The Western Slope towns of Gunnison and Crested Butte are defined by their placement in the Colorado Rockies. Both are located in alpine valleys surrounded by 14,000-foot-high peaks with sparkling mountain-fed streams, and both dominate the Gunnison country, a unique wilderness covering over 4,000 square miles. Beginning over 400 years ago, Native Americans, fur traders, explorers, miners, railroaders, and cattlemen all made a place for themselves in the area. Today Gunnison, Crested Butte, and the Gunnison country remain isolated and tranquil. Recreation, tourism, and cattle ranching now reign supreme as Gunnison and Crested Butte attempt to preserve their distinctly Western heritage.

The Gunnison country, 4,000 square miles of high valleys, heavy snows, deep canyons, and 14,000-foot-high mountains, is one of Colorado's most beautiful regions. Located on the Western Slope of Colorado, the Gunnison country has a long history involving Native Americans, mining, narrow-gauge railroads, ranching, Western State Colorado University, and recreation. The region has also been influenced by nearby Lake City in the San Juan Mountains, Aspen in the Elk Mountains, and towns on the east side of the famed and historic Alpine Railroad Tunnel. Today, the Gunnison country still is beautiful and tranquil, hosting nearly 2,000,000 visitors yearly while remaining much the same as it was over 125 years ago.

"Tomomi Hanamure, a Japanese citizen who loved exploring the rugged wilderness of the American West, was killed on her birthday May 8, 2006. She was stabbed 29 times as she hiked to Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of Grand Canyon. Her killer was an 18-year old Havasupai youth named Randy Redtail Wescogame who had a history of robbing tourists and was addicted to meth. It was the most brutal murder ever recorded in Grand Canyon's history."--Amazon.com.

"The Spaghetti Gang is the delightful memoir of Richard Guerrieri, a coal miner's son who grew up in the rough mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado. It is the story of Italian immigrant people and their lives during the Great Depression and World War II. Crested Butte was a coal town, dominated by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. It was a true American melting pot made up of immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Guerrieri's account of his boyhood is wildly entertaining. His stories feature ranching, coal mining, Catholicism, World War II, hunting, skiing, and many other activities involving a young boy. He recounts the customs of the Italians and other ethnic peoples of Crested Butte who made blood sausage, dandelion wine, and got most of their food from deer, elk, and fish and from spectacular and well cared for gardens.The Spaghetti Gang is filled with the nostalgia of a young boy growing up at a time when Crested Butte families had very little. Readers are treated to vignettes about "strap-on ski's," "no bathing suits," "a horse named SOB," "the dreaded Catechism," and many other hilarious stories.Crested Butte was a microcosm of coal towns in America during the dark days of the Great Depression. In 1952 the Crested Butte coal mine shut down and three years later, the railroad tracks were torn up. Crested Butte's population fell to 300, a near ghost town before its revival as a ski town in 1961. Guerrieri's account of his early life and his family's transition from coal mining in Crested Butte to ranching in Gunnison, Colorado, shows that amidst the economic woes of the time there was fun and adventure to be had. His stories read very well and are brilliantly written. They make up a great picture of days gone by.The Spaghetti Gang tells a unique and heart-warming story of an ethnic coal town in American history. Crested Butte was, and is, a great mountain town with a rich history. The Spaghetti Gang brings it to life."

The Western Slope towns of Gunnison and Crested Butte are defined by their placement in the Colorado Rockies. Both are located in alpine valleys surrounded by 14,000-foot-high peaks with sparkling mountain-fed streams, and both dominate the Gunnison country, a unique wilderness covering over 4,000 square miles. Beginning over 400 years ago, Native Americans, fur traders, explorers, miners, railroaders, and cattlemen all made a place for themselves in the area. Today Gunnison, Crested Butte, and the Gunnison country remain isolated and tranquil. Recreation, tourism, and cattle ranching now reign supreme as Gunnison and Crested Butte attempt to preserve their distinctly Western heritage.