Utah Books

In all practical aspects, the Dominguez and Escalante expedition was a failure. The two Spanish fathers were unable to locate an overland route between the Spanish colonies of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Monterrey, California, and in 1776 it seemed that all the two men had done was wander aimlessly in the north for six months. The lasting impact these two men have had on history (and particularly Utah's history), however, are far greater than they could have known.

The expedition made a map, but it is basically worthless in its inaccuracy. Still, the description they left of their route, and most notably that of Utah Valley, was later a great resource for subsequent explorers of Utah, especially John C. Fremont. Their expedition, failed though it was, nevertheless is important as the first written record of the territory that would later become Utah. In addition, the journal did not outlive its usefulness in 1844, when the second of Fremont's expeditions was completed, or even later when Stansbury, Gunnison, and others surveyed the territory. This journal is important even today, because it provides us with a natural look at the Native Americans of the area, before they were disturbed and corrupted by hordes of encroaching whites. This journal is a great document in Utah's history, both as the first written account and as a fascinating look at Utah more than 75 years before it would be settled by the whites.

Even if this book sucked, I couldn't rate it lower than five stars, if for no other reason than that this book is IT.
It's the only record of this particular part part of the Southwest from before the area was overrun by Spanish and Anglo settlers. It's the book that guided decades of explorers and missionaries, and that has mercifully survived to offer us hints of what life in the West could be like BACK THEN.
It's the story of Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, two Spanish friars, who were tasked in 1776 with the goal of forging a route from a mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to a mission in Monterrey, California, and of locating sites for new missions along the way-to convert Indian "heathens," "barbarians," and "infidels."
Domínguez was in his mid-thirties, but Escalante was only about twenty-five years old. The two, with a small group of others, decided to avoid a northern route--out of fear of an Indian tribe rumored to eat light-skinned travelers--and as a result were among the very first to make maps and to record details of the Southwest's rivers and mesas. Their group started late in the year though, a sudden blizzard soon made progress impossible, and when they reached north-central Utah, they decided to head south and work their way back to New Mexico. They ran out of food, lived by eating their horses, and suffered unbearable cold, rebellious group members, and severe, frequent thirst. They reached the Colorado River around present-day Lees Ferry, southwest of where Glen Canyon Dam is now, and worked their way north along the river, looking for a way across.
They passed the often-photographed Castle Rock and Gunsight Butte, chipped steps into the slickrock to allow their pack animals to get down to the shore, lowered their belongings over a cliff with ropes, and after some scouting, found an ancient Ute Indian river crossing, where the water was slow and shallow enough to ride across. That place became known as the Crossing of the Fathers, and is right around where Lake Powell's Padre Bay is now.
Their trip made an approximately two thousand-mile-long circle through mostly unexplored terrain, took nearly six-and-a-half months, and explored more undocumented, unknown land than Lewis and Clark would later in their over two-year-long journey. When the fathers got back to Santa Fe, however, only their failure to reach California mattered much to anyone, along with their apparent waste of funds, horses, and supplies.
Escalante was practically exiled, and died within five years as the result of bad health obtained from his trials in the desert.
Domínguez was demoted, his possibilities of advancement destroyed, and he died anonymously as an old man, never recognized for what he'd done.
If you are interested in the West, or the Colorado Plateau, or Glen Canyon, you need to read this. There's just no way around that. It contains information you will find nowhere else, and it's actually a fairly enjoyable read. (I never would have thought Spanish priests could be so SARCASTIC....)

Edited by natural historian Richard Stephen Felger and research associate Bill Broyles, Dry Borders: Great Natural Reserves of the Sonoran Desert is an in-depth natural history reference and resource of the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. Chapters examine the Sonoran Desert's geography, geology, flora and fauna, indigenous people, aquatic life of the adjoining gulf, and much more. An inset selection of color plates a geographic dictionary of place names, and an index round out this comprehensive guide accessible to lay readers, natural history enthusiasts and scientists alike.

I recommend this book for anyone who has any curiosity about desert ecosystems, the Sonora and the Gulf of California. Rarely does one find a book that is both highly authoritative and immensely readable. This one is both.

