Colorado Books

This book is a real treat. The pictures are awesome and make you want to pack up and head to Colorado. But, best of all, David Petersen makes you feel like an old friend along with him for a hike in this awesome place that he calls home. A must have for anyone who loves big mountains, peaceful Aspen groves and the wildlife who live there.

Well-researched and gorgeously illustrated, this book manages to convey its author's enthusiasm for the Southwest's remarkable ruins without sacrificing scientific detail and even skepticism. He takes a well-known subject, Mesa Verde, and let's us see it with new eyes, while illuminating some of the least-well-known and most intriguing sites in the region. Few scholars and fewer tourists venture beyond Mesa Verde intothe obscure corners of the San Juan River valley, but William Ferguson shows how rewarding the trip could be. Above all, it is refreshing to read an enthusiast's book that does not indulge in unsupported speculation about the lives and beliefs of the prehistoric people of the Southwest.

Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Wuptaki are three of the best known of the Indian ruins that dot the landscape in the high desert country of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. To this day it is difficult to comprehend how these Indians thrived in a region of short hot summers, little rain, and poor soil -- and not only fed themselves but left behind spectacular monumental buildings. Adding to the mystery is their sudden abandonment of their major sites in the 1100s and 1200s.

The author surveys the knowledge and theories about the ancient peoples who became the modern day Pueblo Indians. He follows the development of the Anasazi and Mogollon traditions from their beginnings thousands of years ago until the 1700s, after the arrival of the Spaniards. The book is illustrated with more than 100 photos, maps, and charts and 25 sidebars that take up interesting topics such as cannibalism, construction methods, domestic animals, ballcourts, burials, and leadership. The emphasis is on thoroughness as the author briefly describes the findings and gives a hearing to the theories of hundreds of archaeologists and other scholars. The bibliography runs to more than 30 pages.

There is much of environmental determinism here for in the climate of the Southwest small changes in the weather made all the difference in the lives of the inhabitants. Scholars have meticulously reconstructed temperature and precipitation records for the last 2,000 years and the author attempts to correlate the rise and fall of Indian cultures with precipitation and temperature averages.

"Ancient Puebloan Southwest" is probably a bit too dense for the casual reader, but offers those interested in archaeology and the Southwest a thorough and up-to-date account of the Anasazi the Mogollon and the proto-historic Zuni, Hopi, and Rio Grande Pueblos.

Smallchief

From back cover:

"How many times have you seen tracks ahead of you on a beach, muddy forest trail or across a blanket of snow, and wondered what creature made them? This handy, pocket-sized guide helps you name the track maker, with life-size drawings of the animal's or bird's characteristic footprints. Just check for size with the ruler (left), then hold the book beside the mystery imprint and fine the drawing that looks most like it, for a quick identification. Includes 40 to 50 different animals and many birds most common the Rocky Mountains, with information on size, sounds, habitat, diet and patterns of movement."

[Includes Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain National Parks]

"At home in either the latest fashions of the day or the greasy buckskins of a mountain trapper...within four years of first entering Santa Fe he had become a Mexican citizen, married the governor's daughter and been granted the right to control trade in what would someday become western Colorado and eastern Utah." "...the original which was a collection of log buildings with dirt roofs surrounded by a flimsy perimeter fence of wooded pickets." With these descriptions of Antoine Robidoux and Fort Uncompahgre historian and author Ken Reyher sets the stage for a remarkable journey in the history of the pioneer fur trapper Antoine Roibidoux. This is a remarkable book. While the literature is replete with stories of miners and settlers of western Colorado there is scant information on the life and times of a fur trapper that inhabited the area before the moners, ranchers, and settlers. Reyher has corrected this oversight in a historically factual manner that is a delight to read. Robidoux was a most remarkable man. He was a charmer, visionary astute businessman, politician, and accomplished mountain man. He is described as a paradox in that he could mingle with the high society,French or Mexican, of Santa Fe but was equally at home in a pair of greasy buckskings leading a trapping party or playing cards with Ute Indians. He was the first white man to expand trade routes north from Santa Fe, ultimately establishing three commercial trading posts in what is now western Colorado and eastern Utah. Fort Uncompahgre was the first such post established, in 1828. Reyher not only has written an excellent history of Robidoux and his forts be he includes a section on the present day Fort Uncompahgre. The city of Delta, CO, has reconstructed the fort into a living history museum open to the public. This is the only one of Robidoux's three forts to receive such treatment. It is quite a feat considering the exact location of the fort is unknown. It is generally believed by historians that the original fort was located some two miles below the confluence of what is now the Uncompahgre and Gunnison rivers. Even late 20th century excavation work has failed to conslusively locate the site. Many of the artifacts located in such searches could have belonged to mountain men, fur trappers, and indians and discarded at camp sites. Any one could have been part of the original Fort. The book is a must read for those interested in the history of the opening of trade routes in present day western Colorado and eastern Utah and the development of such trade by those true pioneers, mountain men and trappers. The descriptions of daily life in the early 1800's and the impact of the declinging beaver trade are historically factual and, combined withe the fascinating history of Robidoux and his trading posts, make the book required reading and a welcome, and necessary, addition to any well stocked library.

