List of charter members of the society: v. 1, p. 98-99.

"For more than a century, pilots have been intrigued by the challenges of flight in the highest mountains and the deepest canyons on every continent. Mountain, canyon, and backcountry flying allows pilots to get off the beaten path and enjoy the outdoors. It opens up a whole new world of recreation. Activities include airplane camping, hiking, fishing, and staying at guest lodges or bush camps in areas where there may not be roads or easy access either by land or water. Flying in these enticing environments often entail operations over relatively inaccessible terrain, and necessitates a mindset, discipline, and procedures necessary to operate efficiently and safely in a challenging and sometimes unforgiving environment. Operating over mountains, navigating through canyons, taking off and landing on unimproved, high altitude airstrips in confined areas, and maximizing airplane performance requires specialized skills. The authors and guest writers share information and tips gleaned from more than 150 years and 100,000 hours of collective experience as professional mountain and backcountry pilots and flight instructors. Recreational pilots to mountain flying instructors will find this book useful. Fundamental concepts include preparing for and conducting mountain and canyon flights, airport operations, situational awareness and emergency operations. Analysis of accident scenarios, accounts from the authors' own experiences, and contributions from seasoned backcountry pilots and instructors expand on material detailed in the text. Each chapter includes exercises to help the reader understand and apply the information to their own flying and beautiful illustrations to inspire pilots to seek out these awe-inspiring destinations."--Provided by publisher.

Smoke Jensen is on the trail to Montana to rescue a relative from a range war in this gritty Western adventure by the USA Today bestselling author. Smoke Jensen couldn't have cared less that a range war had erupted in Montana. But his cousin Fae was stuck right in the middle of a hundred-gun showdown that was about to explode in bullets and blood. When Smoke strapped on his Colts and went to Fae's aid, he knew the deck was stacked against him. Even when he was joined by four old friends, it looked like it was going to be his final stand. But if anyone could buck the odds, it was Smoke Jensen, the last mountain man.

5 young men. 32 destroyed police vehicles. 1 spectacular bank robbery. This “cinematic” true crime story transports readers to the scene of one of the most shocking bank heists in U.S. history—a crime that’s almost too wild to be real (The New York Times Book Review). Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily armed young men—led by an apocalyptic born–again Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history, forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama, this Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s, an era of predatory evangelical gurus, doomsday predictions, megachurches, and soaring crime rates, with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all. In this riveting true story, a group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military–grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turns the surrounding towns into war zones. And when it’s over, three are dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter has been forced down from the sky, and thirty–two police vehicles have been completely demolished by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trial shakes the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to plague society today: from the epidemic of post–traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.

"The intent of this Historic Resource Study (HRS) of the Pony Express National Historic Trail is threefold: 1) to provide basic information to assist in the preparation of the trail comprehensive management plan (CMP) and to manage and interpret the trail, 2) to furnish National Park Service (NPS) managers and planners, state and local authorities, private landowners, and cooperating groups with an extensive trail database for action plans and implementation activities for the Pony Express National Historic Trail, and 3) to give to the public a general history of the Central Overland California & Pike's Peak Express Company (C.O.C. & P.P. Express Co.) otherwise known as the Pony Express"--Preface excerpt, page [i].

George Corning Fraser, who lived in the days before automobile travel became a way of life, was an easterner who loved to vacation on horseback in the American Southwest. No mere tourist, he sought out the most remote and forbidding landscapes he could find: the seldom-visited country north of the Grand Canyon, the vast slickrock expanses of the Navajo Reservation, and sites such as Zion Canyon and Capitol Reef before they became national parks. An amateur geologist, Fraser penned his own memorable observations of the region’s landforms and jotted down engaging accounts of local ranchers, sheepherders, and villagers. Frederick H. Swanson has edited Fraser’s voluminous journals into a single volume covering three trips taken from 1914 to 1916. As Fraser wades the bone-chilling waters of the Zion Narrows, crosses the Grand Canyon in midsummer heat, and rides through the trackless forest of the Aquarius Plateau, he conveys impressions of the land that will fascinate any reader who wonders what the canyon country was like before it became a popular tourist destination—and one that will inform historians interested in early accounts of the region. Accompanied by a selection of photographs taken by Fraser and his fellow travelers, Journeys in the Canyon Lands brings to life the Southwest’s breathtaking backcountry on the brink of discovery.

Based on Mark Twain's own years of "variegated vagabonding" in the West, this comic narrative offers a virtual grab-bag of tall tales, folklore, beast fables, travelogue, local color, autobiography, history, geography--even statistics. This new critical edition of Roughing Itsupersedes the 1972 edition published in the Works of Mark Twain over twenty years ago. It is an entirely new undertaking, by a different group of editors. Together they have made extensive use of newly discovered historical and textual materials, particularly biographical documents which illuminate how Mark Twain gave literary shape to his actual experiences in the West. This edition includes the more than 300 illustrations Mark Twain commissioned for his book. It also provides six new maps: two for Nevada in the 1860s and four to help trace the Clemens brothers' cross-country stagecoach route. The editors provide a comprehensive introduction that will supplant all previous accounts of how Mark Twain wrote and revised his second long book. Fully supplemented by the textual apparatus, the edition presents a complete record of Twain's revisions and is sure to become the standard text of Mark Twain's great Western adventure. Editorial work was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and by a generous gift from the L. J. Skaggs and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation.