Utah Books

Yes, Stegner has a beautiful gift of words. His love for the area is very well described in fun folk lore and historical legends that form Utah's rich heritage and history. Stegner claims to be a historian, giving credit to several other great Utahan and Western historians like Bernard De Voto.

But in his presentation of an attempt to explain the area and its unique people, he conveniently leaves out facts about historical events, like polygamy or tragedies like the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

Stegner is not a member of the church but pretends to be an expert or an authority. This view is misleading and the reader needs to be cautioned to view the book as opinion and satire. Stegner's growing up in the Salt Lake City area, but not being a member of the majority has led to many tensions. His commentary or tensions include his being against the LDS Church organization, which he uses only its nickname, "Mormon," against his love and admiration for what the people in the church have overcome, adjusted to, and have achieved.

Stegner loves the land and unique stories describing the culture, but he is not an authority, knowing everything. He is just one man trying to represent hundreds of thousands, not to mention it was written about 60 years ago, he writes well, but not objectively at all.

This is a collection of stories, which if one know the definition of story knows it isn't always fact, it's stretched. It seems he has taken the most far-fetched or extreme stories to represent a whole of religion and society. The area is unique in many ways, with many tensions in its history. My main point in writing is to point out Stegner's personal bias and tension with the people in the area.

This book is an easy to read collection of essays and stories about the people and places in "Mormon Country". Stegner has one section of the book that deals exclusively with the Mormons and a second section that focuses in on the "Gentiles", which the name the Mormons give to non-Mormons.

This is the fourth book I've read in recent months dealing with Mormonism (others: Jon Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven", Jack Earley's "Prophet of Death", and Fawn Brodie's excellent biography of Joseph Smith, "No Man Knows My History"). I decided to read this book because it was written by Wallace Stegner and because it seemed to me to be a less sensaionalistic and lurid account of Mormon life (both Banner of Heaven and Prophet of Death dealt with Mormonism and violent crime).

I was not dissapointed, although I can't say that I was particularly impressed, either.

This book takes the form of 28 little stories. As you would expect, some are great and some are merely so-so. I felt like the book served as a good survey of "Mormon Country". Stories like "Arcadian Village", which describes the last gasp of Mormon collectivism and "Chief of the Islands of the Scene", which describes the conversion efforts of Walter Gibson in Hawaii, illuminate aspects of Mormon history that had heretofore escaped me.

Because the book itself was written in the 40's, many of the interviews Stegner conducted consisted of "old timers" talking about events from the late 1800's and early 1900's. This gives the book a "living history" quality that is, in my opinion, it's most outstanding attribute.

Stegner is certainly sympathetic to Mormon society. His story "the Fossil Remains of an Idea", which is a genial account of polygamy in Short Creek (now Colorado City), was shocking in its good natured attitude towards polygamy. That is about the ONLY thing which can be said to be "shocking" about this book.

This is a good background resource for readers interested in pursuing self-study of Mormon society.

Prof. Stegner has written an objective and informative book on Mormon ideas and how they are practiced in Utah. Although a non-Mormon, his respect for his subjects has rightfully gained their confidence on many topics. Yet, this is not a "white-wash". Mr. Stegner combined history and contemporary practices to provide a very insightful presentation of this intriguing society.

This book consists of several essays that address various facets of Mormon history and Mormon culture, especially in the West and in Utah, though many of the things Stegner writes about aren't Mormon at all but just take place in predominantly Mormon areas.
The author touches on the interesting Deseret alphabet--a bizarre, phonetic alphabet that Mormon leader Brigham Young tried to get all Mormons to learn--on missing artist-explorer Everett Ruess, on the settlements along the Colorado River, and on the effects Mormon culture had on local Indian tribes.
Stegner seems to really like and admire the Mormons, though he was never one himself, and his book is almost always fair, and at times even loving, to them.
This is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in these parts of the West, particularly in Utah and the Colorado Plateau. It's also well indexed and can be easily used as a reference. It's one of Stegner's best, for sure.

