Mountain West Books

Glad that Kip Carey kept up the tradition of this informative book! I have had a number of older editions by (Jim Kelly)and now glad to get the new updated version.

This is an amazing book, the true story of Fannie Sperry Steele, a legendary rodeo rider who was raised on a homestead in north-central Montana during the late 1880s. The book chronicles her career in numerous Wild West shows, her remarkable personal life, and what it was like to live in the West at that time.

Fannie's family had very little money and earned extra cash by selling wild horses, which they captured and trained. By the time she was fourteen, Fannie was riding bucking horses to entertain spectators at local gatherings. Soon she was hired to perform in various traveling Wild West shows, where she participated in bronc riding, relay races, and sharpshooting exhibitions. In 1912 she earned the title "Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World."

She was such a good rider that men were afraid to compete against her. Apparently male chauvinism was one of the main obstacles faced by dozens of women who competed in these shows, which were the precursors of today's modern rodeos.

For many years Fannie continued to ride broncs, despite pressure to get married and start raising a family. Eventually she did marry a cowboy who operated a Wild West show (unfortunately, the marriage was somewhat tempestuous), and finally they started a dude ranch in western Montana. She lived there until shortly before her death in 1983.

The book is written in such a smooth, interesting way, it's almost like reading a novel. The writer interviewed Fannie repeatedly and had access to her collection of letters, newspaper clippings, etc., which enabled the author to add a multitude of personal details that bring the story alive. The book includes about a dozen photographs: the primitive homestead where Fannie spent her childhood; Fannie on a bronc at the Calgary Stampede, her long dress flapping and her long braids flying out behind; and Fannie in her seventies, confidently riding one of her prized Paint horses.

Surely almost anyone (especially teenage girls) would be fascinated by this tale of a young woman who knew what she wanted to do with her life, and made it happen, in spite of all the people who kept telling her that it was not possible and not wise. This is one of the most inspiring stories I've read in a long time.

Excellent guidebook for lake tahoe bouldering. The guide is put together amazingly well. I had a super easy time navigating the topo's. The color photos are awesome. With over 40 areas to boulder at, Tahoe is the place to beat the heat. buy this guide for sure.

This book is great, I checked it out at a local bookstore. I just purchased a new boat, and trying to figure out what lakes in NM are wake lakes was impossible until I found this book. I highly reccomend it to anyone who wants a change from Elephant Butte!

The collaborative effort of Ann Patterson (former editor of the Sun Living section in "The Arizona Republic" and Arizona architect and Historic Preservation enthusiast Mark Vinson, Landmark Buildings: Arizona's Architectural Heritage is part of the Arizona Highways "Travel Arizona Collection" of guidebooks. Showcasing distinctive landmark structures from the Hubbell Trading Post, the oldest continuously operated trading post in Navajoland, to the Orpheum Theatre, to the Copper Queen Hotel which preserves memories of the Old West, Landmark Buildings is enjoyable to page through especially for armchair travelers, vacationers, and everyone with a keen interest in the sites of Arizona history. Full-color photographs, extensive descriptions, visiting hours, and directions comprise this enchanting guide.

Gene Amole is THE fatherly/grandfatherly character of all our lives. This book should speak to anyone whose parents came of age during the Greatest Generation. Gene (Frank, as my parents knew him) was the daily columnist for the Denver newspapers for decades. His signature was a one-word opening that certainly summed up the content of his column. Anyone who enjoys Molly Ivins (heck, anyone that reviles Molly, too) would certainly enjoy this collection, as well as Amole's previous books. This is a slice of American life, lived by a great example of an American citizen in his finest hour. A must read for any of us who have parents in their declining years...and written by such a wonderful man. Hunt up Gene's final radio interview on NPR and you'll undertand why you should read this book. Support hospice and get a great read with one purchase.

Chuck Kinder's redneck roots have served him well. Last Mountain Dancer, his "meta-memoir," is taken up with his childhood home of West Virginia. Readers are treated to everything from his adolescent years as a bona fide outlaw, pulling armed robberies with a sociopathic father figure named Morris Hacket; to buying all his dear old mother's crocheted comforters from an "artsy-fartsy artiste type" proprietor of a craft store so that his mother, with months of no sales, wouldn't feel "lower than whale bowels on the bottom of the ocean;" to packing a half-dozen brazed possum sandwiches and long necked Budweisers and driving the West Virginia hills with his sister and brother-in-law; to his fascination with a paranoid West Virginia Elvis impersonator named Jessico White, the last mountain dancer of the title; to an impassioned defense of Sid Hatfield, the fabled coal miner's advocate murdered by West Virginian authorities in 1921. The book is stunning both for its honesty and for the force of his prose. Often, Kinder's most beautifully written prose accompanies descriptions of horrible events or the most painful self-discoveries. For example:

"There was absolutely no private mythology left behind what passed for my personality. Not unlike other foolish, floundering middle-aged men, I didn't believe in a thing that seemed to matter. My life had broken down like an old heap on the highway" (Dancer, p. 139).

