Dirk Van Hart

Old Forty-four, a Historical and Geological Excursion over New Mexico's Old Route 44 Dirk Van Hart

This reader-friendly exploration along what was once New Mexico State Highway 44, now redesignated the southern part of federal highway US-550, melds both the human and geologic history along the major transportation corridor connecting the Rio Grande Valley in central New Mexico with the San Juan River Valley in the far northwestern part of the state. Numerous illustrations portray the region's geology in a form intelligible and interesting to the non-geologist. The basic understanding of the landscape thus provides the scaffolding to support the stories of the interesting people who figure in the history along ''Old 44.'' The book aims to provide a view of the highway and its environs in an entirely new way and to make history and geology seem a natural and necessary pairing.