Mormon country idealizes early Mormon society. Much of this book focuses on the settling, sustaining and future of Mormon country. Once the Mormons were settled in the west, the "Gentiles" caused the Mormons hardships and were unwelcome in their towns. According to this book the Gentile was an intruder to the Mormon way of life. The author, Stegner, documents many unsuccessful attempts the gentiles made to settle in the west and over power the Mormons. Not until the ends of the book were any positive things said about Gentiles, some of who were detrimental influences in the west. In the beginning of the book the bias is strongly towards Mormons. As the reading continues it becomes more difficult to pinpoint Stegners bias. He speaks highly of non Mormons and their contribution to the west. I believe he admired the Mormon way of life, but understood that other ways of life exist that are as equally successful.

I believe that Stegners is bias towards Mormon society. It is clear that he esteems their ability to survive, endure and believe. His writing also shows that he understood that it was not only Mormons who settled the region. He speaks with respect about the endeavors of the gentile and the Mormon in different parts of the book. He has the ability to look at an event objectively and the ability to look at it judgmentally. It all depends upon the issue. The overall goal of the book is to show people to the history of Mormon society by exposing the past. Many Mormon authors would not include the Mountain Meadow massacre in their historical writing. The fact that Stegner did shows that he is objective. The book paints a clear picture of early Mormon life through the eyes of the Mormon.

Mormon Country is an opinioned and colorful depiction of the western history. The author was not trained in history, but he enjoyed and studied it. There are many parts of this book that were offensive, judgmental and ignorant. Other parts had beautiful, nonbiased descriptions of places, events and lives. It was difficult to swallow some of the topics discussed, but overall the book was well done. It is important to Utah history because it presents both small and large events to the reader. Because the book was written in 1942 it represents an old world view of the west. It is beneficial to obtain this point of view because it increases our understanding and awareness of the past events. The difficulties suffered by both Mormons and Gentiles were brought to light. Joining the two perspectives allows the reader to walks away with a new, nonbiased perspective of the western frontier.

This book has tons of beta on some of the best canyons around Utah. It gives accurate descriptions on where the canyons are and how to access them. One downside is the lack of GPS coords.

Kelsey has expanded his first book with a ton of additional canyons to be explored. As always, the initial part is informative of gear to bring, strategies for dealing with difficult obstacles (for example, keeper potholes), etc.

But, the text is really compressed and is generally not edited well. In a lot of cases, multiple canyons lumped into the same description, which is a little annoying.

Moreover, Kelsey doesn't use the current ACA rating system, but has developed his own system that is only sort of coherent. Also, many canyons haven't been updated since the last printing. Heaps and Imlay are still stated in the book as the most challenging canyons. Many of the canyons in the book are at least as challenging.

The most irritating thing about the book is Kelsey's refusal to use the common names of the canyons accepted in the Canyoneering community. The result may be some unfortunate souls finding themselves in a Sandtrax-type canyon because it had a different name in the book.

All the complaints aside, however, this is really the biggest and only repository to find descriptions of all these canyons lumped together. For that, we should be thanking (cursing for the added traffic??) Kelsey.

The information we found on the internet for E Fork Leprechaun was much better than the information found in this book. After we completed the E Fork, we re-read the hike description in this book and decided it would have been difficult to even find the canyon had we been using only the book's hike description. We'll use this book for supplemental information, but I would certainly not trust it as a sole source of information going into a canyon. I'm accustomed to good guidebooks which tell you all you need to know to navigate and be as safe as possible on a hike. I expect to be able to photocopy the book pages, get a TOPO and then have enough information to do the hike. After the E Fork, I would not do that with this book, I would gather more information before entering a canyon.

On the bright side, the book is interesting and I enjoyed looking through it. Just don't trust your life to the information contained in it.

