Riverine Dreams

“The prairie rivers draining America’s sea of grass have their own unique and wonderful attributes, from tiny fish that can withstand the most challenging conditions, to rich histories of Indigenous and European peoples, to endless horizons of land and sky. This informative and enjoyable book explores the grassland rivers from the perspective of a canoe. Drawing on personal experience and conversations with locals, Frazier evokes a lovely, fascinating, and endangered world at the heart of contemporary America.” -- Ellen Wohl, author of “Dead Wood: The Afterlife of Trees” “In Riverine Dreams, Frazier paddles across a great grasslands riverscape in the middle of America. These rivers are rich not only in flora and fauna but in history, and with each dip of his favorite aluminum paddle Frazier expertly recounts the story of how humans and nature have rubbed shoulders along their banks. This is not travelogue, but adventure, from the Grand in Missouri to the Purgatoire in Colorado, driven by Frazier’s passion for the wild. To save the rivers, he knows, we must save the prairies, and he brings us encouragement from visionaries and environmentalists. Frazier’s connection to the rivers is authentic, and he’s at his best when writing about his home river, the Kaw, which flows by his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, to the confluence of the Missouri in Kansas City. He tells us of people like fisherman Abe Burns, who at the turn of the last century would literally wrestle monstrous flathead catfish from the Kansas River, and explorer Meriwether Lewis, who noted the same river was clear enough to see the bottom. ‘Today you’d need radar,’ Frazier says dryly. But grassland rivers are poised for a renaissance, Frazier writes, part of a new environmental and conservation ethic. What Frazier has produced is an important and remarkable book about how grassland rivers have helped shape America, and of his love for them. It’s also an invitation for the rest of us to join him.” -- Max McCoy, author of “Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River” “The flow of a river emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things, with tributaries merging into the main stream, much like individual lives contributing to the larger human experience. Rivers are full of stories, and we must listen. Frazier captures the personality of each river and shares their stories well.” -- Norm Miller, founder of “Missouri River Paddlers”