Book Notices

Canyon Spirits: Beauty and Power in the Ancestral Puebloan World.

Photographs by John L. Ninnemann, essays by Stephen H. Lekson and J McKim Malville (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. xii + 113 pp Paper, $24.95.)

Canyon S pir its cont ains a l arge num ber of beaut iful photog raphs taken by award-winning photog rapher John C. Ninnemann. The images show the beauty of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon and other histor ic sites. Archaeolog ist Stephen Lekson and astrophysicist J McKim Malville provide backg round into Puebloan architecture, science, and their way of life.

Exploing with Lewis and Clark: The 1804 Journal of Charles Floyd.

Edited by James A. Holmberg. (Nor man: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004. xiv + 98 pp. $45.00.)

Sergeant Charles Floyd was born in eighteenth century Kentucky and has the distinction of being a hand picked member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He was also the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die en route Before his death, Floyd kept a journal detailing the expedition, which is reprinted in this installment of the American Exploration and Travel Series. In this book, a facsimile copy of each page of Floyd’s journal is juxtaposed with a printed copy, and the editor has supplied background information and explanator y footnotes

Folding Paper Cranes: An Atomic Memoir

By Leonard Bird. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2005. xvi + 152 pp Paper, $14.95.)

A myriad of works have been written regarding the twin atomic blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II and laid waste to entire cities. Far less is known of a similar detonation in 1957 above the Yucca Flats in Nevada—and what became of those affected by the 58,300 kilocuries of radioactive iodine that it spewed into the atmosphere

Leonard Bird was one of many exposed to radiation at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s. This is his memoir—and a courageous strike at nuclear proliferation. Among of her insights, Bird brings to the fore a fact incomprehensible to most Americans today: no matter where you live in the continental United States, you may have been exposed to nuclear poisons In the words of Bird, “we are all downwinders .” In addition to these stunning revelations, Bird meticulously outlines the trail of death left by gover nmental atomic tests—a trail that passes over tens of thousands of American veterans—and in the process he makes peace with the past.

Forged in Fire: Essays by Idaho Writers.

Edited by Mar y Clear man Blew and Phil Druker (Nor man: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. 261 pp Paper, $16.95.)

Earth, air, water, and fire are four elements that, according to ancient Greek thinker , make up the entire composition of the world. Having written an anthology on water, Dr Mar y Blew now teams up with fellow teacher and writer Phil Druker to produce a second anthology on fire Written by native Idahoans, whose state is constantly threatened by wildfire, Forged in Fire presents that most basic “element” in all of its for ms: as a destroyer, as an entertainment, as a protection, as a sustainer of life, and as a link with man’s pimitive past. From fighting blazing flames run rampant across the forest to saving a baby bur ned at home, from taming fire in a university laboratory to building a simple campfire, Blew and Duker’s anthology explores the human response to fire—how it “warms us, frightens us, entertains us, ” according to the book’s introduction—at the same time examining subsequent environmental renewal and rejuvenation.

Fort Bowie, Arizona: Combat Post of the Southwest, 1858-1894.

By Douglas C McChristian. (Nor man: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. x + 357 pp $32.95.)

For t Bowie was founded in 1862, during the middle of the Civil War The for t, which is in present-day Arizona, was at the center of a great deal of conflict between U.S. troops and American Indians. Peace agreements with Cochise, an Apache chief , and Geronimo were made at For t Bowie In his book, a for ty-year history of the fort, McChristian describes these events as well as details of the westward expansion of the United States.

Heart Petals: The Personal Co respondence of David Oman McKay to Emma Ray McKay.

Edited by Mary Jane Woodger. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2005. xvi + 200 pp $21.95.)

The sixty-four letters David O McKay wrote to Emma Ray span a period of thirty-five years from July 1, 1898, to November 16, 1932, and exude the love and respect that the Mormon church leader held for his wife of sixty-nine year s. Obviously not all the letter s that McKay wrote to his wife were preser ved, but there are sufficient to reveal the character of a husband who lived by example the counsel he gave other s. The letter s cover their courtship, the two year s McKay spent as a missionary in Scotland from 1897 to 1899, McKay’s letter to O.H. Riggs asking pe mission to marry his daughter and the father’s response to his daughter, letters w itten during a trip to Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Samoa in 1921, and other letters from a sprinkling of North American cities and towns in the Inter mountain West. The editor provides a useful introduction, epilogue, and detailed notes to enhance the book.

Illustrated Emigrants’ Guide to the Historic Sites Along the Hastings/Mormon Trail

For t Br idger to the Salt Lake Valley. By John Eldredge (Salt Lake City: TrailBuff .com Press, 2005. xiii + 178 pp Cloth, $30.00; Paper $25.00.)

This modern-day trail guide is heavily illustrated with historic and contemporary photographs and maps for today’s trail visitor s to the overland trail from Fort Bridger to the Salt Lake Valley. The trail guide includes brief contemporary descriptions of dozens of significant geographical features and historic sites on this once heavily traveled route to the Salt Lake Valley.