Great River
The Rio Grande in North American History. Vol. 1, Indians and Spain. Vol. 2, Mexico and the United States. 2 vols. in one
Sales Date: 1991-10-01
An epic history of the American southwest.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History (1954)
Winner of the Bancroft Prize in History (1954)
Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize for History, Great River was hailed as a literary masterpiece and enduring classic when it first appeared in 1954. It is an epic history of four civilizations—Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American—that people the Southwest through ten centuries. With the skill of a novelist, the veracity of a scholar, and the love of a long-time resident, Paul Horgan describes the Rio Grande, its role in human history, and the overlapping cultures that have grown up alongside it or entered into conflict over the land it traverses. Now in its fourth revised edition, Great River remains a monumental part of American historical writing.
Prologue: Riverscape
Creation
Gazeteer
Cycle
Book One: The Indian Rio Grande
The Ancients
The Cliffs
To the River
The Stuff of Life
i. Creation and Prayer
ii. Forms
iii. Community
iv. Dwelling
v. Garments
vi. Man, Woman and Child
vii. Farmer and Hunter
viii. Travel and Trade
ix. Personality and Death
On the Edge of Change
Book Two: The Spanish Rio Grande
The River of Palms
Rivals
Upland River
The Travelers' Tales
Destiny and the Future
Faith and Bad Faith
Facing Battle
Battle Piece
The Garrison
Siege
The Eastern Plains
Prophecy and Retreat
Lords and Victims
The River of May
Four Enterprises
Possession
The River Capital
Collective Memory
i. Sources
ii. Belief
iii. The Ocean Masters
iv. The King and Father
v. Arts
vi. Style and Hunger
vii. The Swords
viii. Soul and Body
Duties
A Dark Day in Winter
The Battle of Acoma
Afterthoughts
Exchange
The Promises
The Desert Fathers
The Two Majestics
The Hungry
"This Miserable Kingdom"
The Terror
Limit of Vision
A Way to the Texas
The Great Captain
Fort. St. John Baptist
Early Towns
Colonial Texas
Mexico Bay
Forgotten Lessons
Hacienda and Village
i. Land and House
ii. Fashion
iii. Family and Work
iv. Mischance
v. Feast Days
vi. Wedding Feast
vii. Morality
viii. The Saints
ix Provincials
The World Intrudes
The Shout
The Broken Grasp of Spain
Appendix A: Sources for Volume one, by chapter
Maps
PAUL HORGAN, novelist, historian, biographer, was one of this century's most gifted American authors. He trice won the Pulitzer Prize for History in a literary career spanning six decades. Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1903, he moved with his family in 1915 to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was Professor Emeritus and Author-in-Residence at Wesleyan University until his death in 1995.
"Extremely well written, in a style that is sometimes as eloquent as Macaulay's, sometimes precise and restrained like that of Prosper Mérimée...In short, a book of exceptional merit, among the very best of its kind."
~Marcus Cunliffe, Manchester Guardian
"Transcends regional history and soars far above the river valley with which it deals . . . a survey, rich in color and fascinating in pictorial detail, of four civilizations: the aboriginal Indian, the Spanish, the Mexican, and the Anglo-American . . . It is, in the best sense of the word, literature. It has architectural plan, scholarly accuracy, stylistic distinction, and not infrequently real nobility of spirit"
~Allan Nevins
"One of the major masterpieces of American historical writing.""
~Carl Carmer
""Extremely well written, in a style that is sometimes as eloquent as Macaulay's, sometimes precise and restrained like that of Prosper MériméeIn short, a book of exceptional merit, among the very best of its kind.""
~Marcus Cunliffe, Manchester Guardian
""Here is known and unknown history, emotion and color, sense and sensitivity, battles for land and the soul of man, cultures and moods, fused by a glowing pen and a scholarly mind into a cohesive and memorable whole.""
~Boston Sunday Herald
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