From the stale world of coffee-table books, Stone
Canyons of the Colorado Plateau offers a jolt of caffeine. The
quality of the reproductions is top-notch and the text is worth
reading, though this is hardly surprising given photographer Jack
Dykinga and writer Charles Bowden, both of Tucson. Their subject is
the slickrock country of southern Utah, specifically the Paria and
Escalante rivers. Bowden, one of the West’s most imaginative
writers, juxtaposes staple characters from Utah history –
Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers and zealot John D. Lee of the Mountain
Meadows Massacre – to unexpected ends. His conclusion: The
canyonlands were never meant to be pioneered. Any attempt to change
this country can only fail, he believes, and that “failure will in
time become a national treasure.” Bowden adds his name here to the
list of notable writers who have taken a stand on the Utah
wilderness debate; Dykinga’s images alone may win some converts to
the belief that Utah’s southland can in no way be
improved.
Stone Canyons of the Colorado Plateau,
Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1996. 128 pages, 81 photographs. Cloth, $45.
*Jared Farmer
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Pictures and politics`.
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