This is a thoroughly revised edition of the Historical Atlas of Colorado, which was coauthored by Tom Noel and published in 1994. Chock-full of the best and latest information on Colorado, this new edition features thirty new chapters, updated text, more than 100 color maps and 100 color photos, and a best-of listing of Colorado authors and books, as well as a guide to hundreds of tourist attractions. Colorado received its name (Spanish for ""red"") after much debate and many possibilities, including Idaho (an ""Indian"" name meaning ""gem of the mountains"" later discovered to be a fabrication) and Yampa (Ute for ""bear""). Noel includes other little-known but significant facts about the state, from its status as first state in the Union to elect women to its legislature, to its controversial ""highest state"" designation, elevated by the 2013 legalization of recreational cannabis. Noel and cartographer Carol Zuber-Mallison map and describe Colorado's spectacular geography and its fascinating past. The book's eight parts survey natural Colorado, from rivers and mountains to dinosaurs and mammals; history, from prehistoric peoples to twenty-first-century Color-oddities; mining and manufacturing, from the gold rush to alternative energy sources; agriculture, including wineries and brewpubs; transportation, from stagecoach lines to light rail; modern Colorado, from the New Deal to the present (including politics, history, and information on lynchings, executions, and prisons); recreation, covering not only hiking and skiing but also literary locales and Colorado in the movies; and tourism, encompassing historic landmarks, museums, and even cemeteries. In short, this book has information - and surprises - that anyone interested in Colorado will relish.

For twenty years the "Historical Atlas of Texas" stood as a trusted resource for students and aficionados of the state. Now this key reference has been thoroughly updated and expanded--and even rechristened. "Texas: A Historical Atlas" more accurately reflects the Lone Star State at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Its 86 entries feature 175 newly designed maps--more than twice the number in the original volume--illustrating the most significant aspects of the state's history, geography, and current affairs.

The heart of the book is its wealth of historical information. Sections devoted to indigenous peoples of Texas and its exploration and settlement offer more than 45 entries with visual depictions of everything from the routes of Spanish explorers to empresario grants to cattle trails. In another 31 articles, coverage of modern and contemporary Texas takes in hurricanes and highways, power plants and population trends.

Practically everything about this atlas is new. All of the essays have been updated to reflect recent scholarship, while more than 30 appear for the first time, addressing such subjects as the Texas Declaration of Independence, early roads, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Texas-Oklahoma boundary disputes, and the tideland oil controversy. A dozen new entries for "Contemporary Texas" alone chart aspects of industry, agriculture, and minority demographics. Nearly all of the expanded essays are accompanied by multiple maps--everyone in full color.

The most comprehensive, state-of-the-art work of its kind, "Texas: A Historical Atlas" is more than just a reference. It is a striking visual introduction to the Lone Star State.