Club Member Kathy Myrick book talk--The Adventures of Scarlett of Arboles

PHOTOGRAPHER KATHY MYRICK RELEASES BOOK ON  THE DOMINGUEZ-ESCALANTE EXPEDITION OF 1776 DURANGO, CO − It took bold men to ride into a bold land – a land of raging rivers, burning deserts, towering  mountains, and rugged canyons. The land of the Southwest, through which Spanish explorers Francisco Atanasio  Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante traveled in 1776, was not just a place of harsh physical challenges but  also a land of astounding beauty, a place of awe-inspiring landscapes. Theirs was a courageous journey through terra  incognita where no white person had dared to tread before. 

Photographer Kathy Myrick and her Australian Shepherd, Scarlett, documented the 1,700-mile Dominguez-Escalante  Trail for over a decade. Following the original map drawn by expedition cartographer Don Bernardo Miera y  Pacheco and carrying Fray Angelico Chavez’s translation of Father Escalante’s daily journal, Myrick photographed  the mountains, monuments, waterways, wildlife, and wildflowers that the explorers would have seen along the way.  Poetry and prose by diverse Southwest writers and detailed maps amplify her stunning landscape photographs. 

The release of The Adventures of Scarlett of Arboles, 250 Years Later: Photographing the Dominguez-Escalante Trail  of 1776 coincides with the U.S. Semiquincentennial in 2026 and the 250th anniversary of Dominguez and Escalante’s  historic quest to find a route from Santa Fe, NM to Monterey, CA. Their ten-member expedition “in behalf of the  light” was undertaken on July 29, 1776, to expand the Spanish empire in the New World and spread Christianity to  the Native tribes encountered. 

The intrepid explorers crossed into present-day Colorado near Arboles, then moved northwest through Ignacio,  Durango, Hesperus, Mancos, and Dolores before turning east to the San Miguel River and traversing the  Uncompahgre Plateau to the Gunnison River. With invaluable assistance from Native American guides, they made  their way to northwestern Colorado, wandered through barren Utah deserts, crisscrossed northern Arizona rock  canyons, forded the mighty Colorado River near Lees Ferry, and ultimately returned to familiar New Mexico territory  through Hopi and Zuni pueblos. Escalante’s detailed daily journal of the seven-month adventure offers a vivid  window into the aspirations of the first Europeans to explore the American Southwest. Although the explorers did not  reach California, the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition added significantly to the collective geographical knowledge  about the Southwest, describing and mapping thousands of square miles of previously uncharted territory. Their  journey laid the groundwork for future Spanish explorers to establish the Old Spanish Trail a half-century later. 

Recently retired after fifteen years at the helm of the San Juan Symphony, Kathy Myrick enjoyed earlier careers as a  nursing home and hospice administrator in Maryland. With her new-found gift of time, Myrick has fully embraced  her twin passions of photography and writing. Her photographs have graced galleries across the Four Corners area (including her own Fifth Corner Photo Gallery), and her frequent contributions to local magazines testify to her love  for the local community. She previously published A History of Shrewsbury Parish Church, a definitive account of  the 300-year history of the Anglican Church in Maryland (Chesapeake College Press, 1988). She holds B.A. and  M.A. degrees from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. 

Kathy Myrick will host a series of book talks and signings over the next two years as part of the America250  celebration. These events will feature discussions about the book's content and photographs, the challenges of  documenting the trail, and the historical significance of the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition. The first will occur at  3 pm on Sunday, September 15, at Create Art & Tea at 1015 Main Avenue in Durango during September Arts  Month. The event is free, and the public is invited to attend. The Adventures of Scarlett of Arboles, 250 Years Later:  Photographing the Dominguez-Escalante Trail of 1776 is available at Maria’s Bookshop in Durango. 

“Although I was the first woman (with an Aussie) to document the challenging Dominguez-Escalante Trail of 1776,  I have a hunch I won’t be the last,” Myrick forecasted