No comments about Hidden Picture-Perfect Escapes Santa Fe and Taos: Plus the Enchanted Circle.

No comments about Travels in Mexico and California: Comprising a Journal of a Tour from Brazos Santiago, Through Central Mexico, by Way of Monterey, Chihuahua, the Country ... and the River (Essays on the American West).

2 comments about 35 Things to Do & Places to Go When Visiting Las Cruces or Elpaso: (35 Places the Locals Don't Know About).

1. How can I review what I haven't read



2. Made all the difference in our family vacation. Saw things we otherwise would have missed. Very entertaining and informative.

No comments about New Mexico Passport.

4 comments about Benchmark Nevada Road & Recreation Atlas.

1. These are the best maps for understanding what you are viewing while you are traveling. If you want to know what you are looking at while you are driving, these are the maps for you. They are kind of a cross between a topo map, a relief map, and a gas station map.



2. I have lived in Nevada and have traveled extensively throughout its rural areas since the 1980's. Most people don't realize how many "roads" there are in Nevada (1000's) that exist solely as remnants from mining booms, power line access development, ranching, military, and the like. The majority of unpaved roads shown on other atlases are not maintained by the counties they are in.
   
   Now herein lies the magic of a Benchmark atlas. What you see in its pages are the result of extensive, local research and field verification work. The bolded-in-red-dashed routes are indeed well-traveled, and maintained in good condition (albeit a little washboard from time-to-time which is very normal).
   
   Hunting area numbers, phone numbers, and other detailed local information is also provided. The overlaps from section to section are well-buffered, meaning, if you flip a page, there's an above average amount shown from the previous page :)
   
   I love my Benchmark and have used it so much that the cover's stitching staples wore out and the cover came off! I have yet to come across any inaccuracies in the year that I have owned this atlas. KUDOS!!! GREAT JOB!!!



3. This book is good for my intended purpose of seeing what to expect on my planned road trip from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. However the information on Las Vegas is noticeably dated.



4. I bought Benchmark's California and Nevada Atlases for a geology field trip to Death Valley. Part of the field trip was a tour of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the national nuclear waste site, on the Nevada Nuclear Test Range. That tour handed out a map of the Test Range but it had quite a bit less detail than the Benchmark map. The Benchmark map showed not only Yucca Mountain, but also Area 51 (and several runways), site of Lockheed's Skunk Works, once supersecret but no longer (Wikipedia for example), and also the sites of a number of well known nuclear tests (I had earlier noticed that the county containing the nuclear test site (Nye County) is mushroom shaped).
   
   The Benchmark atlases contain several sets of maps, starting with a few that give an overview and set the context of the detailed maps. This is a nice feature, sometimes it is hard to see the bigger picture from only the detailed maps. Also the maps have some overlap, so the edges and corners do not get shortchanged. A latitude/longitude grid could also be very useful if lost but you know your coordinates (if you can call that lost). The shaded relied gives a good feel for the terraine, much better (but less quantitative) than a contour map, and I was able to match the map to the visible scenery to get a good idea of our location while traveling to various field trip points. If you like maps you'll probably like Benchmark maps.

1 comments about America's Ancient Treasures: A Guide to Archeological Sites and Museums in the United States and Canada.

1. America's ancient treasures (1993 edition) is a reprint of a classic first printed back in 1971. It contains a thorough recounting of every major and most minor Native American archaeological sites and museums in North America, and is an excellent resource tool for those interested in a serious exploration into North America's ancient past.

3 comments about California Coast Trails: A Horseback Ride from Mexico to Oregon in 1911.

1. Anyone who appreciates the unspoiled west and california history should find California coast trails by J.Smeaton Chase a pleasant read. Shortly after publishing his diary journals of extensive journeys throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains in Yosemite Trails, Chase embarked on his next adventure on horseback. This trip would take him from Mexico to Oregon along the coastal route of the spacely settled california. Most of the books appeal to me is Chases daily recording of intimate details such as a rare flower or a unique sunset. His daily travels often ended with a campfire on the sand with the ocean waves for a lullabuy. Chases winning personality and knowledge of California history further enhance the book along with frequent references to former events and places of historical significance. California Coast Trails is a trail guide, history book and personal travel diary all in one. You wont regret the read.



2. Be careful reading this book: it may change your life. It changed mine. The book inspired me to retrace Mr. Chase's footsteps, or should I say hoof prints. His book is such a delightful "paseo" (leisurely walk) up the stunningly beautiful California Coast that I found myself unable to resist the temptation to do it myself. Thus, there is another description of Mr. Chase's route, produced more than 82 years later, also available on Amazon. Read Mr. Chase's book. Sit back and enjoy the images and personalities of 1911 that Mr. Chase brings to life. Maybe you, too, will be inspired to take your own paseo.



