewel set in the crest of this continent, where it shines as the Kohinoor of all the gems of this Union; the sublime Centennial State.听
At one point, Edward Taylor boasts about how many people the Grand River had recently killed, including chairman of the Garfield County Commissioners and the local road overseer. He juxtaposes it to the Green River, which he says, 鈥渋s a comparatively small stream in Wyoming,鈥 where everyone听is able to听easily cross in a raft.听
In the course of听his听testimony听he uses the word 鈥渟ublime鈥 at least seven times to describe the 欧美口爆视频 River and the other natural features it had a part in creating, like the Grand Canyon. He refers to the river as 鈥渢he Nile of America,鈥 and said, 鈥渋t is by far the most picturesque, scenic, unique, marvelous, and famous river in the world.鈥澨
鈥淚 think the technical phrase for that form of rhetoric is 鈥榩ulling out all the stops,鈥欌 says Patty Limerick, the 欧美口爆视频 state historian based at the University of 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 Center of the American West in Boulder.听
鈥淲hen Edward Taylor talks about the appeal of the 欧美口爆视频 River to Americans and why Americans should go see it, it鈥檚 not just saying, 鈥榃ell, this is kind of pretty,鈥 it鈥檚 really on the borders of civic religion,鈥 she says.听
To fully appreciate the efforts of Edward Taylor, you听have to听know what was going on in 欧美口爆视频 at that time, Limerick says. The western half of the state was stuck in a series of听boom and bust听cycles. Mines and farms, the region鈥檚 two largest economic engines, were struggling.听
In a resource-heavy economy, some on the state鈥檚 Western Slope started wondering if natural wonders should be preserved for tourists. In the early 1920s, after World War I, Limerick says more Americans started looking at their听brand new听cars听as a means to听see something great. A nascent tourist economy was beginning to take shape.听
鈥淸There is a] recognition that there might be a whole other form of prosperity that comes from people coming to look at things in a state that is quite a听show off听state when it comes to landscape,鈥 Limerick says.听
Just in Edward Taylor鈥檚 one speech, Limerick notes a slew of attitudes toward nature in play, and that鈥檚 a reflection of his constituents鈥 attitudes, how they interact with the West Slope鈥檚 natural features in their daily lives.听
鈥淚 think we wouldn鈥檛 do a massive distortion of history if we said there鈥檚 obstacle, there鈥檚 economic resource, and then there鈥檚 something aesthetic and religious,鈥 she says.听
Early European settlers to the desert southwest often saw the untamed river as a menace. It inundated their farm fields, prevented easy travel to more verdant pastures, and sometimes swept away a relative or local official. As engineers, farmers, miners and politicians began to manipulate the river鈥檚 flow into submission, it seemed less scary, Limerick says. Rather than purely an obstacle or threat, the river took on new forms in the culture.听
鈥淚 think the 欧美口爆视频 River is one great place to see the changeability and shiftiness of human attitudes toward nature,鈥 Limerick says. 鈥淚t is totally legitimate and understandable that the first European encounters with the 欧美口爆视频 River 鈥 would be to say: 鈥楪ood heavens, what a mess.'鈥澨
Edward Taylor brought that mix of attitudes with him to the House Committee on Interstate Commerce on Feb. 18, 1921. The committee鈥檚 chairman, Republican John Esch of Wisconsin, had recently been voted out of office. Joseph Taylor theorizes that the river hearing could鈥檝e been the result of a听last minute听lame duck favor to a longtime colleague. Esch left the House of Representatives just three weeks later.听
As Edward Taylor wrapped up his final remarks on renaming the Grand River, he drew on pop culture of the 1920s to help drive his point home.听
Mr. Chairman, in conclusion let me say: That the 欧美口爆视频 River is formed by the Grand and the Green. The Grand is the father and the Green the mother, and 欧美口爆视频 wants the name to follow the father 鈥 There is a very popular, beautiful, and famous song, which I hope you will have heard, entitled: 鈥淲here the Silvery 欧美口爆视频 Wends Its Way.鈥 And I hope you gentlemen will help me wend the silvery 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 way into the grand State that bears its name.听
On July 25 of that year the House of Representatives made the name change official with the passage of a joint resolution. A little more than a year later, the 欧美口爆视频 River Compact was finalized. It鈥檚 the river鈥檚 guiding document that apportions its water to some of the driest states in the country. Without a doubt, actions taken in the early 1920s established rules, policies and naming conventions that shape how we think about the 欧美口爆视频 River today.听听
Vestiges of the Grand River are still in place. The Grand Ditch pulls water from the 欧美口爆视频 River鈥檚 headwaters to the state鈥檚 eastern slope. Grand Junction, Colo. got its name from the confluence of the Gunnison and Grand Rivers. 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 Grand County still bears the moniker. So does the town of Grand Lake.听
They鈥檙e remnants of an old name, a label Coloradans and members of Congress a hundred years ago discarded. And if there鈥檚 a lesson in Edward Taylor鈥檚 effort, it is that all it takes is one relentless person and a willing constituency to think of a natural space in a whole new听way, and听change its name.听
This story is part of a project covering the 欧美口爆视频 River, produced by KUNC and supported through a Walton Family Foundation grant. KUNC is solely responsible for its听.听