Río: A Photographic Journey Down the Old Río Grande is part of University of New Mexico Press’s Querencias Series, a collection dedicated to the study of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The mission of the series editors, Miguel A. Gandert and Enrique R. Lamadrid, is to promote the transnational, humanistic, and creative vision of researchers exploring the tangible and intangible culture of that region. For this reason, it comes as no surprise that Melissa Savage’s creative publication does not quite fit the traditional academic model for publication. This, however, is what makes this book particularly interesting.

The title Río is self-explanatory: the book explores the history and culture of the territories bordering the Río Grande, the stream whose riverbed originates in the southwestern American soil, creating a natural border with northern Mexico, and that continues flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. The beginning of the major transformation of the river valley coincides with the region’s introduction to photography, and this gives Savage the leitmotif for organizing her book. Río presents a mix of visual archival material and essays, creating a surprisingly well-balanced publication.

The volume is organized in seven chapters that follow the geographical course of the river and its historical developments. Chapter 1, “Crossings,” proposes a look at the first settlements along the river valley. Chapter 2 is entitled “Trade” and talks about the beginning of commercial exchange and how it shaped the region. “Cultivation” offers a look at the early farming practices in the valley, the Eurasian influence over Hispanic culture and, finally, the irrigation of the river in the twentieth century. Following this idea, chapter 4 is about the floods and the river’s potential for both creating and destroying life. "Los Insurrectos" is the fifth part of this volume and introduces the reader to the historical and political U.S-Mexico conflicted relationship. “Big Bend” relates to the river’s arc in southern Texas, where mines and cattle ranches were developed. Finally, “River’s End” serves as a conclusion, with the Río Grande ending its course in the Gulf of Mexico.

This book is a valuable work for several reasons. First, it presents the point of view of very competent authors from different backgrounds, including Pueblo, American, man, woman, conservationist, paleobotanist, university professor, and environmental and cultural history specialist. One has to praise the quality of the essays, which offer informative facts in an almost poetic language. All of these authors have strong academic or emotional ties with the river valley, including Savage herself, who in her own words states: “and over many decades of living near the river in the high desert of northern New Mexico, I have become who I am because of where I have been” (xii).

Second, Savage presents the work of photographers active between the end of the 1890s and the end of the 1940s, such as Lara Gilpin, H. H. Chapman, William Henry Jackson, Otis A. Aultman, and Wilfred Dudley Smithers, to name a few. Like the text, the images are representative of the landscape and of its inhabitants. Interestingly, these photographs offer a rarely seen overview of the work and daily life of the valley’s people. This publication brings to light images that would otherwise be hidden in archives and libraries.

Although Río is a carefully organized work, one should be cautious in using it for academic research. While the essays are all beautiful pieces of literary work, the overall romanticized tone and imagery convey perhaps a less conventional academic overview of the U.S-Mexico borderland culture. From the beginning, Savage is clear in her intention to depict the past, and her background as a geographer shows in her long subjective depiction of the landscape. The river is treated as the main protagonist of the book. Furthermore, the ties between human beings and the river, and the fragility of humans facing nature, are often renewed in this essay and in other essays as well. This, of course, affects the content of the book. While this thematic vision fits beautifully with the subject matter of the publication, it conveys strong emotional ties to the land on the part of researchers, who are generally expected to remain as objective as possible.

Río is an interesting blend of contemporary romanticism, poetry, and academic research, and I believe that this is the book’s strength, for it will easily satisfy specialist and non-specialist readers. It offers a light yet somewhat moving read (it reads like a story) and still manages to provide valuable information. The result is a smart piece of literature that will certainly be an asset in any library.

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[Review length: 759 words • Review posted on May 17, 2017]