The Awesome 'Dobie Badlands

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Summary: Another in a long line of wonderful books
Review: Muriel Marshall has done it again. This prolific chronicler of Western Slope history is well known for her histories of Escalante Canyon, Grand Mesa, The Uncompahgre Plateau, and the Gunnison-Uncompahgre river region. She has a well-earned reputation for highly readable, authoritative writing that is unmatched for its clarity and scholarship. Thus, it was with great anticipation that I awaited the arrival of her latest effort, a history of the 'Dobie Badlands. The 'Dobies(locals shun the word "adobe")are found along the base of mountain ranges in such diverse areas as Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, eastern Colorado, the Dakotas and a barren looking patch stretching between Grand Junction and Delta, CO. Casual observers tend to describe the 'Dobie's as a barren, desolate, desert that is truly a "no-mans-land." Ah, but they haven't seen them through the eyes or pen of Marshall. What an eye-opening view it is! True to form, Marshall provides the reader with a wonderful description of the history of the 'Dobies which were seas, fresh water lakes and islands some 100 million years ago. She traces the evolution of the area with its diverse geology, flora, fauna and characters that are every bit as awesome as the 'Dobies themselves.While she does justice to the entire area she favors the area along the Gunnison river in Western Colorado. Here we learn that what some call a wasteland is a beautiful, haunting, mesmerizing "pure abstract art form." What do the 'Dobies look like? Well, that depends... "...like hell, if you listen to herders who have lost sheep in them, truckers who've been mired up to the axle during a thaw..." "...like heaven if you listen to photographers, artists, and rockhounds..." "...like haven to runaways. The 'Dobies are a terrible place to finad a cow or a crook..." Its all here, the stories of the men and women that tried to make a life among the unique features of the 'Dobies. The disappearance of a nine-hole golf course; the raising of peacocks; the railroads attempt to tame the terrain; and Doc Holiday's search for outlaws! The history of the 'Dobies is anything but barren or desolate after reading Marshall's exciting work. It was worth the wait to get this marvelous history of an area much misunderstood. Marshall is to be complemented on a job well done.