The Colorado Plateau is in my backyard and Michael Kelsey's books have helped me unlock the mysteries of the beautiful canyon country within.
If you're a technical canyoneer, no other book comes close to this one in guiding you to the best slot canyons on the Colorado Plateau.
Most 'sour grapes' type of reviews of this book are from folks who've been loathe to reveal what they thought were there personal secrets. Humbug!
I say, "Welcome!" and enjoy...

This book opens up in a clear and descriptive fashion many of the difficult and technical canyons in the colorado plateau. These canyons as described are an underappreciated yet fabulous landscape and I believe represent the very best example of exiting wilderness sport combined with incomparable beauty in the United States. Very helpful when planning trips or deciding which canyon to visit. Of course, as far as technique is concerned, I agree with other readers that his suggestion to use a geological pick hammer to get out of potholes is more than a bit excessive and needlessly destructive. Much better to use small bathooks in existing cracks, do shoulder stands, pack tosses, or to chip small barely noticeable notches with a bolt kit for bathooks if absolutely required. Canyoneering is becoming more popular and I believe Michael should use his considerable influence in this small sport to preserve the fragile areas available and encourage respect for the resource.

I used this, along with resources on the internet, to plan a couple of day hikes to Grand Staircase National Monument last year. It seemed to be a decent guide and helped us pick out a nice hike in Lick Wash. I don't generally use guide books on the hike itself and I always refer to resources on the web as well, so I might not be best person to review this. If you are just trying to decide where to hike and figure out what options you have in the are you are in, I would recommend this book. (The Monument covers a pretty large area - we were staying in Page, AZ, so we stuck to the southermost hikes). I just wish we had more time to hike the area while we were there.

This is an outstanding guide to the huge region encompassed by the GSENM. On a number of earlier trips I had spent a total of at least three weeks backpacking along the Escalante River and its sidecanyons, but had never visited the Grand Staircase or the Kaiparowits Plateau. I just returned from two weeks backpacking and car camping in the latter two regions.

Urmann's book provided an excellent overview of the region. It was sufficiently detailed so that one could make effective use of it to locate various features, but not so detailed that one could not read through it easily to get an overview. (Of course, for backpacking one should alway use topo maps. No guidebook can be that detailed.)

I first read the about the regions with which I am familiar to "calibrate" the book. I found it remarkably accurate. Throughout I found very few errors (one a misspelling, one a mileage along a road). I recommend it highly as the best book from which to learn what is available to see and do in this enormous region.

As a lover of the region, frequent visitor, and avid hiker and photographer, I own several of the guidebooks for the Grand Staircase. After reading the favorable review of this Trail Guide, I ordered the book from Amazon, without ever actually perusing it in advance. The good things about the book are its compact size and introductory chapter for background information. The written directions to the trailheads are also good, but there are major shortcomings in the book, all of which are frustrating when you are actually out in the field trying to find something the book claims to be guiding you toward. There is no index at all in the back of the book, there are not even the simplest trail maps at all, and the descriptions are severely lacking for some of the trails. For example, the information about the hike to the One Hundred-Hand Panel of pictographs on page 47 simply says, "it is possible to hike up to the pictographs...but be sure not to cross the fence near the trailhead...Once the pictograph panel is found..." Those directions are woefully inadequate in directing somebody to find the panels. At other trails, the descriptions are sketchy and very brief in comparison to what other guidebooks have about the same trail. I would recommend Ron Adkison's "Best Easy Day Hikes" and Steve Allen's "Canyoneering" instead of this one.

The bad news:
-- The few maps are woefully inadequate.
-- In this computer age, there is NO EXCUSE to omit an index.
-- Uninspired and thin writeups.
-- No trail summary, listing in one place a table of all the hikes with length, difficulty, elevation change, ... for each.

The good news:
-- This hiking book won't increase hiker density, meaning increased chance of solitude.
-- It is indeed small and portable.

I got this, then ultimately ended up getting the Falcon Guide book instead, which had almost all of the same hikes and was better written/thought out. Still, this is a good book, but the Falcon Guide is better.

