I love the Santa Catalina Mountains (near Tucson Arizona) (see cmiles-outside, a site of mine with information about the Santa Catalina Mountains, or posts on my cmiles-blog about them) and in recent years have become more interested in their history. I am not sure why I put off getting a copy of Paradise Found: The Settlement of the Santa Catalina Mountains by Kathy Alexander (a used copy is quite inexpensive) but I am really glad I eventually did! This book is a quick/fun/interesting/informative read for a fan of the Santa Catalina Mountains - some brilliant details for the Santa Catalina enthusiast:

-1912 Trail Map of the Catalinas -An account from E.L. Vail of traveling the Palisades (Pine Ridge) trail a few years after it was completed in 1912 -The origin of the name of the 'Oracle' mine that the town of Oracle is named after

And of course much more! (I especially appreciated learning the origin of a few more Santa Catalina names!)

Rating: 5 of 5 (although probably no point if you don't love Tucson History and/or the Santa Catalina Mountains) First Read Date: June 2013

Amazon – Paradise Found: The Settlement of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Kathy Alexander

CM