The book is richly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and tables. The authors personally discuss their journeys of discovery. By the time one goes through this book they have had a first hand tour of the desert, the people of the Sonora and their great personable travel guides.There is also mention of the impact of time and "civilization" on the Sonora.

I recommend this book highly for Sonoran and desert hikers as a field book and those looking for a reference. You can't beat the price.

Barre was given a special gift for understanding cultures and in this volume brings together many personal experiences in the real world of real people of varying cultures. He helps us see beyond our own cultural blinders and takes us into the real world of folklore. The many photos add to the first person experiences of which he writes. This is a lesson in life for our multicultural world.

Unfortunately, I think the somewhat quaint words "folk" and "lore" in "folklore" throw people off and make them dimiss folklore studies as a trivial or insignificant field of scholarship. "Folklore" just doesn't have the imposing sound of similar fields like anthropology and sociology. Admittedly, before reading Toelken's book, if I thought of the word "folk lore" I probably would have pictured my grandfather sitting in a rocking chair telling stories from his childhood. Of course, that is also a part of folklore, but I realize now how much more there is to it. Before reading this book, I didn't have a good understanding of what folklore was. Even now, folklore's not so easy to define. I think the best description of folklore is this: it is what makes our cultures unique, and what makes belonging to whatever social groups we belong to, significant.

Jokes, food, songs, religion ... Toelken covers these topics and more in his book, which reads kind of like an introduction to folklore studies. Until I read this book, I probably would've laughed at the suggestion that I myself belong to several folk groups. Now that I better understand the complex social groups that we all belong to, it's left me more curious to discover what makes different folk groups unique. This is not the type of book that you read and think "ok, that was nice" and then never think about it again. This book will open your eyes and make you question the things that you take for granted in everyday life.

A must-read!

Robert Kirby is a former police officer turned writer who has written a book about the Utah police officers who have been murdered in the line of duty. Kirby's style is easy to read; he explains police procedure for the lay person very well. The title comes from the term for when a police officer ends his shift. One of the most surprising things in End of Watch is how little training early police officers received. Even in 1978, when Kirby started patrolling the streets of a small Utah town, it wasn't required that police officers attend the Police Academy before hitting the streets. As you can see from reading End of Watch, Utah is not exempt from danger, and many of the police deaths were earlier in the 20th century-- during what some people might think of as the good old days.
Another thought provoking thing about reading End of Watch is how stupid some of these crimes were. In 1974 a Utah Highway Patrol Officer pulled over a man for speeding. The driver shot the patrolman-- because he was going to be late for work! Stupid! This was the first officer killed by gunshots in the history of the Utah Highway Patrol. Previous Highway Patrol deaths involved traffic accidents-- sad, of course, but somewhat expected in that line of work.Sadly it hasn't been the last.
In Utah, Kirby is known for writing usually humorous columns for The Salt Lake Tribune. Read End of Watch, which is not humorous but an admirable piece of reporting. You will find yourself a lot more conscientious the next time you get pulled over.

This is an excellent book. It is well written and researched. From the first story to the last it will hold your interest and leave you wanting to read "just one more" story.

This contains Nahuatl, some Spanish translations, and all translated to English. It is very useful for me as examples of the survivors of Toltec Moral behaviour.

Many scholars such as Garibay and Miguel Leon-Portillo praise Sahagun's works as one of the primary sources for pre-columbian knowledge and without a doubt this books relates the rethoric and ancient Mexican thinking in a fabulous way. It includes the original text in Nahuatl and an English translation.

John P. O'Grady has written some igneously curious essays about ghosts and legends and forests and writers. He takes tremendous joy in sharing all the wonderful things he never learned in forestry school but has learned about forests. It is important to note that these essays are quite artful as they unravel or evolve. There is a sense that the stories are too complex, and topics too tangentially related to be unwound in front of a campfire without a map, but still they belong to the forests, of books and trees. Those interested in stories of American spaces will be tickled to find a grand range of locales, Maine, Roanoke, Idaho, New Jersey. O'Grady's undertaking is bonkers and engaging.

