River of Life, Channel of Death

In the words of the author, "this book is the story of how people came to settle this region and demand river alterations--and how some eventually came to oppose them… It is also the chronicle, yet unfolding, of the conflict between native wildlife and dams. In microcosm it is, in many ways, the story of the American West."

This history of the four Lower Snake River dams and their impact on Northwest salmon was named "Book of the Year" by the Idaho Library Association. River of Life, Channel of Death tells the story of the long struggle to bring navigation to Lewiston and hydro-power to a region; of the influence of powerful congressional representatives and booster organizations; of a clash of cultures, first between Indians and whites and later between environmentalists and developers; and of the role of the federal government in Western settlement.

While the dams made Lewiston into the farthermost inland seaport in the western United States, they continue to be a subject of controversy in the continuing national debate over the fate of Northwest salmon. In a new preface written for this edition, Petersen comments on information that has become available and events that have occurred since his book was first published in 1995.

Preface to the New Edition

Chronology

Prologue

Part I: Before the Dams

Chapter 1: Fire and Water

Chapter 2: The Ancients

Chapter 3: The Seekers

Chapter 4: An Open River

Chapter 5: "Construct Such Dams as Are Necessary"

Part II: Fish vs. Dams

Chapter 6: Battle for Ice Harbor

Chapter 7: A Seaport for Idaho

Chapter 8: Asotin

Chapter 9: Fish vs. Dams

Chapter 10: Endangered Species

Epilogue

Endnotes

Acknowledgments

Index

"Historian Keith Petersen has done a superb job of chronicling the achievement of the building of the lower Snake River dams and the natural resource devastation they wrought."

"Petersen writes history the way it should be written--free of academic cant and jargon… Evocative, eminently readable, River of Life is an important book about one of the West's most timely topics."

"A carefully researched history of the lower Snake River and the four government dams that are slaughtering our salmon… Having read the book I understand why some folks want to keep us in the dark until the fish are dead. Petersen powerfully exposes the myths sown by the salmon slayers."