And then, some two hundred pages later,
"I had begun to fancy myself as one of those uniquely American types who define themselves primarily in the loss and betrayal of themselves and what they love. For Proust (a somewhat similar European type), the only true paradise was a lost paradise, and love was not fully itself until it was lost, until it became memory, became the stuff of story. At its heart, every story is about a lost world... ." (p. 349).

After much soul searching and confronting of his foibles and doomed hopes, he decides to embark on a journey of self-discovery, aware of creating a new fable for himself and of his inconsistency:

"I was deep into my fable of embarkment. I was sipping ice-cold vodka straight like a seasoned hardboiled ironist and vaguely wondering if my upcoming self-proclaimed voyage of self-discovery would be in truth simply another frivolous fiction of self-invention. Steadfastly true at least to my inconstancy, I sat there in the monastery of myself thinking that the only thing I ever knew for sure was what I made up" (p. 381).

There is much to admire and enjoy in this book, written by the purported Grady Trip of "Wonderboy's" fame. Kinder has written three novels that also provide great literary experiences: "Silver Ghost," "Snakehunter," and "Honeymooners" (about his raucus life with Raymond Carver).

Stephen covers the birth of a gold and silver boom town from the first prospects with a gold pan in a freezing mountain stream to the discovery of silver in "worthless black sands" to the greatest modern mines in the world. He documents the joys and sorrows of the miners and their families, the riches made and lives lost. He covers the details of mining - from individual gold panning and sluicing to two-man candlestick lit tunnels to modern corporate production mines. He describes hand-drilling of rock with doublejack and steel and continues to today's compressed air drills. He documents the use of black powder, dynamite and modern explosives - and the risks and deaths caused by their misuse. He tells of burros, mules and electric haulage trains. He does this all from the viewpoint of someone who has been there and done that. He has prospected in freezing Alaskan streams and done hardrock mining beneath deserts and alpine meadows. Stephen knows mining inside and out - literally. This book is more than a history of one Colorado boom town, it is a history of Western hardrock mining and the men and women who loved, lived and died mining.

Woodland Press LLC / October 2007

Reviewed by Martel Sardina

Genre anthologies are a tough nut to crack. Readers are typically drawn in by the big name authors and expect those to be the only "good" stories in the collection. The bar is set high when names like Monteleone, Waggoner, Nassise and Burke appear on the list of contributors. It is rare to find an anthology where every story in the collection is not only well-written, but also compelling. Legends of the Mountain State is one of the rare cases where every story delivers on both counts.

The collection opens with Tom Monteleone's "Images in Anthracite." Our hero, Cort Fallon, lost his father at the age of ten due to an accident in the Pickman Mine. Years later, he receives a strange letter from a man who claims Cort's childhood home is haunted by the ghost of Cort's father. After much debate with his friend, Kevin, the two decide to investigate the man's claims and find the ghost's reappearance may be connected to General Energy's plan to re-open the Pickman Mine. Now that Cort has learned more about his father's accident and General Energy's plans, what can he do to stop them?

What happens when a detective can't solve a case in time to save lives? In "How The Night Receives Them," Kealan Patrick Burke's detective has been dubbed "The Poet" due to writing a poem about a case that continues to plague him despite the fact the killer is being brought to justice. Burke paints a gut-wrenching portrait of a man consumed by regret.

Editor Michael Knost must have known that for every good detective story there should be a story of equal merit examining the other side of the law. In Legends of the Mountain State, we are given a couple of different glimpses into how the bad guys live. Joseph Nassise's hit man in "Money Well-Earned" is hired to kill a monster, the legendary Mothman. When he learns that the Mothman's touch brings warnings of future evils, he must decide who the real monster is. Bev Vincent plays a game of smoke and mirrors using the legend of "Screaming Jenny" to cover up a crime.

West Virginia as a setting is rich with the necessary elements for weaving ghostly tales. Coal mines, remote farms, and winding mountain roads in small towns combined with people who believe the lore makes for a fantastic backdrop for the collection's adventures to unfold. Those who are unfamiliar with West Virginia may come away from reading this collection wondering which of our states can really call themselves the "most haunted." West Virginia may now be a contender for that title.

Purchase Legends of the Mountain State, edited by Michael Knost.

I bought this book at a bookstore, and after my journey I am so impressed with it I had to write a review. I am very surprised to see there isn't one yet!

This book has everything: the scenic drives, national parks, camping spots, hiking trails, rock climbing areas, mountain biking trails, state parks and forests, discussion on each major town in the Southern Cali - Nevada and Four Corners area (such as place to camp, local coffee shops, the bars with the jam bands)....all this with a special emphasis on the "budget traveler"....and all presented in an organized fashion.

The maps in the book are invaluable. each major downtown city area is mapped well, as are all the national parks.

The sections also recommened hotels and restaurants, but the emphasis is on local hotels rather than chains, and many times the chains are much cheaper. Promoting the local businesses is certainly commendable, but don't commit yourself to their recommendations there unless you feel you have to make advanced reservations.

I spent 8 weeks on the road and all I had was this book and a map of the country to guide me. This book had everything I needed (and more). Thank you, "Let's Go" writers and editors!