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Big Bend

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free. We offer a mix of guidebooks, maps, field guides, novels and books on art, architecture, history, nature and culture.

Essential Reading

Item EXUSW193. Buy these 4 items as a set for $60 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
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Falcon Guide, Hiking Big Bend

Falcon Guide, Hiking Big Bend

by Laurence Parent

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 184 PAGES

A practical guide to the hiking trails of Big Bend National Park, a 1,200-square mile tract of public land that sprawls across West Texas. With maps and black-and-white photographs. (USW85, $14.95)

Exploring the Big Bend Country

Exploring the Big Bend Country

by Peter Koch

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2007
  • PAPER

Photographer-naturalist Peter Koch first visited the new Big Bend National Park in 1945 and ended up staying for the rest of his life. This fascinating blend of firsthand adventures, natural history and personal musings creates an unforgettable portrait of both Koch and the Big Bend region he so loved. (SWU231, $19.95)

Naturalist's Big Bend, An Introduction to the Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles

Naturalist's Big Bend, An Introduction to the Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles

by Roland H. Wauer

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 149 PAGES

Commonly encountered plants and animals of Big Bend. (USW82, $15.95)

Big Bend National Park Map

Big Bend National Park Map

by Trails Illustrated

  • MAP

This full-color topographic map of Big Bend at a scale of 1:1000,000 is printed on waterproof paper and includes information on Big Bend's major features. (USW91, $11.95)

 

The Big Bend, A History of the Last Texas Frontier


by Ron C. Tyler

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 286 PAGES

A history of West Texas and Big Bend from Spanish exploration through pioneer days and the establishment of the national park. (USW90, $15.95)

The Spanish Frontier in North America


by David Weber

  • HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 579 PAGES

The definitive history of the Spanish colonial period in America. (NAM01, $30.00)

The Story of Big Bend National Park

The Story of Big Bend National Park


by John R. Jameson

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 196 PAGES

A short history of Big Bend National Park, covering the political and economic development of the park. (TEX43, $19.95)

Big Bend, A Homesteader's Story

Big Bend, A Homesteader's Story


by J. Oscar Langford | Fred Gipson

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1981
  • PAPER
  • 159 PAGES

First published in the 1950s, this is one man's chronicle of life along the Rio Grande in the first half of the 20th-century. Short and simply told, it's also a nice introduction to the landscapes of Big Bend National Park. (TEX44, $19.95)

Chronicles of the Big Bend, A Photographic Memoir of Life on the Border


by W. D. Smithers | Kenneth B. Ragsdale

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • HARD COVER
  • 160 PAGES

Smithers captures the spirit of the Big Bend's frontier years of the early 20th century in this photographic portrait. (TEX54, $29.95)

For All Seasons, A Big Bend Journal

For All Seasons, A Big Bend Journal


by Roland H. Wauer | Nancy McGowan

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 248 PAGES

These diary entries, compiled over 30 years, chronicle a year in Big Bend National Park. Wauer is the former chief naturalist at the park. (USW89, $25.00)

I'll Gather My Geese


by Hallie Crawford Stillwell

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1991
  • HARD COVER
  • 153 PAGES

Stillwell details the difficulties and adventure of life on a Big Bend ranch circa 1916 in this plainly told memoir. (TEX55, $19.95)

Lizards on the Mantel, Burros at the Door: A Big Bend Memoir

Lizards on the Mantel, Burros at the Door: A Big Bend Memoir


by Etta Koch | June Cooper Price

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 172 PAGES

A memoir drawn from the journals and letters of Etta Koch and her daughter, June Cooper Price, about city dwellers who settle in Big Bend during the 1940s. It is a tale of modern pioneer living, full of anecdote, as well as descriptions of the land and its inhabitants (USW111, $21.95)

Stray Tales of the Big Bend


by Elton Miles | Bill Wright

  • LITERATURE
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 188 PAGES

Miles evokes Indian, Mexican and Anglo traditions that converge in this area in this collection of tales. (TEX53, $17.95)

The Best of the West, An Anthology of Classic Writing from the American West

The Best of the West, An Anthology of Classic Writing from the American West


by Tony Hillerman

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 528 PAGES

A campfire collection of unforgettable portraits of the West, this anthology takes in travelers, homesteaders, Navajos, government officials, pioneers and authors as diverse as Meriwether Lewis, John Steinbeck and Edward Abbey. (USW87, $18.99)

Desert Solitaire

Desert Solitaire


by Edward Abbey

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 303 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

One of the great works on the value of the desert, eloquent and laugh-out-loud funny. Although Abbey writes specifically about his experiences as a ranger at Arches National Park outside Moab, Utah, his message is universal. (DES02, $7.99)

Land of the Desert Sun: Texas' Big Bend Country

Land of the Desert Sun: Texas' Big Bend Country


by D. Gentry Steele

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 152 PAGES

The evocative black-and-white photographs of this book capture the scale and magnificence of the desert landscapes of Big Bend. (USW84, $19.95)

Roadside Geology, Texas


by Darwin Spearing

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

The geology of Texas as seen through the car window. (TEX51, $24.00)

A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians

A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians


by Robert Stebbins

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 533 PAGES

The definitive field guide, with a special section on Baja's endemic species. (FG08, $22.00)

Birds of Texas

Birds of Texas


by Peterson Field Guides

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

The standard guide to the birds of Texas in the Peterson series, featuring color plates of each species. (USW92, $23.00)

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America


by David Sibley

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 474 PAGES

A compact, geographically specific version of the Sibley Guide with all-new range maps, the same glorious illustrations and expanded, extremely valuable descriptions of each bird. (USW418, $19.95)

The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds


by Brush Freeman | Mark W. Lockwood

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 261 PAGES

This annotated listing of 623 species by the Texas Ornithological Society includes range maps and a section of color photographs. (TEX80, $24.95)

Wildflowers of Texas


by Geyata Ajilvsgi

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2003
  • HARD COVER
  • 544 PAGES

A field guide to 378 common wildflowers. (TEX29, $19.95)

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