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AGAVE PROGRAMS
Changing Face of the Colorado River Changing Face of the Colorado River | Executive Summary
It
is a river that defines the Southwest. Not the nation's longest
or biggest river, but certainly one that has earned its nickname,
the Mighty Colorado. For millions of years, the Colorado River
has sculpted the land as it winds down from the Rocky Mountains
to Mexico. With it comes thousands of years of history and
hundreds of stories of people who have tried to shape the
river . . . and found that it has a will of its own.
Agave Productions, Inc. has produced a new hour-long documentary tracing the river. Changing Face of the Colorado River is based on oral history interviews of people living along the Colorado River from Colorado through Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona. Through these people, this program weaves the stories, past and present, of the Colorado River. The focus of Changing Face of the Colorado River is on the Colorado River . . . not only as a major source of water in the Southwest, but because the Colorado shaped the landscape of the area for eons before the arrival of men and the growth of modern civilization. In the life of the river, man's arrival and the river's development is only the blink of an eye. When the first people came to the Southwest, the Colorado River was a source of life and a barrier dividing the land. Less than 150 years ago, much of the river was unmapped and unexplored. But the river has a mystique, a power that attracts and holds people. In the 1880s, people risked their lives just to see where it went. Native people hold it in reverence. The southern end of the river was the first gateway to central Arizona desert lands for American pioneers and military. Today, the river, its canyons and towns are a mecca for tourists and a source of water and power for much of the West. The river has flowed its course for millions of years, shaping the earth . . . and the people along the way. And the Colorado River will be here, still shaping the land, for many millenniums to come. The emphasis of Changing Face of the Colorado River is on the history of the river, preserving the stories and educating people about the vast and varied river. Working with Native American tribes, museums, river runners, historians, educators, and those ordinary people who call the Colorado home, the documentary gives viewers an appreciation for the importance of the river to a wide variety of communities and people for hundreds of miles along the river's course. It also imparts a sense of awe and wonder for this powerful force of nature. Agave Productions, Inc. has received a research grant for this project from the Arizona Humanities Council. Changing Face of the Colorado River is part of the seven-state project, "Moving Waters: The Colorado River & the West". |
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AGAVE PRODUCTIONS, INC. |
