Denver & Rio Grande Official Guide to Cities, Villages and Resorts on the Line of the Denver & Rio Grande R.R. . .

Denver, Col: The Western Publishing Company, 1888. Good. 9½" x 6¼". pp. 286, [4] + folding map measuring 17¾" x 15". Good: front hinge and first two leaves partially detached but holding, three inch tear to top of backstrip; tiny bit of staining to margins of versos of first 17 leaves. Map very good minus with a 2" jagged tear, two tears at intersections, small separation at one fold and misfolded in a couple spots.

A scarce and heavily illustrated directory packed with information on Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. There are entries with information on at least 100 locations, all indexed. Services for each inhabited area follow each description, (truncated) along with over 200 advertisements (with business names indexed). There are over 70 indexed illustrations as well as an additional 20 in the advertisements themselves, nearly all of which show the buildings of the businesses represented. A history of Colorado, laws relating to game, lists of elected officials, and several profiles of prominent businessmen are also included.

The map shows the rail line from Ogden, Utah in the northwest corner, to Santa Fe in the southeast. To the far northeast is Cheyenne, with San Miguel County, New Mexico in the far southeast. It also shows lines under construction, proposed lines and stage routes. In the lower left corner is an inset map showing the line from Denver and Santa Fe to San Francisco

The text makes mention of "Colorado in this year of our Lord 1888 . . ." hence our attempt at date attribution. OCLC locates nine copies over four entries, with publication dates of 1887 and 1888. (Inventory #: 3196)