Welcome to "Memoirs of a River-Up the Crystal."
If you have traveled south along Highway 133 from Carbondale, Colorado or north from Hotchkiss and Paonia over McClure Pass, you will love this book of memoirs and stories about people and places in the Crystal River Valley.
If you haven't YET traveled this Colorado Elk Mountain Scenic Highway 133, grab this book before you go! Every place you stop at or see will be even more interesting. And, if you think you’ll never be up this way, this book is the next best thing!
The Crystal River Valley is located between Aspen and Crested Butte. Where their "more civilized" communities have services and conveniences of every nature, Nature is what the Crystal River Valley serves the further “up” south you go...in its most unspoiled to date.
Read old-timers’ stories, maybe even a couple myth-busters along the way, about that "something special" everyone talks about in this valley, starting with a fourth generation-removed Northern Ute elder of the First People or "Nuche"...to a fourth generation pioneer settler, who still lives in the Carbondale house in which he was born.
"Memoirs of a River-Up the Crystal" began as columns in the Crystal Valley Echo, a monthly newspaper serving the Crystal River and Roaring Fork Valleys between Glenwood Springs and Aspen. Readers kept asking for a collection of all the stories. Thank you! This Volume One includes 20 chapters with one chapter about the Ute Indians previously unpublished, and even more information and photographs not published in the original Echo columns.
This book is a collaboration of so many; beginning with Echo publisher, Alyssa Ohnmacht. Our journey together began with the Marble Times, a Marble community/school newsletter and has grown over the past six years to an awesome newspaper called the Crystal Valley Echo, with valley-wide circulation and now, to this book!
We learn in our stories that "not all who wander are lost." Therefore, where a story gives pause to the reader, most likely it is intentional. There are so many incredible coincidences in this special valley that I don't want readers to miss a one!
Caleb Begly of Crystal River Computers got this webpage up and running on the World Wide Web. He is younger than most of my teeshirts but very professional! My most grateful thanks!
I want to mention my primary sponsor, the Crystal River Heritage Association (CRHA). Knowing my longtime desire to honor the history of the elders of this land, they pledged a monthly sponsorship to the fledgling early Echo for the Memoirs column. For over two years, they honored their Mission Statement to "preserve the unique heritage of the Crystal Valley" by supporting both my efforts and the growth of the Echo. My appreciation goes to CRHA members and the Board of Directors.
My greatest thanks goes to those folks who shared herein their memories of this very special place, the Crystal River Valley. I am honored that Clifford Duncan, Northern Ute elder, has shared his thoughts about this, his ancestral land.
Copies of "Memoirs of a River ... Up the Crystal, Volume 1" are available at Carbondale, Redstone and Marble businesses and stores, Amazon.com or call your local bookstore for a copy. 6"X9" Softback, Full-Color cover, cream paper interior, 160 pages with 86 Illustrations and B&W photos.
ISBN# 1442170794
Library of Congress Control Number 2009909891
Retail Price: $18.95 plus tax.
Release date: October 1, 2009
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