Having spent my youth dreaming of boats and time on the ocean, I could not have had a more enjoyable stay with Jim Lane's landlubbing characters. The story represents the essence of the pull of the ocean, a draw that everyone seems to notice, and that many find overpowering. The translation of a phenonmenon with such simplicity, leaves the reader to embrace the concept in his or her own terms. My feeling is that this story has everything to do with the ocean, in direct contrast with the setting in the Great Salt Desert. Many of the author's writing techniques represent a style that will undoubtedly be embraced by today's newer generations of readers. Among the techniques I noticed: a willingness to express opinions about the world (and the characters in the story), references to regional events that give insights about the author and storyline, and finally, the refusal to pigeonhole this novel with a specific type of reader or age group. To any reader, (other than those offended by language used in PG-13 movies!) I would recommend this book, and say that it will give you a taste of the salty sea that you may not have appreciated before.

A friend mentioned this book to me knowing that, as I am originally from Utah, I'm always looking for stories set there. But I just don't get it - the other reviews of this book that is. I was looking forward to this one as something for both myself and my children. However, in reading it I found the prose to be flat and listless - to compare the writing to Tom Robbins is incomprehensible. The writing was trite and the story predictable. And I can, unfortunately, understand why no major publisher picked it up. It's a good idea, but the realization of that idea leaves a lot to be desired. I really wasn't interested in either the characters or whether or not they accomplished their goal, which is really a rather silly goal when you think about it anyway. I hate to start the new year this way, but maybe Mr. Lane should stick to his business in the wilds of Los Angeles instead of writing. I found this a very disappointing experience.

I am always amazed when I come across a novel with a completely original and fascinating plot that makes me wonder how the author ever thought it up. The Wendover Whale has that. I truely enjoyed the book. Aside from the plot, the characters drew me in. It is one of those books that reads so smoothly I'm surprised by how quickly I reach the end. Highly recommended, especially if you like Tom Robbins.

The Wendover Whale is a chance to remember about dreams that don't have to come true, about possibilities and how we choose to approach and subsequently handle situations that are perceived as out of the ordinary. To find the goal of the characters (building a boat in the desert) "sort of silly" as Ms. Taylor said in her review, presents the closed mind of someone who has forgotten the excitement of slipping into a slightly farfetched adventure like those in Harold and the Purple Crayon or the Elmer and the Dragon Series. I was first introduced to the Wendover Whale as a screenplay and although I preferred it in that presentation, I found the adaptation to a novel very pleasing. I do take exception to the simpler elements of copy-editing that seem to have been neglected in this printing. There are quite a few spelling errors and although it is a working part of the story to refer to the action in a cross-tense form, I found a couple of times that it read as if someone had just forgotten to transpose tenses. There are a few Robbins-esque passages that tend to ramble on in abit of a mid-hippie disjointedness, but hidden inside each of these are fine gems of insight. It can be dangerous to approach a piece of fiction with such strong preconceptions that a person can get angry at the author for not writing the book you've decided you wanted to read. Then go write it yourself! If you are not motivated, get yourself a copy of The Wendover Whale instead and embark on a wondeful journey and an entirely pleasurable read!

I think I can best reveal how I felt about The Wendover Whale, by responding to Miss Taylor's review. The only thing I found predictable about the book, was my desire that the young boy would realize his dream, and this desire provided a great deal of suspense when the dangers of failure were imminent. Miss Taylor's comment about "no major publisher picking up the book," puts a human face on the theme of the story. Here is a new writer (Mr. Lane) unable to overcome the obstacles of entering the closed world of publishing, pursuing his own convictions (or dreams) by self-publishing. I was very interested in the many well defined characters; especially the character of the young boy and his relationship to Cap, an old sea salt, and the boy and his father, as well as Cap's relationship with his very intelligent, insightful dog. I found the book meaningful and enjoyable.

I found this to be a great mile-by-mile breakdown of the Green River. I hope that future editions list camping areas. If you're in the Moab area, Tex's Riverways sells them for $20.

