"All Southwestern book trails lead to The Desert", says Lawrence Clark Powell in Southwest Classics (1974). The book to which Powell refers is The Desert: Further Studies in Natural Appearances, John C. Van Dyke's acclaimed 1901 volume. Powell's praise echoes that of earlier scholars of the West. In A Literary History of Southern California (1950) Franklin Walker lauds Van Dyke as the man who "led the way" in appreciating the arid landscapes of the nation. Powell sums up the generous disposition of previous critics toward the man and his landmark book and concludes that during Van Dyke's visits to the desert he "truly saw it first and said it best."

John Charles Van Dyke was born in a country mansion near New Brunswick, New Jersey. Since the arrival of Thomasse Janse Van Dyke in New Amsterdam in 1652, the Van Dyke's and families they married into had produced civic and cultural leaders...