Rivers run deeply through the American consciousness. American Indians speculated about their origins in myths and legends. Settlers and adventurers exulted in their promise. Poets, artists, and songwriters paid tribute to their beauty. Engineers exploited their potential, and conservationists pleaded for their protection. The diversity of waterways, the range of their idiosyncracies, and the variety of responses they have inspired evoke the richness and complexity of the North American continent. For everyone who has listened to a river's song or floated along its surface or played on its banks, here is a book of images and voices which does justice to the beauty and diversity of rivers. The selections range from Samuel Sewell's mournful praise of the River Merrymak to John Wesley Powell's triumphant narrative on exploring the Colorado River, from Walt Whitman's ode on crossing Brooklyn Ferry to Oscar Hammerstein's melodic tribute to Ol? Man River. More than fifty descriptions, meditations, and songs, with brief introductory notes, are balanced by sixty illustrations, including the elegant landscape paintings of Albert Bierstadt, the landscapes of Frederic Church, and the haunting photographs of Ansel Adams.