This is what you want under the bungies as you paddle down the flat water portions of the Green or the Colorado. I am not a white water guy, but seems like I would want rapid diagrams if I were to do the Westwater or the Cataract, and this book provides none.

There are better maps for the Grand Canyon. This maps doesn't have camps marked on it and no rapid descriptions and limited side hike info.

This guide has detailed, mile by mile account of the most popular river runs of the Canyonland region. It is an excellent map with notations and topographic contour lines. Locations of the major features of the river, rapids, archaeological sites, etc. are shown. Must have if you are planning to float these rivers.

I just took the 1969 edition of this very handy book with me on an 8-day motorized trip down the canyon. Another rafter had this 1991 version, which is even better. I was able to tell where we were at all times -- to know what rapids were ahead, to know how far we'd traveled that day, and to know the names of the side canyons as they passed, among other things. The book's explanation of the Canyon's geology is the most understandable I have seen. Best of all, the book is waterproof, so it was completely accessible throughout the trip.

Utah gives so much, yet, asks for so little. Same with this book. I think they coulda got twelve bucks for it easy.

I have to confess that I've always thought that there were some strange things going on here. Although there is not very much crime in Utah, there are some very unusual crimes. And the mixture of religion and the desert does breed some pretty bizarre offshoots of mainstream churchs, particularly the LDS church, which is still the dominant religion and contributes to the dominant culture, Mormonism. Harris is a former member of the LDS church, and there is some Mormon bashing here, but he really spares no one with his irreverant wit.

Maybe you have to be from Utah to really grasp the truly priceless, unabashed, eccentricities that exist there, but I found this book to be incredibly entertaining and a fascinating insight into Utah's quirks (yes, it's all true). I had the best time with this book in Moab, late night story-telling; I started laughing so hard I cried and could hardly finish what I was saying. Recommended dosage: 1 bottle of wine before reading for optimum results.

A very thin 100 pages of okay anecdotes about Utah. Try to check it out of the local library.

I recommend this book to any and all people who think Utah is a goody-goody whitebred all american boring cookie cutter town. some stories in here made me laugh till i cried. Read this book immediately, even if you don't care a thing about Utah. Trust me, you will!!!

I found this book to be very informative on a factual and personal level as I am one of Hickman's descendants. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the early days of Utah.

Interestingly enough, this book was written by a lady who found out that she was related to Mr. Hickman. This is a man who was a bodyguard for both Joseph Smith as well as Brigham Young. There is the forever question, Were there Danites?" And, if so, "What were they? And, what did they do?" This is a well thought out book. Her report is mostly documentary with personal pursuasions regarding the validity of certain things said by Mr. Hickman in his autobiography. I feel as though the author has a pretty good common sense approach in applying her rearch and explaining her reasons for accepting or rejecting certain statements make by him. I read it as a companion book to "Wild Bills'" autobiography. An excellent read for me.

"Wild Bill" Hickman And The Mormon Frontier is a fascinating biography of William Adams ("Wild Bill") Hickman, by his descendant, Hope A. Hilton. Wild Bill was one of the most notorious figures of the 19th century American frontier. A Mormon (who was eventually excommunicated) married ten wives under the Mormon doctrine of polygamy, and who fathered thirty-five children, served as a spy for church presidents Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and operated as a guerilla of the Utah war. All of this and much, much more, accurately depicts a colorful western figure's life is plainly presented, and makes for a fascinating look at the Old West within the context of the Mormon community in the western frontier that was to eventual form the states of Utah, Idaho, western Nevada, and northern Arizona.

Bill Hickman was one of the most interesting rogues in Mormonism. A self¬styled enforcer for the church, his career is deserving of a high-caliber biography. Unfortunately, "`Wild Bill' Hickman and the Mormon Frontier" is not of high caliber.