3. In 1910 J. Smeaton Chase and a painter, Carl Eytel, decided to go by horseback down the coast from Los Angeles. They carried their supplies, rifles for hunting, and a boundless curiosity about the landscape that even then was beginning to change. Far from wilderness, the land had a rural agrarian character. But cars were already starting to appear on the roadways and Chase foresaw the coming of an urban landscape that would replace the small Mexican and Native American pueblos and he wanted to see the land as it once was and would never be again.
   
   The 1910 journey only lasted a few months. Highlights of it included visits to what remained of California's Missions, a day among the Torrey Pines, and exploring the table/mesa ecosystem of San Diego County. One of the leading naturalists of his day, Chase writes thoughtfully on all these topics and published scientific papers on several. But this trip only whetted his passion for a longer journey; one that would stretch from Los Angeles northward all the way to the Oregon border. And in 1911, Chase began that trip, replacing his rifle with a fly rod and small pistol.
   
   Chase's journey through the California coastal region includes lyrical prose about both the landscape and the people who inhabited it. A passionate lover of trees, Chase went out of his way to visit Monterrey Cyprus, Santa Lucia Firs, and of course the Redwoods. Of the latter, he wrote, "They seemed to lack the individual majesty of bearing [found in Sierran Sequoias] and gain their distinction rather from the cummulative effect of their statuesque beauty..." Muir Woods, then only a few years old, was described as "the most beautiful of any preserved enclosure that I have ever seen, and the soft gray day gave them their finest aspect." A repeat visitor to Muir Woods, I find Chase's comments still hold today.
   
   Chase was something of a Jack London socialist, a romantic heavily influenced by Rosseau. He enjoyed the company of all classes of people but like his literary mentors Henry Dana and John Muir, found his true calling in nature. But unlike today's environmentalists, Chase was not anti people and for the most part enjoyed their presence in nature. Old habitations held a special fascination for him. But he was clearly an agrarian at heart and the urban landscape that was gradually spreading along California's coastline concerned him. Writing about Morro Bay, he wistfully predicted, "This pretty place is destined, I think, to be more of note than it is now." Chase was correct, but I think he would have preferred to be wrong. If you want a glimpse of his California, by all means read California Coast Trails. It is one of the best examples of that truly American literary genre, trail literature, that has ever appeared in print.

No comments about New Mexico Guide, 3rd Edition.

2 comments about The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie (Bison Book).

1. I can't recommend this book because its partly or mostly untrue. Pattie, is one is to believe him, traversed nearly every corner of the old West from 1824 to 1830, participated in countless battles with Indians, rescued Mexican maidens, was one of the first Mountain Men to reach California, became a hero when he vaccinated 18,000 Californians against smallpox, explored large parts of the Rocky Mountains, and ended up in a Mexican jail from whence he made his way back to the United States and dictated his story to a journalist.
   
   Pattie tells a good tale and there is an air of authenticity in many of his travels. He probably saw some country out West, and some of his descriptions are no doubt valuable, but it appears he vastly exaggerated his exploits. The problem with reading the book is that you can't be sure what is truth and what is fiction.
   
   Well, telling whoppers was a tradition among the Mountain Men and Pattie seems to have been a master teller of tall tales -- and smart enough not to make them so tall that they are manifestly untrue. There's enough authentic material about the Mountain Men in the 1820s to ignore this book without loss. If you're captivated by Pattie, the editor, Richard Batman, has written "James Pattie's West" which tries to unravel the truth in this story.
   
   Smallchief



2. Indeed, much of this tale is apparently not true. The editor (Richard Batman) makes this clear from the get-go, and points out the most obvious whoppers with plenty of footnotes and clarifications. He also tells you that the publisher, Timothy Flint, admitted to adding some "topographical illustrations," whatever that means. As you read it, you can inherently sense when the authorship changes, since Pattie's writing style seems to involve an excessive use of commas.
   
   So, what is the value of this book? Regardless of historical accuracy, this is still a reprint of a book that came out in 1831. That in itself gives it historical value, whether fact or fiction. The scenery, the sentiments, the lifestyle - they are all authentic to their time, and offer a window to the past from some primary source, whomever that may be. The relationships between the whites and the Indians are typical of any of the "mountain man" books you may choose to read, which may be more true than this. However I found the interactions between the Americans and the Spanish-Mexicans much more revealing and intriguing. The last third of the book, which depicts Pattie's experiences in California (with many events confirmed by other sources), is more personal, and at times heartbreaking. Whether or not he "saved" the population with smallpox vaccine is not half as interesting as his descriptions of the California missions he visited up the coast. As a Californian, I was pleased to read references to the La Brea Tar Pits, and amused to learn that two priests had robbed the St. Buenaventura mission of silver and gold prior to Pattie's arrival.
   
   I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy Mountain Man lore, Southwest/California history, or 19th century "historical" literature. (This book also contains several delightful original illustrations of a somewhat primitive style, reminiscent of Revolutionary Era artwork.)

No comments about The Porthole To Time (Porthole to time series).