Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History, by Paul Horgan

MULTI-REGIONAL (THE SOUTH / SOUTHWEST / MEXICO). 
Classic History. 

Published in 1954, this epic history by Paul Horgan went on to sweep chief awards in 1955, Horgan netting both the Pulitzer Prize for history and the then renowned Bancroft Prize, an annual recognition of the very best of recently published historical works. This first edition set still impresses. At 1000+ pgs over two volumes, Horgan’s history spans eons. It would take him 14 years to complete. He begins with the actual geologic beginning: “Space. Abstract movement. The elements at large … Out of such vast interaction between ocean, sky and land, the Rio Grande rises on the concave eastern face of the Continental Divide in southern Colorado.” Horgan quickly zooms ahead to the first humans and the massive impact that this consequential river region would play on the four distinct groups that would inhabit it over the next millennium: the indigenous tribes, the Spanish, the Mexicans, and the Americans, along with “the clash, the mutual attraction and repulsion” they would show each other. “Sweeping” and “colorful” were words that jumped from acknowledgement to acknowledgement, at least in part due to the work’s lyrical style. Horgan was even more well known at the time as a prolific writer of fiction, a style he clearly brought to Great River. Almost all backcover quotes acknowledge its writerly quality and pace. But the key motivation seems to have leapt out of Horgan’s great love and admiration for the region, the author having at multiple points called New Mexico home, including the period he spent writing Great River. Wesleyan Press would reissue the 2 volume set as a single volume in the 1990s. The description that accompanies the reissue reinforces all of this: “an epic history of four civilizations—Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American—that people the Southwest through ten centuries.” It goes on to describe: “With the skill of a novelist, the veracity of a scholar, and the love of a long-time resident” how Horgan detailed the Rio Grande’s role in “the overlapping cultures that grew up alongside it and entered into conflict over the land it traverses … a monumental part of American historical writing.” Modern day comments can be critical of Horgan’s short-sighted view of indigenous ways and cultures, which can hardly be surprising considering the era of publication. But then many continue right along to praise the exhaustive method by which Horgan documents the cultural interaction between these overlapping groups all the same. It is always the historian’s dilemma: writing from within the sociological limitations of their own time. But still, Horgan’s achievement stands as a “monumental” step in documenting the historical fluidity of this most fascinating shifting region. [Condition: Used Very Good. Considering this set’s 70+ years, and noting right off tears on the inside of the front board of volume 2, the interior of these books are otherwise pristine. They may not ever have been read, they are so crisp, no indication of any interior wear. The outer cardboard case that has held the set all these years has scotch-tape repairs on two sides while the outer paper wrap is worn along the edges and discolored likely by years of direct sunlight.] 

Condition: Used Very Good. 
Nonfiction / History. 
Paul Horgan. 
Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1954. 
Hardcover (First Edition), 1020 pgs (2 volume, box jacket), 6.5 x 9.5” / 3.1 lb