Bill Hickman grew up in Missouri and in 1838 affiliated with the Mormon church, quickly becoming a member of the Danite vigilante group that terrorized dissidents. Migrating to Utah, Hickman continued his violent lifestyle, where his activities included, among others, guerilla operations in the 1857-1858 Mormon War. Hickman admitted to the murders of several people, suggesting that he had been taking orders from Brigham Young. When his activities became embarrassing to the church, Hickman engaged in a game of power politics, playing Mormon and government officials against each other. He was successful for a time, but his violence eventually made him persona non grata in both camps. In 1872 he published an expose, "Brigham's Destroying Angel," which implicated the Mormon leadership in his misdeeds. Hickman finally died in 1883 in obscurity near Lander, Wyoming.

Hilton's book has several problems. As one example, there is a disturbing lack of documentation. She declares in the preface that footnotes "can be distracting," and that she "instead tried to provide enough information within the text to allow the reader to locate the appropriate reference in the bibliography" (p. xi). Unfortunately, locating sources is nearly impossible in many cases, especially in instances where it would be most useful.

The author also fails to organize the work into a coherent form. For instance, in a chapter entitled "The RLDS in Utah," less than a full page is devoted to that subject, and the remainder is concerned with other Hickman activities not related to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

But these are minor difficulties compared to central questions left perplexingly unexplored. Hilton's inability to deal with the difficult issue of what was fact and what was fancy in "Brigham's Destroying Angel," despite a promise to do so in the preface, was disappointing. Was it written out of spite? What basis in fact did it have? Additionally, and it is fundamental to considering the career of Hickman, what was his relationship to Brigham Young? Young was clearly aware of Hickman's lawlessness but still used him to carry out dangerous assignments, until Hickman's reputation became so colored that it significantly hurt the church. Hilton does not know or does not care about Young's role in murders and other felonies apparently committed by Hickman. Did Hickman carry out his activities at the direction of the church? The work is unclear on such crucial questions.

"`Wild Bill' Hickman and the Mormon Frontier" is a mildly interesting book, but a full understanding of this man's career awaits additional work. Hickman remains a subject in need of a good critical biography.

Wild Bill Hickman and the Mormon Fronter is an action-packed biography of the author's grandfather that puts together the life of one of Utah's living legends. Not much has been written about Bill Hickman in book-length form. Though a direct descendant of the subject of the book, Hope Hilton remains detached and avoids the glorification syndrome so often seen with family history writing. Bill Hickman led a colorful life, a life that many would consider to be the antithesis of the ideals which are espoused by the Mormon church. Hilton maintained that Hickman "killed more men than he saved." In this biography one learns that Brigham Young may have been responsible for ordering some of the killings allegedly perpetrated by Hickman. Hilton obtained much of her information from Hickman's autobiography Brigham's Destroying Angel, which Hickman wrote following his apostasy from the Mormon church. Therefore, much of his material might be questionable, as his autobiography was written during bitter times. The author takes the reader through every major phase of Hickman's life, from the east to the west coast, and finally ending with Hickman's death, couched in relative obscurity. I would recommend this book to all those who enjoy a touch of rebellion and excitement.

The book contains many good hiking routes, but lacks the kind of detail and descriptive writing about the amazing landscapes (waterfalls, canyons, rivers, prehistoric ruins, cliffs, and other landmarks in general) that you would expect from such an incredible area. I don't know if this is the author's fault or the publisher, but I'm inclined to avoid books from either in the future. Also, like other reviewers have said, the maps are cheesy, and not very useful. DO NOT go on a trip to the area with only this book - you need either a book with much better maps, or even better, a detailed topographical map. If you're looking for a guidebook on this "new" area, I suggest finding another book.

The Falcon Guides are the best source of reading material that I have found for hiking into unfamiliar areas. Their discription, maps and milage/elevation gain graphs are wonderful. There books contain a great deal of information.