A great book! This has a little of everything: warfare, Mesoamerican interaction, networks and exchange, Fremont and Virgin Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloan), Hohokam, Mogollon, Pacquime; not to mention textiles and flower images, modern material cultural studies and language interaction. A first rate publication that helps in clarifying current issues and ideas about regional interaction in the Southwest. I think serious scholars will refer to this time and again!

A good portion of my younger years were spent with an occasional interaction with Ed Marecak and his wife, Donna. Ed's art is very subtle yet very expressive. His approach to his art -- from where I stand -- was always very unique. My best memory was a pair of my gym shoes "donated" to his high school art class. They were horrible, just threads, and hardly wearable. Ed kept the shoes for his students to draw when they acted up in class...

If you appreciate fine art, and if you want to read about a man who took it to... well, his own level of understanding, get this book. It's a wonderful book about a wonderful man.

Cheers.

One of the best Aspen hiking guides out there for day hikes. We have used it many times, and hope to use it again in the future.

Ms. Frey does a wonderful job of combining short hikes with history, natures curiosities, fishing and general notes of interest in the small Rocky Mountain town of Aspen, Colorado. Visitors and locals alike enjoy this delightful hiking guide. We've made it a gift to our many friends who come to visit in Aspen. It's a great way to share the beauty and magic of the mountains

I've been to Aspen several times for skiing and, like most visitors, have to rely on the trail map for navigation unless I take a lesson and have the benefit of a professional to take me to the best spots for my ability. It's summer now as I write and it's so hot that the flies are on strike but this book already has me thinking about winter because it brings the trail map to life: in place of a green, red, blue, or yellow line on a piece a paper, I know a bit more about the run, its true challenge, and often the story behind the mysterious name. Why are the Dumps on Aspen Mountain called the Dumps? What does AMF, a run at The Cirque at Snowmass, really stand for? Get the book and you'll find out.

While the book is perhaps targeted at the more serious skier, there's plenty for the intermediate as Beidleman describes every run on every mountain (I think) including places where the way-hones wouldn't normally visit, like Buttermilk. The book includes 150 runs that aren't on the trail map...which is nice.

I also like the more accurate rating system than one would find on a trail map. Most resorts fib a little when it comes to blue, green, black, but Beidleman's system, along with frequent cautionary sentences, provides a true sense of the challenge, risks, and dangers. A run might be listed as double black diamond extreme but is it? Is there a run you'd like to try that's more difficult and potentially dangerous than indicated? Is there a way down the Back of Bell that's not as tough as the trail map indicates? Is a run bumped out or steep or both? You'll find out in the book.

It's a pocket size book, as it should be, and the price may seem a touch steep, but most of the book is in four color and the photos are extremely valuable and much more illustrative than a typical trail map; and to me, a trail map is a superb example of top-quality commercial illustration.

If you're an advanced, expert, or advanced intermediate skier, then the book is a must as you'll really get a sense of where you'll find the most fun for your level on the mountain, thus maximizing the efficacy of your VST. If you're a cruiser, then the book will make you want to get better and, at the very least, just get you fired up about getting to the mountain(s). I'm really looking forward to spending some time with this small but powerful tome and it's going to enhance my enjoyment of a place I already really love.

My wife and I have skied at Aspen for years and already knew our way around Ajax, Highlands, and Snowmass. But Neal's book has shown us some trails that we'd missed. It's a convenient size to carry and he adds some good local's stories.