Downstream Toward Home (eBook)

Rivers have played a remarkable role throughout our national history. The outcome of battles, the fate of pioneers, and the survival of early settlers were inextricable from the course and temperament of surrounding rivers. Depicted in songs, art, and fiction, these waterways found a place in the American psyche and continue to wind through the imaginations of modern adventurers.

In Downstream Toward Home, Oliver A. Houck recounts his thrilling, meditative, and humorous experi-ences on these oft-neglected tributaries and streams. Spanning more than sixty years and exploring more than thirty-two rivers, this collection of travel essays demonstrates how each creek and channel plays an outsized role in its surrounding environment.

Houck's homage to America's rivers includes both exciting adventures and near disasters, as he moves from his childhood memories of Egypt Creek in New Jersey to the Great Falls of the Potomac, the bayous of Louisiana, and the snake-infested Grande Ronde in Oregon. Throughout, his musings on details such as the footprints of red wolves on a sandbank or the otherworldly beauty of a cypress forest reveal a distinct and extraordinary vision of the national landscape.

A gifted storyteller, Houck captures the fleeting excitement of cascading through rapids and the peaceful joy of resting on a shoal-while subtly reminding us of the far-reaching human impact on this fragile but vital part of our ecosystem.

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American rivers are among the most diverse and challenging in the world, and for many the excitement and escape they offer develops into a lifelong pursuit. In Downstream Toward Home, Oliver A. Houck recounts his six decades exploring America's waterways,from unnamed creeks and Louisiana swamps to the rivers of western canyons and the Alaskan tundra. This engaging travelogue leads readers down over thirty-two rivers found across the country. Along the way Houck provides quiet observations as he finds footprints of red wolves on a sandbank or paddles through an aqueous forest of cypress trees. Collectively, these moments of adventure and introspection reveal his distinct and extraordinary vision of the national landscape. From the thrill of approaching rapids to the peace of resting on a shoal, Houck's narrative draws from history and personal experience subtly to remind us how each body of water plays an outsized role in its surrounding environment. At once a journal, a primer, and a guide, Downstream Toward Home is an invitation to create our own experiences on America's rivers.