A book program designed to help us learn about the many varied cultures, landscapes, and stories of the American West past and present. Before the program, read the selected book, then join us as we gather together to engage in meaningful conversations and shared experiences.

First 10 households to register receive a free copy of the book!*

The art collection at the Sid Richardson Museum represents some of the places, characters, and events that populated the American West and our imaginations, including many pioneers of the frontier. In the early 20th century, two pioneering female scientists explored Southwest terrain to catalog much of the unknown and understudied botany along the Colorado River.

Melissa L. Sevigny’s book Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon follows the true story of Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter as they braved the perilous journey through the Grand Canyon, breaking gender barriers along the way. Join us for our next Tall Tales discussion as we travel westward with the women and their crew to collect plant samples and map the wild landscapes of the Grand Canyon.

The riveting tale of two pioneering botanists and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon.

In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off to run the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious and entrepreneurial expedition leader, a zoologist, and two amateur boatmen. With its churning waters and treacherous boulders, the Colorado was famed as the most dangerous river in the world. Journalists and veteran river runners boldly proclaimed that the motley crew would never make it out alive. But for Clover and Jotter, the expedition held a tantalizing appeal: no one had yet surveyed the plant life of the Grand Canyon, and they were determined to be the first.

Through the vibrant letters and diaries of the two women, science journalist Melissa L. Sevigny traces their daring forty-three-day journey down the river, during which they meticulously cataloged the thorny plants that thrived in the Grand Canyon’s secret nooks and crannies. Along the way, they chased a runaway boat, ran the river’s most fearsome rapids, and turned the harshest critic of female river runners into an ally. Clover and Jotter’s plant list, including four new cactus species, would one day become vital for efforts to protect and restore the river ecosystem.

Brave the Wild River is a spellbinding adventure of two women who risked their lives to make an unprecedented botanical survey of a defining landscape in the American West, at a time when human influences had begun to change it forever.

Join us for our next Tall Tales book discussion as we read and discuss Brave the Wild River by Melissa L. Sevigny. Please read the selected book prior to the program.

Registration: Required – opens December 10

Ages: 18+
Contact: Director of Adult Programs at adulteducation@SidRichardsonMuseum.org or 817.332.6554 if you have any questions or would like to be added to the wait list when registration is full.

* Registrants who receive a free copy of the book can elect to pick it up at the front desk during museum hours or have it mailed for a $7 fee. Staff will confirm your option after you register.