The people from Missouri hope to go to Texas which they think is a land of freedom and the fullfilment of their dreams. But first they have to conquer the many hazards including, ragging rivers, indians, violent thunderstorms, etc. But Mr. Compton finds a way. a great read.

This book is one of the best textbooks on Chicano studies that has come out in a long time. Joe Taylor is a natural storyteller and I am hoping that his next book is an anthology of short stories on the San Luis Valley life experience. Joe Taylor has lived the life of a descendant of the sturdy pioneers that settled that area. Theses people were to far from Mexico and never included as part of America ,created their own culture,language and customs. Priscilla Salazar

If you love hiking in Colorado,this is your book,well written by a guy who lives to hike and ski Colorado

The photographs are stunning. The text is enlightening. Did I mention, the photographs are stunning.

This is actually more like a pamphlet than a book. It gives very detailed directions for driving the loop and tells you what you are looking at as you are driving by. Information includes the name of mines (with a little history) or old buildings along the road as well as the mountain peaks off in the distance. We left ours at home on our last trip and bought another one in Colorado.

For those only mildly interested in snakes, lizards, frogs and other 'creeping things', this book will change your life's direction forever! The first edition of this book was a treat: a field guide to the herpetofauna of Colorado, complete with photos, descriptions and distribution maps. I was highly pleased with it, and looking forward to the release of the second edition (due out in 1998, I think). The wait was worth it! This new edition contains not only the photos, some breathtaking in their beauty and clarity, and distribution maps, etc, but also pretty much everything one would ever desire to know about herpetofauna in the Southwest. This book now contains chapters on biogeography, examining all the Colorado habitats, conservation status and legislation, human interactions, viewing methods, and each Colorado species has its own and very thorough entry. As a professional herpetologist, this book is invaluable to me wherever I happen to be, Colorado or no. As a complete amateur, this book would open up a mysterious world! It's too heavy for a field guide, that's why there's those terrible Audubon things (although Patterson is good), but terribly useful for when you get home again. Buy this book, now!

"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 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.

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

This book is great if you are looking for basic information on any ghost town or "live" town in Colorado. With it's county-by-county format, it is always easy to find the information that you might be looking for, and it offers great little pieces of information for every imaginable location that has existed or still does in Colorado.