Sign-In
Cart
Trail of Greed: The Forgotten Fight to Steal the Grand Canyon
Paperback
Environmental StudiesGeneral Political ScienceRegional: West
Publisher Price: $21.95
Publisher: Torrey House Press
Published: Sep 7 2027
Pages: 250
Language: English
The incredible true story of how personal ambition and political corruption nearly destroyed the Grand Canyon--and launched America's first National Park.
Arizona entrepreneur and politician Ralph Cameron knew how to get what he wanted, and what he wanted most was the Colorado River. He already owned thousands of acres in the Grand Canyon and his lucrative private toll road, the Bright Angel Trail, led right to the river where Cameron hoped to build a hydroelectric dam. There was just one problem: Americans didn't want to flood the Grand Canyon.
From the Havasupai people who were forced to leave what was known for decades as Indian Garden to the Kolb brothers' photography studio that showed the wonder of the canyon to the world, the story of the Bright Angel Trail is more than Cameron's, of course. Historian Harris Abernathy brings it all to the page as he reveals the surprising tale of how an iconic national park was both profoundly shaped by and nearly decimated by a con-man miner turned politician. Abernathy's spellbinding storytelling and keen eye for truth show how America's lust for profit will always clash with the public's passionate support for public lands. The captivating creation story of Grand Canyon National Park--beloved worldwide and visited by millions every year--offers insights into today's fights to preserve and protect the natural world.
Also in
Regional: West
Born of Lakes and Plains: Mixed-Descent Peoples and the Making of the American West
Hyde, Anne F.
Hardcover
Tin Can Coast: A History of Industry, Greed, and Fishing in the Golden State
Ogilvy, Joseph
Hardcover
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Likes to Walk Outside
Offerman, Nick
Paperback
City on the Edge: Technology, Politics, and the Fight for the Soul of San Francisco
Weber, Jonathan
Hardcover
Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon
Sevigny, Melissa L.
Paperback
We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher
Abbott, E. C. Teddy Blue
Smith, Helena Huntington
Paperback
Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love
Talbot, David
Paperback
Cowboys, Mountain Men, and Grizzly Bears: Fifty of the Grittiest Moments in the History of the Wild West
Mayo, Matthew P.
Paperback
Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition
Reisner, Marc
Paperback
Bay Curious: Exploring the Hidden True Stories of the San Francisco Bay Area
Allen-Price, Olivia
Paperback
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
Egan, Timothy
Paperback
Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of the Hunt for the Nation's Most Elusive Serial Killer
Graysmith, Robert
Paperback
A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World's First National Park
Wilson, Randall K.
Paperback
Los Angeles Central Library Pops: Celebrating a Century of the Light of Learning
Rice, Christina
Hardcover
An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873
Madley, Benjamin
Paperback
Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta: The Bandit Chief Who Terrorized California and Launched the Legend of Zorro
Boessenecker, John
Hardcover
Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West
Wolman, David
Smith, Julian
Paperback
A History of Montana in 101 Places: Sites and Stories from the Montana Historical Society
Baumler, Ellen
Brown, Christine
Kohl, Martha
Paperback
Lost Kingdom: Hawaiia's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and Americaa's First Imperial Venture
Siler, Julia Flynn
Paperback
Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West--One Meal at a Time
Fried, Stephen
Paperback
Wakara's America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West
Mueller, Max Perry
Hardcover
Outlaw Tales of Utah: True Stories Of The Beehive State's Most Infamous Crooks, Culprits, And Cutthroats
Rutter, Michael
Paperback
Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy
Nerburn, Kent
Paperback
Monsters of the Rocky Mountains: Stories about Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, and Other Legendary Creatures
Fowler, Natalie
Freeburg, Jessica
Paperback
Wonderlandscape: Yellowstone National Park and the Evolution of an American Cultural Icon
Clayton, John
Paperback
The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
Levy, Shawn
Paperback
Zodiac: The Shocking True Story of the Hunt for the Nation's Most Elusive Serial Killer
Graysmith, Robert
Paperback
September 2026 Revision: What to see in Palm Springs - Sights, History & Stories
Stark, John
Paperback
Spooky Colorado: Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore, First Edition
Hoffman, Paul G.
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
Sunny Skies, Shady Characters: Cops, Killers, and Corruption in the Aloha State
Dooley, James
Paperback
Deep Time in the Mono Lake Basin: Nature and History Over the Last 10,000 Years
Marks, Robert B.
