Nevada Books

This book is a must for anyone who wants to re-trace, in person, the actual trails made by the California wagon-train emmigrants from 1846 - 1880's. The maps and narrations are invaluable to anyone who wants to go to the actual trails made and walked by these pioneers. 4-wheel drive is a must for a large percentage of where these trails take you. Don't try them in a 2-wheel vehicle.

Great quality map, made of tear resistant and somewhat water proof paper. I found this map extremely useful when I visited Death Valley.

Fargo is hired by the army to find out what is happening to disappearing wagon trains. When he does, all kinds of chaos breaks loose. A big surprise awaits the reader in this one. I found this story to be unique and disturbing. A keeper!

CJ Hadley captures the essence of the great basin buckaroo through the artisans that still craft his gear. If you want to catch a glimmer of what it is really like to be a buckaroo, or wish to understand this old lifestyle in a modern era, find a copy of this book. It is rich in tradition and fills in enormous gaps in the knowledge of the western cowhand's way of life. Get this book. Understand these folks.

Most of Robert Laxalt's books incorporate some kind of personal reminiscence -- whether it's his arrestingly beautiful portraits of life in the Basque Country or his semi-autobiographical trilogy about a Basque-American family in the West -- but "Travels with My Royal" is his only forthright memoir of his childhood and life as a writer. For fifty years an inseparable mechanical friend traveled alongside him -- his portable Royal typewriter. A gift from his mother, he took it all over the world and wrote all of his books and magazine articles on it.

Born in Alturas, California, in 1923, (a place that became a ghost town not long after), Laxalt was raised in Carson City, Nevada, the second son in a family of immigrant French Basques. His father, Dominique, was a former livestock baron (a "baron of sorts") who saw his flock of over 60,000 sheep and cattle wiped out by a ranch crash and a freeze in the early 1920s. Consequently, he had to go back into the hills and build up his fortune again, slowly, living the hard life of a sheepherder, separated most of the year from his family. Economic woes marked Laxalt's childhood. He mentions how ashamed he was that his mother, who ran an otherwise respectable Basque boardinghouse, sold whiskey on the sly during Prohibition. At school he was often taunted for being the son of a bootlegger.

Yet the family eventually got on its feet again, and after spending a year in the Belgian Congo during World War II, Laxalt graduated from the University of Nevada and began to forge a successful career in journalism. His first book, "Sweet Promised Land" (1957), recounts his father Dominique's return to his birthplace in the Basque Country, St. Jean Pied-de-Port up in the French Pyrenees, fifty years after he left it, and the emotional recognition that his real home was not there, but in the hills of western Nevada. In print for over forty years, "Sweet Promised Land" was Laxalt's most resounding success, even though he confesses in "Travels with My Royal" that it was torture to write.

Laxalt wrote 16 more books (fiction and non-fiction) before his death earlier this year, and was a regular contributor to National Geographic (he discusses his long love-hate relationship with that magazine in this book). He also taught at the University of Nevada, was the director of its press, and helped found the Basque Studies Program there. Anyone interested in the Basques will soon learn that Laxalt has done more than probably any other writer to help us understand their world.

If you're not already familiar with Laxalt's books, read a few first. Here he talks about how works like "Sweet Promised Land" and "In a Hundred Graves" came about, and if you haven't read them, some of it will go over your head.

A good read about the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The book is a collection of short stories assembled by Mr. Reid that detail various aspects of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

I expecially enjoyed the short stories and articles by Dan DeQuille, Bret Harte, and Mark Twain.

Mr. Reid preceeds each chapter with an introduction that explains some of the history regarding the author and the subsequent story.

Bill White Minden, Nevada

This is a great Guide to Kings River Canyon to Northern Sequoia. It includes trails, history, geology, ecology, campsites, trees, wildflowers, animals and an updated USGA plastic topographic map.

This book really delves into the very complex and refined lifestyle of the Northern Paiute. Once thought of as primitive, the Paiute are finally given credit for a culture that has remained viable for thousands of years. This publication is a must for anyone interested in learning the true relationship between Native peoples and the environment.

This immaculate collection is a must-read for all. Featuring intricately crafted tales from today's most gifted writers, including Utah's Kate Boyes ('I Hold To Those Who Favor Fire'), this intelligently written mélange is, refreshing, enlightening, and entertaining.

Unique Media Map has produced the best map I've ever seen. This are painted maps. With many details and all famos places where you have to go. The best map to plan your next trip!