Customer Reviews

Big Bend of the Rio Grande: A Guide to the Rocks, Landscape, Geologic History, and Settlers of the Area of Big Bend National Park/Guidebook 7/Maps

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This book does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the Big Bend region. Even those who have experienced the beauty of the region and its people will find this book a handy reference. The author is a former superintendent of Big Bend National Park. As described in the title, the book covers the geology of Big Bend (including an excellent introduction to geological processes for the uninitiated like myself), the history of Big Bend (including the histories of place names and other local legends), and an overview of local vegetation and the native uses of the vegetation by the old curanderos. Included throughout the book are 117 illustrations and black and white photographs. Many of the photographs offer a unique glimpse into the lives of those who settled this rugged country. Also included with the book are five separately printed illustrations, including a 360-degree panorama of The Basin (obviously from days long ago - notice the lack of trees!), and several geological maps. This is definitely the favorite book in my Big Bend library!

This book, along with Smither's CHRONICLES OF THE BIG BEND, are MUST READS for the serious Chisos Mountains area hiker. Along with the historical/geological/botanical/zoological everything elseical information, Maxwell includes a packet of foldout maps. The maps alone are worth the price of the book. Don't worry about the publication dates of the above books, nature works on a time-scale that makes these books timeless to the human reader. Most of the more recent publications can't come close to adding anything new to this information.