Bonney’s Guide: Jackson’s Hole and Grand Teton National Park, written and published by Orrin H. Bonney and Lorraine G. Bonney, 1309 American Investors Building, Houston 2, Texas, 1961. 144 pages, illustrated, maps. Price $1.95.

The Bonneys, who recently published a mountaineering guide to the Wyoming mountains, have now collaborated to produce a vacationer’s guide to the Teton country of northwestern Wyoming. This compact volume, besides pointing out the scenic features of Jackson Hole and environs, contains a storehouse of historical information, some of which appears here for the first time. Much of this material was obtained from personal interviews with some of the oldtimers still living in the valley. The arrangement of the book, as a series of mile-by-mile descriptions of the roads which lead into and through the valley, unfortunately causes the presentation of much of the historical matter to be somewhat jumbled and incoherent. Nevertheless, vivid accounts of numerous events, from the earliest exploration and settling of the country to the controversy surrounding the formation and subsequent enlargement of Grand Teton National Park, as well as many anecdotes and yarns about the valley’s early residents and outlaws, all provide fascinating reading. The sections of the book which cover Grand Teton National Park contain descriptions and brief climbing histories of all the Teton peaks. The authors’ inclusion of a detailed and often gruesome account of every fatal accident which has occurred in the Tetons hints of cheap sensationalism, however, and can be justified only as a stern warning to the uninitiated. The book is profusely illustrated with photographs, and includes some attractive line drawings by Mignon Linck, as well as several sketch maps. Despite its several faults, this book will be well worthwhile for anyone who visits Jackson Hole, whether for the first time or for the twentieth.

William J. Buckingham