On trying to follow the guide to one of the hikes, the Yellow Rock/Box of Paria River, we were fortunate to meet a BLM ranger as we were about to set out. It became clear that we weren't where we thought we were, and had we continued on, would have entered a confusing and unmarked maze of canyons instead of the entrance to the Box. This is the fault of this book - the maps are poorly labeled and confusing, and the directions (which usually start out by referring you back to some other hike, a poor strategy for a guide book) were, in this instance, just plain wrong, giving incorrect mileage to the point where we should have been. The two locator maps at the front of the book are especially bad, the first oriented perpendicular to the other covering the east part of the region, the second one showing the western part. They should be combined into one map across both pages, show the monument and park boundaries and have some kind of legend, along with better labels.
What we ended up using as a reference for the rest of the trip, on which we did four hikes, was, in fact, a place mat from a breakfast place in Escalante, which turned out to be much better organized, concise and accurate. On the front is an easy-to-understand map, clearly labeled, and on the back are brief descriptions of the principal backroads and the hikes along each one. This handy little sheet is actually easily found in most businesses in the area, for free.
Of course, a restaurant placemat doesn't give the level of detail contained in Mr. Adkison's book, which has several useful features, including good categorical summaries for each hike such as elevation gain and loss (including a line graph depicting this), difficulty ratings, hiking time, etc. It was inaccurate in one of those categories for the Yellow Rock hike, stating that no permit was required; the ranger corrected us on this count as well.
If this book were reorganized in the same manner as the place mat, with the good map of the back roads - there are several key ones: The Burr Trail, Hell's Backbone, and Cottonwood Canyon - and then listed the hikes attainable from each one, then it would be a lot more useful.

We used Hiking Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Glen Canyon Region for several hikes this summer and, despite some shortcomings, I would recommend it.
The trail descriptions are pretty realistic and give a good idea of what to expect on the hike. Based on these descriptions we picked our hikes and were never disappointed. The book describes the general character of the terrain, what you can expect to see, how difficult the hike is likely to be, etc., followed by a decent trail description.
Where the book needs improvement are the maps. The maps are OK to get a general idea, but NOT A SUBSTITUTE for proper planning of your trip. First they are a bit simplified (which is OK), second they are sometimes wrong (which can get you into trouble). The map for the Boulder Mail Trail, for example, has an incorrect scale bar which makes the hike appear much shorter than it really is (the text gives the correct information).
However, using this book as the sole information for your hike is not the smartest thing to begin with. In combination with the deLorme (or Benchmark) Utah Atlas and Gazetteer and a series of large scale topographic maps (USGS, Trails Illustrated) we never had any issues finding the trailhead or loosing the trail. So, consider this and similar books as a source of ideas, but do your homework, get the right maps etc. and you'll be fine.

Couldn't put this book down. The writing style allows you to relive a part of American history. I felt like I was there; laughed, cried, felt great empathy for these early Mormon pioneers and the steadfastness of Porter Rockwell. Where can I get Volume 2?

The legend of Orrin Porter Rockwell grows with each telling. Accordingly I have read nearly everything I could find about the man.

I just completed all four volumes of "The Porter Rockwell Chronicles" by Mr. Dewey and found the story well researched and riveting.

However, I had to give the series only 3 stars because every one of the books is riddled with more typos and malapropisms than the bullet holes found in the corpses of Porter Rockwell's alleged victims! Mr. Dewey either needs to tune up his act or at least fire his proofreaders.

Dewey's writing style also continually strays from Rockwell's period to modern expressions like "freaky," "stoned out of his mind," and, my favorite, "Just hypothetically speaking..." It's a well-known fact that Rockwell couldn't read so a scenario with him using words like "hypothetically" was a bit hard to swallow.

Still a great story. If you don't mind chewing through the gristle of the terrible writing then go for it. If not, check out Harold Schindler's excellent biography, "Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder" or Dewey's own excellent biography of Porter Rockwell.

This book captures the spirit and emotion of Rockwell's life better than any others I have read. It not merely details his life, but goes into the background and personality that made him one of the Mormon West's most colorful characters. The only complaint I have with the book is that it relies mostly on diaglogue to carry on with the story. Sometimes this is a bit distracting. However, it remains by far the most excellent (and accurate, from what I have studied) novel on Rockwell's life.

