A talented Native American author shared excerpts of his book River-Horse while speaking to the critical contemporary issues of water conservation, resource protection, historic preservation, and rehabilitation of our country's rivers and wetlands. He is frequently spoken of as one of the finest American travel writers, and the Sierra Club thoroughly enjoyed his presentation.

On April 20,1995, William Least Heat-Moon set out on his most ambitious trip yet, a four-month journey by boat from New York Harbor to Astoria, Oregon, from Atlantic to Pacific. Of the more than five thousand miles of water he traveled, he made only two short portages, one in western New York, the other over the Continental Divide. Although Heat-Moon followed in the wake of our greatest explorers, from Henry Hudson to Lewis and Clark, no one else has ever made this particular transcontinental journey entirely by boat.

En route, Heat-Moon encountered record-shattering floods in the Midwest, and more turbulent waters than he expected. He helped one flooded town to sandbag itself against the encroaching waters; chronicled his exhilarating arrival at the headwaters of the Missouri, enlightened us with the history of the places he passes, and entertained us with humorous interchanges with the people living by the water.