Ghosts of Glen Canyon: History Beneath Lake Powell

by C. Gregory Crampton

Book Overview

Drift down the Colorado River through Glen Canyon and explore the people and places that encompass the history of this majestic canyon before it drowned in the rising waters of Lake Powell.
Author Gregory Crampton led the historical investigations of Glen and San Juan Canyons from 1957 to 1963 under contract with the National Park Service. The objective was to locate and record historical sites that would be lost to the rising waters of the reservoir...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874809460
• ISBN13: 9780874809466
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Bonneville
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.5" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

You don't know what you've got until it's gone

I have always felt haunted and fascinated by Glen Canyon and the water that covered it. Everyone of my visits to the place has ilicited a deep sense of loss. Ater reading multiple descriptions of its beauty I continue to feel regret and sadness that the Glen Canyon Dam was built and that there wasn't enough done to prevent the building of it. Too late.. This place was a one of a kind place and I think over time more and more people have come to realize the incredible gem that was covered with water. Once I got started with this book I couldn't put it down. For me it was another fix in my pursuit of experiencing the essence - in spirit - of this canyon. The book is full of history, pictures and descriptions that will keep you going thru to the end. It is scary to think there are people who still believe that more dams need to be build along the Colorado river.

Great information about pre-Lake Powell

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my husband and he is thrilled with it. He's always been a Lake Powell fan. He's read a lot about the changes to Glen Canyon and was interested in seeing the pictures before Lake Powell came to be. So far he's very impressed with this book.

One of the best books on Lake Powell and Glen Canyon

For anyone who visits Lake Powell, yet still cares about all the things flooded beneath it, this book is a must-have. The book opens with a large map of the lake, with numbers on various points of its shoreline. Turn to any of these numbers, and you'll find historic photos, great facts, and a good basic overview of what was lost beneath the lake...and what's left. I took a six-and-half month canoe trip around Lake Powell's entire 1,960-mile shoreline, and this book was my Bible. I used it daily, and it always taught me something. The book's author was on many of the final fact-gathering explorations that were done in Glen Canyon--before Lake Powell covered it--and he and his crews documented thousands of now-submerged ruins, artifacts, and natural wonders. Many of their finds are in this book. "Ghosts of Glen Canyon" is not a complete record, but it doesn't profess to be. It's merely a very simple attempt to give visitors to Lake Powell a basic idea of what's beneath them. Use it with Gary Topping's very complete "Glen Canyon and the San Juan Country." Use it as a guide, and use it as a reference--it works well for both...though I've often wished it had a better index.

SUPERB BOOK! Fascinating historical photos of Glen Canyon!

I love this book. It has gorgeous and historical pictures of Glen Canyon on every page."Defiance House" is one of the many points mentioned- this is where ancient Anasazi Indians lived once ago. Shown are kivas, dwellings and rockart.The historic old Lone Star House is fearured in the book.So is Smith Fork- where there is an extensive panel of beautiful Anasazi petroglyphs.Also shown are: old miner's cabins, old gravestones, ruins, Rainbow Bridge, Klondike Bar, Dungeon Canyon, Wild Horse Bar. Rock Creek, Last Chance Creek, Gunsight Pass, Indian Trails, The Crossing of the Fathers, Navajo Creek, Wright Bar (a wall filled with TONS of ancient old petroglyphs), Galloway Cave, Sentinel Rock, Wahweap Canyon, Tapestry Wall, Moqui Canyon, The Stanton Gold Dredge, Hall's Crossing, and much, much more!!66 sites are talked about in great depth and detail. The pictures are just amazing! Now that Lake Powell is in a severe drought -and its water level is decreasing rapidly-- it would be fascinating to go see and explore the historical and ancient remains that were once completely under water!

sunken treasures

all titles on eco of Lake Powell should be noted there are activists seeking to REMOVE the dam! See E Magazine, Sierra Club on Dave Foreman, earth first