The legend of Orrin Porter Rockwell grows with each telling. Accordingly I have read nearly everything I could find about the man. I just completed all four volumes of "The Porter Rockwell Chronicles" by Mr. Dewey and found the story well researched, historically accurate and totally riveting.

However, I had to give the series only 3 stars because every one of the books is riddled with more typos and malapropisms than the bullet holes found in the corpses of Porter Rockwell's alleged victims! Mr. Dewey either needs to tune up his act or at least fire his proofreaders.

Dewey's writing style also continually strays from Rockwell's period to modern expressions like "freaky," "stoned out of his mind," and, my favorite, "Just hypothetically speaking..." It's a well-known fact that Rockwell couldn't read so a scenario with him using words like "hypothetically" was just a little hard to swallow. I have no problems with creative license but draw the line with expressions that go well beyond period vocabulary.

Still a great story. If you don't mind chewing through the gristle of the terrible writing then go for it. If not, check out Harold Schindler's excellent biography, "Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder" or Dewey's own excellent biography of Porter Rockwell.

THE HORSEMAN

I am pleased to have the opportunity to recommend to all of my family and friends the book entitled Alaska's Women Pilots Contemporary Portraits by Jenifer Fratzke. The book is well written and the author has captured the very essence of the adventures, fears, and obstacles to be overcome by women in the male dominated world of Alaskan Bush Pilots. Stories of the author's own flight experiences and stories dictated to her by the other female pilots portray a vivid picture of truly living the adventure and what it must have been like to take the risks to pave the way for future women pilots.

Thank you, Jenifer for sharing your experiences and those of others with us. I look forward to reading more of your works. N. Gilles

Addendum, December 2, 2007.

I am happy to report that the publisher of this inaccurate book has agreed to withdraw it from publication and to destroy all remaining copies. I consider this to be principled and proper reaction to the circumstances and I want to thank the Utah State University Press leadership for its ethical behavior in this matter.

James Bishop, Peoples Republic Of China.

Alaska's Women Pilots
ISBN 0-87421-583-8
Jenifer Lee Fratzke

On page 34 of that book you will find the following text.

The day I got fired, Jim and I went to lunch. He drank two beers and wanted to go flying with me. I had become only because I had scared the hell out of myself numerous times a pretty good instrument pilot. Jim liked to fly with me because he felt comfortable with my knowledge. But I didn't want to fly with him because he'd been drinking. It was a bad situation. I no longer respected him.
He said, "Yes, you will fly with me."
"I can't deal with your drinking," I said
He said something like, "Well fine, I didn't drink."
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm not calling you anything," I said. "I don't respect you any more."
"You're fired."
"Thank you."

I am the "Jim" of which that passage speaks.

It is entirely false and libelous, charging as it does that I fired Tamar Bailey for refusing to fly with me after I had been drinking.

She was not a current pilot in any aircraft at our airline at the time she was fired. She had opted to become our Operations Manager during that season and had promised that she would not expect to be given a currency ride in the DC 6. As Operations Manager, it was to be her task to coordinate aircraft operations instead of fly. When, at the last moment before our summer workload was to begin, she demanded that she be given a multi-thousand dollar check ride in our line aircraft or she would quit; she was fired. There was no `lunch.' She was fired telephonically.

Legal documents associated and concurrent with her request for unemployment payments will document my statements and may be still obtainable from the State of Alaska.

In any event, the episode was witnessed by a variety of people still available to me and I will accept nothing less than a published, complete retraction and expression of regret if you want to avoid a law suit for liable. All unsold copies of the book must be withdrawn from the market at once. It is inexcusable that the facts in this passage were not checked before publication.

Thanks for a great book of personal experiences! Kudos from another woman who is in a field that has traditionally had few women - computer science. I had never heard about bush pilots; much less women who would brave the cold and isolation.

Besides enjoying for myself, I bought copies for my adventuresome daughters - another example of women who worked for their goals!