3 comments about Gem Trails of New Mexico.

1. This book is awful unless you really know what you are looking for, and have a good sense of geology. Just as an example, the author provides information on "candy rock" rhyolite near Truth or Consequences. If you take the directions in the book, you will end up at the end of a torn up road and a wash, with no real clue as to where you should go from there. I took several backroads which required a heavy-duty 4WD, and finally found some rhyolite. This book would be much more useful if the maps and directions were up to date, and if every description of a gem/mineral had a picture of the site you are supposed to be looking for, and a picture of the mineral in question. Don't buy this book if you are a novice, it will only discourage you.



2. I have used this book for several trips and have found the directions clear. I am a fairly new collector yet I have found all but 2 sites Most of the sites are eazy to get to and highly productive



3. This is an excellent first-choice book for people who are new to gem collecting and/or rockhounding. It's one of a series that cover many different states. It's well arranged and easy to use - and small enough to keep in the glove compartment of your car.

No comments about New Mexico: Voices in an Ancient Landscape.

1 comments about Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail (American Exploration and Travel Series).

1. Matt Field, a middling actor down on his luck, sickly, rejected twice by two different women when he proposed marriage, decided in 1839 to take a trip to Santa Fe with one of the trading caravans headed to that city from Independence, Missouri. Accompanied by a few friends, he steamboated from St. Louis to Independence, where in July he joined a small (18 men) caravan and set out across the plains. Going through Council Grove on to Bent's Fort, he continued over Raton Pass after which he left the main caravan and followed a trail to Taos and then down to Santa Fe. Thoroughly enjoying his stay in Santa Fe, but fearing a winter crossing of the plains, he left the capital late in September, took the Cimarron Cutoff, and made it back to Independence by the last day in October.
   
   Fortunately for posterity, Field kept a journal of his trip, which is included here; he was also later hired by the New Orleans Picayune to write a number of articles based on his travels and experiences (they also are included here and make up the main portion of the book). A budding poet as well as an actor, Field turned his outward-bound journal into a long epic poem (the return leg remained in typical diary form). Though his poetic skills are not very good, this poem remains a unique document in the annals of western literature. The newspaper articles are another matter; they are superbly written and fascinating to read. The articles were meant to entertain readers, and hearsay and embellishment abound, but their bases are in fact and in what Field experienced. Everything seemed to be worthy of his attention and subsequent relating, from sights along the trail to humorous anecdotes related to him by others he met along the way. There is the obligatory grizzly bear story and thunderstorm-on-the-prairie story, but also more personal items such as a funeral in Taos and a wedding in Santa Fe. The articles ran for two years in the Picayune and as they still do today must have brought much enthusiasm to their first readers. The trade along the Santa Fe Trail was in decline by 1839, and to have Field's first-hand impressions of what it was like then is remarkable. It's among the half-dozen most important original works regarding the trail and the trade and the people who were involved with both, and it's a delight to read. Highly recommended.

1 comments about Remembering: A Guide to New Mexico Cemeteries, Monuments and Memorials.

1. I'm probably partial because I wrote this book but there's some helpful information in it about interesting places to see in New Mexico. And NO, the book is not about death and dying. Enjoy!

No comments about Fodor's Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque, 2nd Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

No comments about Rand McNally Albuquerque/Santa Fe/Taos: Streetfinder (USA StreetFinder Atlas).

No comments about The State Parks of New Mexico (Coyote Books).

1 comments about Sweet Medicine: Sites of Indian Massacres, Battlefields, and Treaties.

1. I recently bought this book for myself on-line. I had not seen the book in real life but I was not disappointed. The photographs are stunning. They are all black and white and bring an erie reality to how I pictured a lot of the places shown. I have been reading a lot of Native American history and it is nice to have photos of a lot of the places I have read about. The narratives are well written, although a little general in nature. Overall - a good coffee-table type book.

No comments about New Mexico: A New Guide to the Colorful State.

No comments about Insiders' Guide to Santa Fe, 3rd (Insiders' Guide Series).