In the 1950s, a series of dams was proposed along the Brazos River in north-central Texas. For John Graves, this project meant that the beautiful and sometimes brutal surrounding countryside would also change, as would the lives of the people whose rugged ancestors had eked out an existence there. Reflecting on his own childhood there, Graves therefore decided to canoe that stretch of the river, and in this 1960 classic, he shares his wonder at the history and the natural splendor of the region.