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About
Doris B Osterwald
Being a Denver, Colorado native, Doris B. Osterwald was introduced, at a young age, to the infinite variety of natural features of the West, and to its fascinating history. These interests led her to study geology. While working on a MA degree at the University of Wyoming, she met her future husband, also a geologist, Dr. Frank W. Osterwald. The couple coauthored Bulletin 45, Wyoming Mineral Resources for the Geological Survey of Wyoming in 1952.
Doris and Frank shared many related avocations, including Frank’s life-long interest in railroading. Their family enjoyed decades of last runs and special excursion railroading events. On a family outing to ride the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge in 1964, Doris recognized the need for a guidebook combining the railroad history with an explanation of the scenery, geology, and natural history of the route.
It was not easy for her to get established in a male-dominated industry, but she would never give up. In 1966 she went right down to Rio Grande headquarters and introduced herself to the officials, a rather brave move, and they put her picture in the company publication, Green Light. There was one guy in Durango that had the coca-cola franchise that refused to let her book on the train. She fought with him for at least 5 years, but she finally won, and got the summer students that worked the concessions to sell the book and she paid them a little for each book sold. She knew everyone in Durango, and in the 1990’s, the family joked that when she visited, she always had an entourage of locals following her.
Cinders & Smoke, a Mile by Mile Guide® for the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Trip was published in 1965. This highly popular Mile by Mile Guide was followed in 1972 by Narrow Gauge to Cumbres, a Pictorial History of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, (now out of print), and in 1976, Ticket to Toltec, a Mile by Mile Guide for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. In 1989, she completed Rocky Mountain Splendor, a Mile by Mile Guide for Rocky Mountain National Park. In 1990, this book received an award for excellence from the Colorado Connoisseur Magazine. More than 450,000 copies of her guidebooks have been sold through 1990. Beyond the Third Rail with Monte Ballough and his Camera was published in 1994.
Doris has degrees in geology from the University of Denver and the University of Wyoming. Along with other professional positions, she taught geology at the Jefferson County [Colorado] Outdoor Education Program at the Mt. Evans and Windy Peak Camps. She was a member of the Colorado Authors’ League, the Colorado Scientific Society, the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, the National Railway Historical Society, the Denver Posse of Westerners, the National Association of American Pen Women, and the Denver Women’s Press Club.
Two days before her 93rd birthday, Doris passed away March 27, 2014, in the same city she was born, Denver
