Thanks to everyone who attended the last meeting to discuss River-Horse: A Journey Across America by William Least Heat-Moon, and a special thanks to member Fred Bingham for leading it!

Our book selection for April/May 2022 is a deep dive into environmental history from the formation of the U.S. Constitution to the national tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and water wars out West titled, The Source: How Rivers Made America and America Remade Its Rivers by Doyle Martin

“America has more than 250,000 rivers, coursing over more than 3 million miles and serving as integral trade routes, borders, passageways, sewers, and sinks. Over the years, based on our shifting needs and values, we have harnessed their power with water-wheels and dams, straightened them for ships, drained them with irrigation canals, set them on fire, and even attempted to restore them. This environmental history tells the story of America and its rivers, from the U.S. Constitution’s roots in interstate river navigation, the origins of the Army Corps of Engineers, the discovery of gold in 1848, and the construction of the Hoover Dam and the TVA during the New Deal, to the failure of the levees in Hurricane Katrina and the water wars in the west. Along the way, it explores how rivers have often been the source of arguments at the heart of the American experiment―over federalism, sovereignty and property rights, taxation, regulation, conservation, and development.”

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 10:30AM outside at Pomegranate Books (Weather Permitting).

CFRW Book Club members receive a 15% discount at Pomegranate Books (910) 452-1107.