Idaho Books

The hikes cover some of the best hiking over a large area.

it encompasses the hikes that every avid hiker must do before or during death.

I have the first edition of this book and it has been an invaluable guide to the incredible hiking in the Northwest. Living in the east and only getting to the west when business or a vacation take me there (for relatively short periods of time) I've always tried to make the most of the time I did have to hike. I have done about 1/3 of the hikes in the book and have yet to be disappointed. I have other, more detailed, hiking books for these areas but I rely on this one for selecting my hikes. I just wish this type of book were available for other areas of the country.

This book of short stories was just the escape from reality I was looking for. I really enjoyed all of the local references.

This is really well-written. The stories are funny, pointed and interesting. You will enjoy it.

I Shot Bigfoot and Other Stories is overall a very good collection of short stories. The stories share one overarching similarity with regard to the locale, McCall, Idaho and the surrounding area. If you've never been, you need to see it, as it's some of the most beautiful country you'll see.

As for the stories they play off of the landscape and folklore of the area and bring these to life.

The books title story, is a very funny and an inventive take on the Bigfoot legend.

The author's writing style moves along quickly with dialogue between the characters. This makes for a quick read. However, in some cases like the Dog Man of Poverty Flats, I felt it went a little too quickly.

The only detractions of the book was the formatting of the paragraph style. In my copy it seemed a little confusing. Also the cover art is a great concept but bad execution. It gets the point across though.

This is the author's first book and hopefully not his last.

enjoy.

This book is a great fun read. The short stories all tie in together. The characters in the stories are colorful. If you enjoy the north west this book is for you...fun, adventure,and folk lour it is all there. A must read.

truly enjoyable, informative and easy to read james angleton was my favorite worth reading for any one interested in idaho history.

The book is an entertaining account of some of Idaho's characters. It is one of those books that you hate to see end.

The author surmises that Idaho has more loners than any other western state, and he celebrates a dozen of them in his book. Whether Idaho has so many hermits because of geography or luck, it is a far richer place because of them!

My husband is from the Twin Falls area and we recently spent a week there. I took this book along with us for ideas on ways to pass our time. It was a great resource! Having grown up in the area, my husband was surprised by how many things were included in the book that he wasn't familiar with. We visited lots of sites that either he'd never heard of or had never bothered to visit. We both had a great time exploring southcentral Idaho with this book as our guide. In fact, I'm going to look for an Off the Beaten Path book for the area I currently live in (Alaska) to see what we're missing here at home.

If you're unfamiliar with Idaho, I would opine that its most outstanding characteristic for the tourist is its clean, clear, white-water wilderness rivers: the Salmon (River of No Return), Snake, Selway, and others. There isn't anyplace in the world that can boast of better and more beautiful float streams.

The guidebook divides Idaho into seven regions and briefy describes interesting places to stay, old-time restaurants, museums and art galleries, annual events, and assorted trivia. Sidebars recount stories of places and people, including Ernest Hemingway, the Nez Perce Indians, and the infamous Ruby Ridge. This guidebook is light and small and well-organized and has all the information you need to find your way to interesting spots around the state, especially if you're the sort of person who's allergic to cute boutiques and cookie-cutter hotels and restaurants. This is the guidebook series that my wife and I carry when we travel in the United States -- but if you're visiting Idaho for the wilderness experience you'll need additional information to what is offered here.

Smallchief

This book is a WONDERFUL resource! I was raised in Idaho, and it contains places even I hadn't heard about. The book details many of Idaho's beauties that the locals normally know about, but a visitor might not notice or be aware of. It isn't the most in-depth place to find information about neat places in idaho, but it is a "must read" for people who want to make their visit to Idaho special and unique.

Terry Johnston writes like a man who was there as events unfolded. He leaves no doubt that he was there--not during the events, but at the locations. Weaving contemporary newspaper articles and original letters throughout the text firmly roots this novel in time and space. This, plus occasional historical footnotes quenches a historian's thirst for authenticity. It made me want to go and visit these places for myself, equipped with Johnton's literary visual aids.

Terry Johnston's "Lay the Mountains Low" is a must for the avid fan of western history. Part of the Plainsmen series, we are not gifted with the rugged Irishman Sheamus Donnegan, as he is on duty miles away trying to quell a different Indian uprising (this makes Johnston's writing less fictionalized)instead we fall in love with numerous characters both Native American and European. This is the second part to a trilogy about the Nez Perce War of 1877, focusing on the drama which occurred after the Battle of White Bird Canyon and culminating with the tragic Big Hole Battle. Johnston takes you to the campsite, the fort, the trail ride, the battle ridge, and makes you consider how you would stand up against the elements, enemy and morality. Without a doubt, this is Johnston's best piece of work and is a must read for all fans of the Great American West. Make special note to read the afterword as Johnston provides information on his fact-finding trips thoroughout the West. Johnston provides valuable information and insight to battle sites, cemeteries, forts and historical road-side stops...again, Johnston gives the reader a seat on the fifty yard line to some of our nation's most famous locations.

As always with Terry, a great book, an excellent way to learn about the history of the American West. If you are looking for a typical shootem up western this is not the book for you. This book is not for the faint hearted, there are few heros here, just a people fighting for their freedom and their lives against impossible odds. There is a lot of pain and and heart break here for both the Nez Perce and the whites, but mostly for the Nez Perce. This book really got to me, it was heart breaking reading what happened to the innocents on both sides. My family,s history goes back over 150 years in the west, so Terry,s books have special meaning for me. Read this book and you will never forget it.

