1 comments about New Mexico's Royal Road: Trade and Travel on the Chihuahua Trail.

1. This book enlightens the reader to major enconimic forces influencing the history of New Mexico while telling the story of the development of the Camino Real through New Mexico and into the United States.

No comments about Where the Old Roads Go: Southwest : Driving the First Federal Highways of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.

No comments about Hernan Cortes (Fact Finders).

1 comments about San Juan & Gulf Islands Best Places: A Destination Guide (1995).

1. Keep this book at the top of your pack. All the information is concise and up date. Even though this book is published in '95 the best places are still there. We refered to it during both our trips and found it a must have. Please have these guys get out to our next destination. They saved us stress and time from where to by dinner to where to sleep they covered it all.

4 comments about Commerce of the Prairies (American Exploration & Travel).

1. Shortly after Mexican Independence interest in establishing trade with Sante Fe, Mexico's most northerly province, became ever more popular. Josiah Gregg was preceded by Mountain Men who explored the area, but he was the first with sufficient education to describe the people, land features and Indians with whom traders would have to deal. His work constitues a PREFACE to other books dealing with the Santa Fe Trail and its growing interest to the United States. Independence, MO, and Fort Smith and Van Buren, AR. - were the northern and southern starting points for Santa Fe respectively. The book is as much a tale of encounters as it is a repository of valuable information. A 'FIRST READ' for persons interested in Santa Fe and the Westward Movement. Another of a variety of fascinating histories of the Southwest.



2. In 1831, on a suggestion from his doctor to travel west to improve his health, Josiah Gregg joined a wagon train of Sante Fe traders. The result is a highly acclaimed first hand narrative of the Sante Fe trade and life on the prairies during the 1830's. Gregg's vivid writing style illustrates the many hardships and adventures of life along the Sante Fe Trail and into Mexico. We read about traveling through barren deserts, inconsistencies of the weather, the always present danger of marauding Indians and Mexicans, the questionable Mexican governmental policies, etc. Being an amateur naturalist (he had several species of plants named after him), Gregg describes geographical landforms, geology, and plant and animal life extremely well. He also gives clear, precise and realistic descriptions of the cultures and customs of both the Indians and native Mexicans from how they dressed, to how they constructed their homes; religious, spiritual and matrimonial beliefs; how food was secured and prepared; theories on future agricultural practices and uses, etc. Gregg was a keen and acute observer of his immediate surroundings which is evident in both his writing style and presentation of the subject. Professor Moorhead's editing is second to none.



3. The full title of this book suggests that it is much more than a dry account of business practices: The Commerce of the Prairies, or the Journal of a Santa Fe Trader, During Eight Expedition Across The Great Western Prairies, and A Residence of Nearly Nine Years in Northern Mexico. Illustrated with maps and engravings. By Josiah Gregg.

   The period was 1831 - 1840. On paper Northern Mexico was an immense holding that loosely included what is today Texas and New Mexico and stretched southward more than 500 miles through the Chihuahuan Desert to the Mexican trading centers of Durango and Chihuahua. Fierce, nomadic Indians prevented the Spanish and Mexicans from settling this vast domain. A large, loosely defined central section of the continent was known simply as Indian territory. American trading caravans departing from Franklin, Missouri did not encounter any settlements, not even ranches, until within 100 miles of Santa Fe. The long route southward from Santa Fe to Durango and Chihuahua was nearly as hazardous.

   Josiah Gregg's narratives make marvelous reading. His style is engaging and his descriptions are accurate. We readers share his love and fascination of this marvelously wild and dangerous territory. I have read very few modern travel narratives as intriguing and well-written as Gregg's writings.

   Despite their constant threat, Gregg is sympathetic to the plains Indians and documents how the behavior of unscrupulous and foolish traders have exacerbated relations with the Indians. He cites unnecessary killings of buffalo by travelers who are overwhelmed by the shear size of the herds; he even admits to doing so himself on occasion.

   He is a man of commerce and tells us much about trade with Mexico. Rampant corruption among the tax collectors, custom officials, and governmental officials is an unavoidable business cost. For remote Santa Fe, Durango, and Chihuahua, American trade is much desired, but Mexicans view the American traders with suspicion. The first American traders (the Pike expedition) were immediately imprisoned for nine years.

   I highly recommend this remarkable, fascinating account of travel along the Santa Fe Trail in the 1830s. I cannot imagine a more intriguing, more engaging narrative than that created by Josiah Gregg.

   This edition of The Commerce of the Prairies was first published in 1926. The editing by Milo Milton Quaife is excellent. The footnotes are interesting and add considerable value. Josiah Gregg's original publication was in two volumes and included extensive, detailed, and accurate observations on flora, fauna, and the native Indians and is often cited by historians. This shortened version by Lakeside Press (now published by University of Nebraska Press) is an ideal introduction to the Santa Fe Trail.




4. I was told this is a "classic" and I agree...This dude wrote down every term, item, description, observation, etc along his trips to Mexico, Santa Fe and St. Louis....Great primary source book to add to your Southwest History collection

No comments about Wheelers Rv Resort and Campground Guide 2002: Guide to All Known Rv Resorts and Campgrounds in the United States, Canada and Mexico (Wheelers Rv Resort and Campground Guide, 2002).

No comments about Off the Beaten Path - New Mexico (Insiders Guide: Off the Beaten Path).

1 comments about Mesoamerica's Ancient Cities.

1. Good points:
   - Lot's of color photographs showing not just architecture, but art as well.
   - Many different sites presented.
   - Enough text (about 10-15%), but not too much.
   
   Disappointments:
   - Thoroughness is sacrificed in favor of including more sites - I would prefer more pictures of each site.
   - Pictures quality is only fair to good. I was very disappointed that colors are washed out (low color saturation) even though the book is printed on heavy matte stock.
   - A majority of the pictures are not aerial, though that doesn't detract much for me.
   - Only recent photos - would have liked to have seen early photos of sites prior to excavation.
   - Some pictures are mislabeled.
   
   Overall, worth checking out of the library or buying used, but probably not worth purchasing new.

No comments about Mexico: Una Vision De Su Paisaje/A Landscape Revisited.

1 comments about Baja Outpost: The Guestbook from Patchen's Cabin (Sunbelt Cultural Heritage Books).

1. Baja Outpost by Marvin and Aletha Patchen and Their Guests

   Out in the high desert of Baja nestled between boulders and boojums, Marvin and Aletha Patchen have a cabin. And they have been gracious enough to open this cabin to friends and travelers they have met in their journeys. Due to its unique location this cabin has truly become a Baja Outpost.

   A guestbook lies in wait for those coming through the door. Some write of what brought them thus far on their journey. Others write of where they hope the road will take them. Some write in the purely in the moment, describing the cabin, the sunsets and the flora. One particular visitor seems to revel in his encounters of the very close kind with the local fauna. But various desert critters don't deter the guests from enjoying the comforts of a place to call home during various adventures in Baja.

   The Patchen's interesting and insightful comments are interspersed with the guest entries of over fifteen years, providing us with a very personal history of place. At the beginning of the book, the cabin seems like a simple refuge, nothing more than four walls, a ceiling and a door with a working lock. But it becomes a richly decorated home with the thoughts and impressions left by its visitors.

   Some of the names are instantly familiar. Some become familiar as people are drawn back again to the little cabin in the middle of nowhere, providing the reader a very personal glimpse into the heart of Baja as seen through many eyes.

   This is a perfect present for readers who long for those dirt roads and smell of sage, for those who travel off the beaten path and know the value of a good road story.