NEW! This will just take six months ... or so Otis "Dock" Marston thought in 1947 when he began to write a simple review of the earliest expeditions along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. He soon realized what had been previously written was woefully incorrect and incomplete. Marston resolved to compile as thorough a recounting of the first 100 river runners through the Grand Canyon as he possibly could. Dock began to write his history of river running on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon at a time when many of the pioneering river runners from the late 1800s and early 1900s were still alive. Over the next thirty years, Dock amassed a huge collection of first-person accounts of these river runners, from James White on a log raft in 1867 to the first powerboat runs of 1949 through 1951. This book is his opus magnum, establishing an accurate narration of these sometimes contradicting recollections. When Dock died in 1979, the work was almost completed. Restrictions placed on the manuscript expired in 2012, and Dock's incredibly rich story has finally made it into book form. At long last, Marston’s work moves to the forefront of Grand Canyon river running literature.
About the author: Dock Marston ran rivers throughout the West from the 1940s to the 1970s. His first cruise through Grand Canyon was in 1942. Dock ran on the lowest and highest flows on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. He also ran many types of watercraft from a one-man Sportyak, through sadiron cataract boats, dories, rubber rafts, and a variety of power boats, including the first powerboat run in 1949, and the only sucessful uprun, in 1960. His collection of river materials at the Huntingdon Library is highly valued by all Grand Canyon river buffs.
About the editor: Tom Martin has been hiking in and rafting through the Grand Canyon since 1971. With Duwain Whitis, he co-authored the Guide to the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. He also wrote Day Hikes from the River and Big Water, Little Boats. All of these books are available from this site.
Isbn 978-0-9905270-2-2, perfectbound trade paperback, 532 pages, December 2014, $35.00 USA shipping included, Canada add $16.