232 replies to this topic

[Steve Scearce]

Monkeywrench Gang, Desert Solitaire, The Secret Knowledge of Water, House of Rain, The Way Out, In Search of the Old Ones, Sandstone Spine, Comb Ridge and its People, A Hiking Guide to Cedar Mesa, Cowboys and Cave Dwellers, Canyon Country Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau, Technical Slot Canyon Guide to the Colorado Plateau, Hiking and Exploring Utah's San Rafael Swell, and Under the Banner of Heaven... off the top of my head. Obvious focus on SE Utah, my nearby playground!

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Since several people have mentioned John McPhee I would recommend picking up his entire collection, Annals of the Former World, which includes Basin and Range, In Suspect Terrain, Rising from the Plains, Assembling California,and Crossing the Craton.

Another Good one is History of the Sierra Nevadaby Francis P. Farquhar.

Sand County Almanac is a must read in my opinion as is Cadillac Desert

Cort

Great list of books here!

Anybody interested in following up on Cort's suggestion of Cadillac Desert and the water wars should read Water and Power.

[MarkBC]

When I looked up "Water and Power" on Amazon I found a number of related (in one way or another) books, including:
A Land Between: Owens Valley, California by Rebecca Fish Ewan

Has anyone here read this book?
It seems like something that I should have...may have...


Mostly unrelated, but BTW: I always think of the movie, "Chinatown" (one of my all-time favorites), whenever I hear about LADWP and water-politics.

[ntsqd]

Since I see that no one has mentioned it yet, one that immediately comes to mind is "Deep Enough, A working stiff in the Western Mine Camps"; Frank A. Crampton.

[ski3pin]

The list is growing, thanks everyone!

My additions will move a little south now to the Colorado River mystery of Glen and Bessie Hyde

http://www.amazon.co...95017910&sr=1-1

[chnlisle]

Here's a 9 minute segment from Burn's National Parks series on the Hydes.
http://www.pbs.org/n...eople/visitors/

[Argonaut20]

For those with an interest in prehistory, try "1491" by Charles C. Mann. In the southwest, "Chaco Meridian" by S. Lekson is great reading for those who wander the Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Hovenweep, Gila Cliff Dwellings route. For a view of what the 1800's were like for a fur trapper "Journal of a Trapper" by Osborne Russell, "We Pointed Them North" by E. C. Abbott for the cowpuncher side of life.

Howard Bryan took down verbal histories from old timers in New Mexico and published several books with excerpts from the stories. Clear Light Press is the publisher. A couple of titles are "Robbers, Rogues, and Ruffians" and "True Tales of the American Southwest".

[MarkBC]

In the historical/exploration genre, I enjoyed this book about John C. Fremont's expeditions (1842 - 1854) that covered much of the West:
Fremont: Explorer for a Restless Nation by Ferol Egan

There are plenty of other books about Fremont, but this is the only one I've read. At the time I'd relatively-recently discovered "Oregon's Outback" (southeastern Oregon), so I was particularly intrigued by the description of Fremont's second expedition (1843-44) that went through Oregon, including central/southern Oregon: he named Winter Rim and Summer Lake (there's a sign/plaque/display there commemorating his expedition).
It was Fremont who first coined the term "Great Basin" to describe (more-or-less) what we call that area between the Sierras and Rockies.
And as a native Californian, I liked that his multiple trips through that state visited places I know there, too. (I had a high school teacher who quoted a saying: "John Fremont's campfires are now the cities of California"...or something like that.)

From that book linked above, here's a map showing Fremont's expeditions:




BTW: I'm not a Fremont promoter...he wasn't a great guy in general and definitely not in modern sensibilities, but still important -- and I recommend the read.

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

For those with an interest in prehistory, try "1491" by Charles C. Mann. In the southwest, "Chaco Meridian" by S. Lekson is great reading for those who wander the Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Hovenweep, Gila Cliff Dwellings route.

Both of these are good reads!

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

In the historical/exploration genre, I enjoyed this book about John C. Fremont's expeditions (1842 - 1854) that covered much of the West:
Fremont: Explorer for a Restless Nation by Ferol Egan

From that book linked above, here's a map showing Fremont's expeditions:

Yes, this is an interesting book on Fremont and his time. And, Mark, four of Fremont's five expeditions went through my now hometown, Pueblo, CO.