Colorado Books

My Autistic son enjoyed hearing a chapter read out of this every night and could easily remember what had happened before. It's a great way to learn about the history of our United States.

From book's back cover:

"The Cripple Creek gold rush of 1891 turned Colorado citizens - farmers, shopkeepers, bartenders, barbers, and blacksmiths - into overnight millionaires and set off a hard rock mining operation that is still going today. Cripple Creek Bonanza is a colorful history of the rowdy, boisterous days of the late nineteenth century gold rush.

The saga starts with the first discovery in 1878 by a reluctant cowboy, "Crazy Bob" Womack, and traces his 12-year struggle to mine the mother lode. Vintage photographs help tell the story of a sleepy rural town affected by the tremendous change - wealth, redlight districts, saloons and dance halls, uncertainties, mistrust, difficulties, and risk - that follows such a "strike it rich" discovery."

A neat book giving details of the early area difficult to find elsewhere. Jan has a great writing style that's informative and easy to read and her book contains many vintage photos with views I have not previously seen. I just wish there was more! Nice meeting you at the Monarch!

Richard Courson,
Victor Colorado

I spent four years on the Western Slope of Colorado involved in one way or another with some of the wonderful literary talent in the area. If there is one thing I learned it was that when Western Reflection Publishing Company of Ouray, Colorado published a book it was usually worth looking at. This one is no exception. In fact, the reader of this book gets not only a well-edited book but one written by a highly talented Western slope author: kind of a two for one deal. Glen Hinshaw spent thirty-four years as a Colorado wildlife officer specializing in the San Juan Mountains and southwestern Colorado. For most of this time he was "on the ground" working out of Creede, CO. to preserve and protect the wildlife heritage that most people associate with Colorado and too many take for granted. Crusaders for Wildlife is a highly readable history of the near demise of many of Colorado's wild animals just a hundred years ago and the mostly unknown efforts of a band of dedicated crusaders that toiled to preserve and return the wildlife heritage for generations to come. This is not your usual history book. It is better. To be sure, there is an abundance of well-researched, well-written histories of the fish and game that make the San Juan Mountains truly a national treasure. You will learn of the stewardship of the land and wildlife by the Ute Indians and exploitation by early settlers. You will learn some of the complex issues that confront wildlife officers as they struggle to balance the needs of wildlife with the changing demands and expectations of a growing populace. The effects of logging, grazing, and roads on wildlife is examined in a balanced manner and the age-old question of the possibility of Grizzlies in the San Juan's is addressed. You will also learn about Whirling disease which is threatening Colorado's legendary fishing reputation and the reasons behind setting limits on Elk and Deer kills. Yes, its all here. If you are a hunter, fisher or simply have had the opportunity to visit the incomparable San Juan Mountains and want to know about the history of the game and fish in the area, this is the book for you. Hinshaw has a knack of writing in such a manner that you feel you are riding along side of him as he patrols the mountains he so obviously loves. It's like sitting at home with an old friend visiting about wildlife and mountains and other memories that matter. We are indebted to Hinshaw for a superb, readable history of an area truly blessed to have attracted the attention of these Crusaders for Wildlife. This one is worth the reader's time.

A Cry In The Wilderness is not, and was not meant to be a graphic crime scene account of the Texas Seven, but is more of a biographical account of the life of one man that was doomed to failure from the start. In his direct and conversational manner, Joseph will take you through his life, introducing you to the friends and family that molded him from his youngest years, until the time of his incarceration in the Connally Unit of TX. While a history of abuse is never an excuse for the commission of crime, it does demonstrate how some culpability should be borne by those who commit this abuse on children and leaves one to wonder what if things had been different. A great read for those interested in criminal psychology, child psychology, or non-sensational accounts of human behavior.

My story "Ho Ho Hold On" is in this collection and it's just one of about 50 pieces that share the joy of the holiday season. This book is perfect to place on the night table of your guest room this time of year. Leave it lay around just about anywhere for quick little doses of holiday joy. Enjoy!

This book is a definate must for anyone interested in Cutthroat trout. Not the cooking and eating of , or the fishing for, but the trout themselves. It is a complete and detailed look at all known or possible subspecies of the Cutthroat trout from the Coastal species to Lahontan cutthroat to lesser known species such as the Paiute cutthroat.

The book is divided into 15 chapters, thirteen of which cover the various subspecies. Information on their native range, morphology, life history, current status, as well as their management (or mismanagement as the case may be) is included in each chapter. The first two chapters include an overview of the species as a whole, evolution, and prehistoric distributions. There is also a forward by Dr. Trout himself, Robert Behnke in which he gives his blessing to the book and adds much credibility to the information within.

One of the finest things about the book is its readability. Trotter is a fisherman turned biologist and the text reflects this by being unassuming yet very informative. I gave the book a 9 only because it suffers from a slight case of outdatedness as it was published in 1987. Much knowledge has been gained on the subject since, but the book is still a very important overview of Cutthroat trout ecology and noone who professes to understand salmonids should be caught without having read it.

I might add that Pat Trotter is currently working in the Seattle area as a salmonid ecology consultant. I have heard him speak and highly recomend him as a benefactor of the often neglected Cutthroat trout.

This work provides information that is detailed and well presented. Many historical volumes deal with one or two issues while Mr. Abruzzi has defined settlement, ecology, and development of the Little Colorado Basin and included detailed analyses of the contributing factors. Anyone interested in the history or ecology of the area will find here a reference that eclipses other books on the subject.

My mother and my sister are both visually impaired. I learned a great deal of what they've faced by reading this book.

Dancing With Principle Hanya Holm in Colorado
240 pages, December 2001, Univ Press of Colorado; ISBN:0870816446
by Claudia Gitelman
Fascinated by her own work with Hanya Holm in Colorado, both as a student and as one of Holm's assistants, Gitelman examined archives held by the Holm family and interviewed more than fifty of Holm's students, associates, and observers of the program. Describing the birth, constant renewal, and lasting legacy of an institution that has been overlooked in studies of American dance culture, Dancing With Principle will appeal to dance lovers, dance specialists, historians, and students.