Valley of Shining Stone: The Story of Abiquiu embarks on a captivating journey north by northwest from historic Santa Fe, tracing the meandering path that leads to Abiquiu (ah-be-cue’), Ghost Ranch, and the enchanting Valley of Shining Stone, also known as el Valle de la Piedra Lumbre. These mythical names evoke the essence of a place immortalized in the iconic paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe.

While O’Keeffe’s artistic vision immortalized the magic of sandstone cliffs and turquoise skies, this narrative unveils a tapestry of tales beyond her life and death. Reading like a compelling novel, the book delves into legends rooted in the ancient folds of time, akin to the North America’s oldest dinosaur bones concealed beneath the valley floor. Pueblo Indians, stewards of the land for generations, share the stage with Utes, Navajos, Jicarilla Apaches, Hispanos, and Anglos—lives intertwined yet distinctly separate.

At the heart of these stories lies the chronicle of Ghost Ranch itself, a living testament to the vanishing ideals of the Old West, where horses, cowboys, and vast open spaces once epitomized an era. Encounter a virtual Who’s Who of visitors, from luminaries like Willa Cather, Ansel Adams, and Charles Lindbergh to World War II scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his atomic bomb research colleagues in nearby Los Alamos. As the narrative unfolds through the twentieth century, witness the struggles to preserve the valley’s pristine beauty against the encroachment of land development and burgeoning tourism.

Just as the Piedra Lumbre landscape has captivated wayfarers for centuries, the stories embedded within these pages weave a spell of their own. A must-read for travelers, a source of pure pleasure for history enthusiasts and general readers alike, this book serves as a magic carpet to a land steeped in mystique: Abiquiu, Ghost Ranch, the Valley of Shining Stone.

REVIEWS

From Library Journal

This setting northwest of Santa Fe for numerous of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings was her part-time home for years. O’Keeffe found the spectacular rock formations and rugged solitude a welcome contrast to life with photographer Alfred Stieglitz in New York City. Poling-Kempes, author of Southwest-related fiction (Canyon of Remembering, Texas Tech Univ., 1996) and nonfiction (The Harvey Girls, Paragon House, 1989), presents a detailed account of the region from prehistory through the present, a large portion of which concerns skirmishes among Native, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures. The story picks up in the 1900s when conservationist and forester Arthur Pack established the Ghost Ranch, a dude ranch visited by a variety of worthies including O’Keeffe. Most interesting are the accounts by several of the guests and workers gathered as oral histories that illustrate this highly romanticized Western lifestyle. The first half of the book will likely appeal to historians and others interested in the Southwest because of the level of detail, while the second half should prove popular to fans of O’Keeffe and those around her.?Tim J. Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, Wash.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A freelance writer’s acute, compelling history of one of America’s more endangered landscapes. . . . Digging deeply into the history of a place, Poling-Kempes mines a rich vein of lore and myth.” —Kirkus Review

“Most interesting are the accounts by several of the [Ghost Ranch] guests and workers gathered as oral histories that illustrate this highly romanticized Western lifestyle.” —Library Journal

“Gracefully written, with a sharp eye for the kind of interesting detail that gies historical facts the breath of life. . . . Poling-Kempes captures the depth of O’Keeffe’s feeling for the Abiquiu region, and the power this landscape has exercised over others.” —Albuquerque Journal

From the Inside Flap

North by northwest from old Santa Fe is the winding road to Abiquiu (ah-be-cue’), Ghost Ranch, and el Valle de la Piedra Lumbre, the Valley of Shining Stone: mythical names in a near-mythical place, captured for the ages in the famous paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. O’Keeffe saw the magic of sandstone cliffs and turquoise skies, but her life and death here are only part of the story. Reading almost like a novel, this book spills over with other legends buried deep in time, just as some of North America’s oldest dinosaur bones lie hidden beneath the valley floor. Here are the stories of Pueblo Indians who have claimed this land for generations. Here, too, are Utes, Navajos, Jicarilla Apaches, Hispanos, and Anglos-many lives tangled together, yet also separate and distinct. Underlying these stories is the saga of Ghost Ranch itself, a last living vestige of the Old West ideal of horses, cowboys, and wide-open spaces. Readers will meet a virtual Who’s Who of visitors from “dude ranch” days, ranging from such luminaries as Willa Cather, Ansel Adams, and Charles Lindbergh to World War II scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his colleagues, who were working on the top-secret atomic bomb in nearby Los Alamos. Moving on through the twentieth century, the book describes struggles to preserve the valley’s wild beauty in the face of land development and increased tourism. Just as the Piedra Lumbre landscape has captivated countless wayfarers over hundreds of years, so its stories cast their own spell. Indispensable for travelers, pure pleasure for history buffs and general readers, these pages are a magic carpet to a magic land: Abiquiu, Ghost Ranch, the Valley of Shining Stone.