Hardcover
Leave It for the Children: A Visual History of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra
Lamontagne, Samuel
Kae, Darol Olu
Hardcover
Life Without Reservations: Growing Up at the Famed Ambassador Hotel 1921 to 1938
Benjamin, Carlyn Frank
Gilmour, Lisa Benjamin
Paperback
River Master: John Wesley Powell's Legendary Exploration of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon
Kuhne, Cecil
Paperback
Spooky Yellowstone: Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Hoffman, Paul G.
Paperback
The Whole Country Was... 'One Robe': The Little Shell Tribe's America
Vrooman, Nicholas C. P.
Hardcover
A State of Change: California's Forgotten Landscapes (Revised and Updated)
Cunningham, Laura
Hardcover
Saving the Big Sky: A Chronicle of Land Conservation in Montana
Wright, John B.
Bugbee, Bruce A.
Kiesling, Robert J.
Hardcover
Deadliest Sea: The Untold Story Behind the Greatest Rescue in Coast Guard History
Thompson, Kalee
Paperback
While Idaho Slept: The Hunt for Answers in the Murders of Four College Students
Appelman, J. Reuben
Paperback
Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer
Roberts, David
Paperback
Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp
Slater, Tracy
Hardcover
Black Cowboys of the Old West: True, Sensational, And Little-Known Stories From History
Wagner, Tricia Martineau
Paperback
The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic
Salisbury, Laney
Salisbury, Gay
Paperback
Hush of the Land: A Lifetime in the Bob Marshall Wilderness
Maggi, Eva-Maria
Elser, Arnold Smoke
Paperback
This Is Chance!: The Great Alaska Earthquake, Genie Chance, and the Shattered City She Held Together
Mooallem, Jon
Paperback
The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation
Gardner, Mark Lee
Paperback
What Happened at Tassajara: Stories of the First Zen Buddhist Monastery in the West, 1968--1971
Chadwick, David
Paperback
This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption Are Ruining the American West
Ketcham, Christopher
Paperback
Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce: Strangers in the Land of the Nimiipuu
Pinkham, Allen V.
Evans, Steven R.
Paperback
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside
Offerman, Nick
Hardcover
The White Boy and the Indians: A Memoir of Reservation Life, the Depression, and the Okies
Jennings, Paul Austin
Paperback
Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: How Punk Rock Brought Orange County to the World
Jackson, Nate
Kohn, Daniel
Hardcover
Alaska's History, Revised Edition: The People, Land, and Events of the North Country
Ritter, Harry
Paperback
Navigating Western Colorado: Early Expeditions and the Birth of Transportation on the Frontier
Bailey, David P.
Paperback
Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer's View of a Trailblazing Architect
Ireland, Janna
Hardcover
The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey Into the Old West
Grant, Will
Hardcover
Myths and Legends of Yellowstone: The True Stories behind History's Mysteries
Therriault, Ednor
Paperback
Theodore Roosevelt in California: The Presidential Adventure That Saved the Wilderness
Chris Epting
Paperback
Life Without Reservations: Growing Up at the Famed Ambassador Hotel 1921 to 1938
Benajmin, Carlyn Frank
Gilmour, Lisa Benjamin
Hardcover
Mysteries and Legends of Utah: True Stories Of The Unsolved And Unexplained
O'Reilly, Michael
Paperback
Death in Rocky Mountain National Park: Accidents and Foolhardiness on the Continental Divide
Minetor, Randi
Paperback
City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771-1965
Hernández, Kelly Lytle
Paperback
Black Lives in Alaska: A History of African Americans in the Far Northwest
Hartman, Ian C.
Reamer, David
Paperback
Tassajara Stories: A Sort of Memoir/Oral History of the First Zen Buddhist Monastery in the West--The First Year, 1967
Chadwick, David
Hardcover
The Father of Glacier National Park: Discoveries and Explorations in His Own Words
Grinnell, Francis Hugh
Paperback
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
Winchester, Simon
Paperback
It Happened in Rocky Mountain National Park: Stories of Events and People That Shaped a National Park
Perry, Phyllis J.
Paperback
Black Rock Dead: True Tales From One of Nevada's Most Treacherous Deserts
Brooks, Christopher
Preston, Christina
Paperback