In the years that the Grand Canyon Pioneers have been publishing a newsletter I don't recall having read a book review. There have been a number of announcements of recently published books the club has recommended, but never a full fledged review. The recent publication of Mike Anderson's book Living At The Edge deserves more than just an announcement. The book published by the Grand Canyon Association is one of the finest pieces of writing they have yet published.

'Living At The Edge' is a history of human activity at the Canyon starting with the early Indian settlements and carries the reader through the years up to the present era. From this you possibly think that it is a long-winded, drawn out account that fills page after page of boring facts and dates. But, you are in for a pleasant surprise. The184 page volume is a concise fast moving account, that is not only informative but interesting reading.

As a rule in a Canyon history you are inundated with a detailed description of Powell's first trip down the Colorado River with his poetic quotations and often exaggerated descriptions. Not so in Mike's book. In fact Powell is hardly mentioned. Instead we have an account of W.W. Bass, John Hance, Buckey O'Neill, James W. Thurber, Ralph Cameron and Pete Berry along with other important but lesser personages.

The early settlers came to the canyon with the idea of getting rich mining gold and other precious metals; most found riches were not in the ground, but in the pockets of tourists.

The account of Bass establishing his camp at the head of his trail and the hardships Ada Bass had keeping the camp going while her husband operated the stage line bringing patrons from Williams and Ashfork to the canyon rim paints a picture better that the best artist.

The story then switches from the western part of what is now the Grand Canyon National Park to the eastern section where the Hull brothers, John Hance, and J. W. Thurber struggled to bring early visitors from Flagstaff to the rim. And how Hance took Maude Ayers, the first white woman to visit the Grand Canyon, down his trail to the Colorado River.

Ralph Cameron, an almost forgotten pioneer, his brother, Niles and Pete Berry, who came hoping to get rich prospecting were others who turned to tourism. They improved an old Havasupai Trail to Indian Garden, charged a toll to travel it and later built a camp at the Garden and established a hotel on the rim that brought them trouble as well as money. The Cameron brothers and Berry were among the few that stuck with the mining business and managed to strike a claim below Grandview point.

The story of the Santa Fe Railroad arriving at the Canyon South Rim and the Harvey Company's desire to dominate the area is graphically told.

Mike then moves the story to the North Rim and relates an almost unknown history of how that wilderness managed to stay almost that, even today due to the lack of mass transportation facilities.

The book sells for $18.95 and even if you are not a history buff the pictures are intriguing and worth the price.

Used by permission of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society.

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