O'Grady, with a deft touch and encyclopaedic mind, writes a series of essays covering all kinds of uncanny or supernatural circumstances, some amusing, some sad, some perplexing. He debunks where appropriate, but allows the mystery to remain where it belongs. O'Grady has studied forestry, American history and literature, and his own mind in roughly equal measure. Ambling through his material with him is both fun and food for thought, like taking a walk through the forest with a lovably eccentric and erudite friend.

This travel guide provides up-front and honest opinions of accomodation, eating, things to do (both city and backcountry). The authors have provided plenty of ideas that allow you to design your own trip that doesn't have to follow the crowds. (They don't exclude the popular destinations either, if that is your preference.) The book is layed out in a nice logical fashion broken down by the 7 regions and Salt Lake City. Included is a good background on the State and its history, without turning into a textbook. As someone from the other side of the world, I found the advice on customs (such as tipping, Utah's liqor laws) very useful.

I'm lucky to have a good public library near me and I checked out every guidebook on Utah they had--nine or ten. The Moon guide is the best of the lot. I liked it so much I bought it and took it with me to a recent 8-day visit to the state, and was able to give it an "on the ground" trial.

The Moon guides are unique in the depth of coverage. No sketchy descriptions of attractions here--each place is covered in detail and depth. The Utah guide includes the "little things" that might interest you no matter what kinds of scenery or attractions you like--or you can pass them by. The maps are good, but of course no book map can replace a good full-size folding map. Sidebars or "boxes" in the text pick out particular bits of information that make the area come alive.

The guide is not as complete about hotel/motels as some, but I belong to AAA for that kind of information, which becomes out of date as soon as any guide is published anyway.

The quality of any guide book, whether Moon or Lonely Planet, or whatever, depends on its authors. This one hits the mark.

This book is priceless considering the amount of information it provides. It saved us many hours of research, and helped select a great base camp for our backpacking trek.

I have yet to find a book that has the details like this one. This book is your complete guide on fishing,trails,springs etc... This backcounty book is as enjoyable as the mountain range is beautiful. I have be packing this range for years and I promise you will not be sorry !

I had previously purchased the Copeland's book on the Canadian Rockies, which was the best hiking book I had purchased (I have a large collection), so I had high expectations from this newest Utah book-- I was not disappointed. I have 4 other "Utah" hiking books-- this one is again the best. When you first open it, and glance through the pages, you get a strong sense of high quality. Jam packed with nice color pictures which are truly inspiring. The opinions are (IMO) well founded (the Copeland's have good discernment about what makes a "WOW" hike). Facts/details/maps are clear and plenteous without being overkill, providing all the info you need/want to know, and not a lot extra.

Cons? You have to dig deep into the nitpicking bag to find fault, but... I would have preferred ratings on the hikes like they did in their Canadian Rockies book. It's true, these are ALL "WOW" hikes (as they state in introduction), but some are more "WOW" than others! :-) Three or even two classifications of "wow" would have been nice. A few of the pictures (out of hundreds) have motion blur. The background on the maps is an orangish brown... they look classy, but for those who make photocopies of maps to take on the hike, a white background would have been better. Like I said, this is really nitpicking.

I highly recommend this book.

Received the Utah Canyon Country "WOW" guide today and my heart started beating faster just looking at the cover photo. Oh yeah, slickrock junkies will be pleased.
Skimming thru, the photos are great, the maps look accurate and easy to read and the trip choices seem excellent.
I'm not really going to get rid of my shelves of Utah hiking guides but this is certainly a great addition.
Whoops; five minutes after submitting the above review the cover came unglued and fell off. Bad cover but still a good book.

Brock Thoene is the greatest writer I have ever read from! He describes so clearly you can see it!! He is an awesome writer! I love his books!! Hope Vally War is an excellent choice, a must-read!!!

John Thorton hears from his long lost love, Marie, who married his brother, Lucky, 9 years previously. Lucky has been murdered and Maria needs Johns help. John hightails it back to Hope Valley to solve the mystery with danger lurking around every corner