Uncompahgre

by Muriel Marshall

Hardly anybody living out of sight of it knows anything about the Uncompahgre though it is one of the largest in the West - ad no wonder wit ha formidable name like that! The mountain preserves its anonymity by keeping a low profile, stretching so long (about a hundred miles) that its two-mile height is unnoticeable, lying so flat (like a pencil mark on the horizon) that it manages to look not only unrugged , but positively uninteresting. This camouflage conceals a welter of canyon-slashed, fault-walled terrain; weird geology - streams that run the wrong way and one that runs both ways; vast views and intimate glimpses down forest aisles; fascinating history in cowboy stories, pioneer ventures, outlaw escapades, gold and uranium and dinosaur digs, feud shoot-outs, and Indian humor - for instance those Tabeguache Utes who forced a couple of cowmen to get down on all fours and eat the grass they were appropriating for their cattle. If you have time and youth enough to hike, this book will direct you toward scores of such intriguing places as Sowbelly Ridge, Nasty Park, and Tongue of Starvation. If not, these pages take you along the easy, rim-top road running from end to end of the Uncompahgre crest; and as you travel, whether by auto or armchair, will bring you the stories of the places you look out upon from your roadway in the sky. Swift moving, light and casual in style, the book is nevertheless based on careful research. Photography, liberally illustrating the narrative, is by the author. with 65 photos.

211 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000