Edward Abbey
The author, Edward Abbey, was a novelist as well as non-fiction writer. In addition to his work as a ranger for the National Park Service at Arches National Monument which informs this text, he also worked in ranger capacity in areas as varied as the Everglades and Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Ralph Newcomb
Newcomb is one of the “real” cowboys whom Abbey mentions as he decries the rise of their fake doppelganger populating even Times Square. Though he suffers from a game leg which prohibits hiking or swimming very long or far, Newcomb accompanies Abbey on a raft trip through Glen Canyon in the chapter titled “Down the River.”
Merle McRae
Merle is the fake name that the author gives to superintendent of the park. In reality, Merle McRae was a man named Bates Wilson an initially Abbey praised Wilson effusively in his Introduction for teaching him almost everything that allowed him to come to a fuller understanding of the greatness of the land. Subsequently, however, Abbey excised that praise as he began to point the finger at Wilson as bearing much of the responsibility for the progressive development of the park which Abbey despised.
John Wesley Powell
Powell is not technically a character in the sense of interacting with Abbey on his adventures, but direct references to him, the influence of his research and his history all serve to make him an essential element in Abbey’s very decision to be where he is. John Wesley Powell lost an arm at the Battle of Shiloh before later taking part in the very first government-funded expedition through the Grand Canyon.
Bob Wateman
Waterman, on the other hand, is an actual person; another friend of Abbey’s who accompanies him on a trip that take up an entire chapter. Waterman is Abbey’s companion in an exploration of what is called the Maze in Canyonlands National Park. Getting to the Maze involves a horse trail which had been enlarged for vehicles, but in the years since had reverted back almost entirely to its primitive state. Thus, Waterman is an essential component because of the great confidence he places in what Abbey terms his “machine.” Which turns out to be a Land Rover.
Roy Scobie
Roy Scobie is described as a “leather-hided, long-connected, sober-sided old man” with almost a phobia about suffering a heart attack and falling off his horse. In the large picture of the text, Scobie is much more simply described: he is an independent cattlemen soon to be forced into bankruptcy. As such, he is a symbol of the effect of the deleterious effect of progress upon the western frontier which drives much of the author’s most warning that some will find his book bad-tempered and antisocial.
