{"title":"Keith Heyer Meldahl","description":"Keith Heyer Meldahl is professor of geology and oceanography at Mira Costa College.","products":[{"product_id":"hard-road-west-history-and-geology-along-the-gold-rush-trail-paperback","title":"Hard Road West: History and Geology along the Gold Rush Trail - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1848 news of the discovery of gold in California triggered an enormous wave of emigration toward the Pacific. Lured by the promise of riches, thousands of settlers left behind the forests, rain, and fertile soil of the eastern United States in favor of the rough-hewn lands of the American West. The dramatic terrain they struggled to cross is so familiar to us now that it is hard to imagine how frightening-even godforsaken-its sheer rock faces and barren deserts seemed to our forebears.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eHard Road West\u003c\/i\u003e brings their perspective vividly to life, weaving together the epic overland journey of the covered wagon trains and the compelling story of the landscape they encountered. Taking readers along the 2,000-mile California Trail, Keith Meldahl uses the diaries and letters of the settlers themselves-as well as the countless hours he has spent following the trail-to reveal how the geology and geography of the West directly affected our nation's westward expansion. He guides us through a corrugated landscape of sawtooth mountains, following the meager streams that served as lifelines through an arid land, all the way to California itself, where colliding tectonic plates created breathtaking scenery and planted the gold that lured travelers west in the first place. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Alternates seamlessly between vivid accounts of the 19th-century journey and lucid explanations of the geological events that shaped the landscape traveled. . . . The reader comes away with both an appreciation for the arduous cross-continental wagon journey and an understanding of the events that created such a vast and difficult landscape.\"-\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e \"[Meldahl] draws on his professional knowledge to explain the geology of the West, showing how centuries of geological activity had a direct effect on the routes taken by the travelers. . . . Meldahl provides a novel account of the largest overland migration since the Crusades.\"-\u003ci\u003eScience News\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51365690966239,"sku":"9780226519623","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/KGOd3-ZBSW9780226519623.webp?v=1789069987"},{"product_id":"rough-hewn-land-a-geologic-journey-from-california-to-the-rocky-mountains-paperback","title":"Rough-Hewn Land: A Geologic Journey from California to the Rocky Mountains - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Unfold a map of North America,\" Keith Heyer Meldahl writes, \"and the first thing to grab your eye is the bold shift between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains.\" In this absorbing book, Meldahl takes readers on a 1000-mile-long field trip back through more than 100 million years of deep time to explore America's most spectacular and scientifically intriguing landscapes. He places us on the outcrops, rock hammer in hand, to examine the evidence for how these rough-hewn lands came to be. We see California and its gold assembled from pieces of old ocean floor and the relentless movements of the Earth's tectonic plates. We witness the birth of the Rockies. And we investigate the violent earthquakes that continue to shape the region today. Into the West's geologic story, Meldahl also weaves its human history. As we follow the adventures of John C. Frémont, Mark Twain, the Donner party, and other historic characters, we learn how geologic forces have shaped human experience in the past and how they direct the fate of the West today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA virtual road trip through geologic time that opens ancient windows on how the West was made. Meldahl is the ideal tour guide, blending history and geology to explain the rocks and topography of the American West and how geology shaped its settlement--David Montgomery, author of \u003ci\u003eDirt: The Erosion of Civilizations\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The geology of the western United States is as fascinating, yet as enigmatic, as that of any region in the world. Keith Meldahl not only makes it comprehensible, he makes us want to hit the road to see it for ourselves. If you are curious about how our unique American West got to be the way it is, read this engaging book.\"--James Lawrence Powell, author of \u003ci\u003eDead Pool\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGrand Canyon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book is far and away the most readable and geologically informative about the West. A real tour-de-force.\"--William R. Dickinson, University of Arizona\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Meldahl effectively integrates human history with the much longer, and still active, geologic history.\"--Eldridge M. Moores, coeditor of \u003ci\u003eBedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51365987123423,"sku":"9780520275775","price":40.43,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/FpifyJXCdQ9780520275775.webp?v=1789077166"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/keith-heyer-meldahl.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}