ePub On Staff: A Practical Guide to Starting Your Career in a University Music Department by Donald L.; Dr. Hamann in Arts-Photography

Description

Photographer-naturalist Peter Koch first visited the new Big Bend National Park in February; 1945; on assignment to take promotional pictures for the National Park Service. He planned to spend a couple of weeksmdash;and ended up staying for the rest of his life. Kochs magnificent photographs and documentary film-lectures Big Bend; Life in a Desert Wilderness and Desert Gold introduced the park to people across the United States; drawing thousands of visitors to the Big Bend. His photographs and films of the region remain among the best ever produced; and are an invaluable visual record of the first four decades of Big Bend National Park.In this highly readable book; Kochs daughter June Cooper Price draws on the newspaper columns her father wrote for the Alpine Avalanche; supplemented by his photographs; journal entries; and short pieces by other family members; to present Peter Kochs vision of the Big Bend. The book opens with his first "big adventure;" a six-day photographic trip through Santa Elena Canyon on a raft made from agave flower stalks. From there; Koch takes readers hiking on mountain trails and driving the scenic loop around Fort Davis. He also describes "wax smuggling" and other ways of making a living on the Mexican border; ranching in the Big Bend; the prehistory and Native Americans of the region; collaborating with botanist Barton Warnock on books of Trans-Pecos wildflowers; and the history and beauty of Presidio County; the Rio Grande; and the Chihuahuan Desert.This fascinating blend of firsthand adventures; natural history; and personal musings on anthropology and history creates an unforgettable portrait of both Peter Koch and the Big Bend region he so loved.