This handsome volume opens with a few pages of introduction about the Wasatch Mountains, followed by forty pages discussing the progress of the Painters of the Wasatch Mountains; an account illustrated in colour with examples of the artists' work which often highlight interesting comparisons. The text is informative accessible and well written in a conversational style. The last thirty pages of the book provide brief individual biographies of the artists.

However the real delight of the book is the nearly two hundred and thirty pages comprising the Portfolio of Images, full colour reproductions, one or occasionally two to a page. The large almost square format of the book allows for good size images without the need to turn the page to accommodate those of landscape proportions; and a few pictures are even reproduced life size. The quality of the images is excellent often revealing the texture of the brush work in the original. Most artists are represented by quite a few examples of their work, they provide for a range of painting styles; the majority of the paintings are in oils, with a few watercolours, and date from around the 1850s to as recently as 2005. In total there are about two hundred and seventy five artworks in colour.

This is a sumptuous work, what an art book should be with the emphasis on the beautifully reproduced paintings and the text kept to a minimum.

A stunning book. Anyone who is a fan of the mountain wilderness cannot help but enjoy viewing this book. It takes you back to the time when 'white eyes' first happened upon these mountains. The delicate color, the wide field, and the land itself breathes life. A treasure.

A big coffee-table book, with exactly the kind of panaromic images you expect. You can while away an afternoon gazing at these cooly complacent views of an idealized West.

Okay, so she's one of my best friends BUT EVEN SO, I never knew she could write this well. Her memory is sharp, her observations hard and clear, and her insights are not for the polite or faint of heart. Koskela's early life in the harsh world of Idaho farming country is told with wit and clarity. It may not be gracious but it is REAL and you will find yourself laughing, tsk, tsking and looking back with a new vision on your own childhood. I've known Alice for over 20 years--she's incapable of telling even the most innocent of white lies and so understandably she has written a book of truths. This will by MY Christmas gift this year!

I thoroughly enjoyed this graceful, sweet, honest and sometimes heart wrenching memoir. As the illustrator, I was honored to be a part of it.

A beautiful intimate story of a young girl growing up in rugged Idaho.This is not a story full of sweetness, but of the tough life small farmers and their family encoutered in their fight for survival. I loved it from beginning to end

This beautifully illustrated book explores the physical and ecological roots of Idaho's civilization by following its longest river from Henry's Fork, through desert landscapes, cutting deep through ancient rock formations flowing out through Hell's Canyon (deepest in North America)... (I may have stole part of this from some other review I read.) If I did I apologize!

An excellent book on the Snake River Plain from pre-historical archeological time through to critical water and people issues that confront not only that area but the world as a whole. The format, design and layout were excellent and the written content moves through beautifully. The pictures and insets greatly enhanced the message of the book.

Snake examines this unique region in southern Idaho from the perspectives of geology, history, anthropology and current politics. Snake combines excellent illustrations, graphics and photos with a very informative text. The book is a must buy for both natives and visitors who want to know more about the region.

For anyone who has ties to the Salmon River this is a must. Gives a person a sense of what life was like on the river. If you're going to float the salmon take it along and relive what life was like for all those spirits that now drift with the waves on the salmon river.

Though K. Deinhardt's main focus in writing Spirits of the Salmon River may have been to give respect to those who lived there, her book offered something different to me, someone not as interested in history as the present. It interested me because I know the author, I know Idaho and I have experienced the Salmon River from taking rafting trips on it. Spirits of the Salmon River deepened my feelings for the River, as it recounted story after story of persons who lead adventurous, brave, hardworking and often short lives there. I was drawn to the stories of the women on the river. Reho Wolfe's story was especially impressive with it's combination of tradegy and success and a spirit that would not be defeated. Ms. Deinhardt offers detailed desciptions of not only what has happened to the people living on the River, but also easy to visualize pictures of the weather, the surroundings, the cabins lived in, the work that was done, family dynamics and challenges. I appreciated the simple, straightforward and well-researched writing that allowed me to experience this part of Idaho history in such an enjoyable way.

Deinhardt writes as a person who has personally climbed, reached, dug and slid through water and mud to uncover not only the graves but the lives of those who came before. Her careful research is apparent as she shares some discrepancies found in various other publications. Whether read cover to cover, or about one individual at a time, it's an interesting take on the brave and somewhat eccentric individuals who chose the Salmon River as their home. Enjoyable and relaxing. It would be a terrific book to take along on a river trip on the Salmon or for all who may have visited the river in the past.

A great book discussing the gold fields in Montana and the difficulties of getting supplies to and from. Great book to read before crossing the Magruder Corridor.

"This Bloody Deed" is a well researched look at Idaho's first murder trial. Hamilton relates the known facts with a novelist's license for imagined dialouge and motivation. While historians may shudder, this makes the book highly readable.

Three thugs from Sheriff Henry Plummer's gang befriend and then murder packer Lloyd Magruder and party as they are crossing the Bitterroot Mountains from Bannack( now western Montana,then Idaho Territory) to Lewiston Idaho. Magruder's true friend Hill Beachy tracks the killers to San Francisco and returns them to Lewiston to face Idaho's first murder trial, if he can keep them from being lynched.

I grew up with this story as a folktale and as good as the narrative is the best parts of the book are Hamilton's asides into everyday life on the Idaho frontier, boom-bust economics of mining and territorial politics.

My only historical quibble is that my family always accepted that the prosecution's chief witness was also a Plummer gang intimate.

A solid picture of the frontier as it probably was.

Ladd Hamilton puts to paper one of the most compelling stories of the old west. His writing keeps you glued to the pages by vividly describing how life was 130 years ago. This murder mystery that takes you from the Bitterroot Mountains of the Idaho territory to the city of San Francisco and back is a must read for all.