West Geological Rockdocking Books for Travel

[Ray Eklund]

Have you been traveling at 65mph down the interstate highway and saw some interesting scenery? Those of you that have stopped at Twin Falls, Idaho and could not believe your eyes when you crossed the Snake River gorge into town! What the... The first sight of Devil's Tower northwest of Sundance, Wyoming is an image you will never forget. Did a giant bear claw the tower out of bare rock as the Sioux Indian believes? Is Interstate 70 through western Kansas flat? Or did you ever consider turning off the highway and go either south or north to find that Kansas can be... rougher that the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

Please... consider offering those cross country travelers some book titles to explore the wonderful off the beaten path sights the West and Southwestern United States has to offer. Author, Title, Publication Date and an idea of what the book offers.

I have a few books to offer from my library of thousands.

Marius R. Campbell, Guidebook of the Western United States- Part A- The Northern Pacific Route with a side trip to Yellowstone Park, 1916. Describes the geology from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington with 27 maps and 244pp text.

Willis T. Lee, Guidebook of the Western United States- Part B- The Overland Route with a side trip to Yellowstone Park, 1915. Describes the geology from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco, California with 25 maps and 244pp text.

Notice the publication dates on this series run from 1915 to 1933 for travelers on various train routes. Geology, history on the area traveled, about the people, and bits of facts you would never find on a road sign. These are published by the US Geological Survey as bulletins. They are offered from A to F and the first two I have described. Below are short descriptions of the next guidebooks. Remember, you will be on the side roads and seeing what the average person will NEVER SEE. An easy Rockdocking experience!

C: The Santa Fe Route- Kansas City, Missouri to Los Angeles, California with a side trip to the Grand Canyon- 1915

D: The Shasta Route and Coast Line- Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California- 1916

E: The Denver and Rio Grande Western Route- Denver, Colorado (southwest along New Mexico border) to Salt Lake City, Utah- 1922

F: The Southern Pacific Lines- New Orleans, Louisiana to Los Angeles, California- 1933

All can be found in "larger" libraries or university libraries. Most can be found on bookseller sites on the internet. These are the size of a folded sheet of printer paper. Many are being reprinted, but the original printings have the detailed maps and photographs intact.

CANADA: The Canadian Geological Survey did an excellent series of similar tours in the same time frame when the railroads were being built and are excellent and inexpensive for nearly 100 year old copies. And pocket size to add. Geology, history and odd bits of information. These books were for travelers to the Resorts that the railroad was building to accommodate travelers on the new railroad routes just north of the USA border.

The US National Park Service has obscure historical books available.

What is your favorite guide when you are traveling?