“Every rock has a history,” says Ellen Morris Bishop in the prologue of her impressive new book, “In Search of Ancient Oregon – A Geological and Natural History” (Timber Press, 288 pages, hard cover, $39.95).

Bishop illustrates the book with 219 color photos, as well as a map, geologic timeline and four color drawings. The photos are striking and Bishop likes large-format cameras.

She doesn’t write down, but is so skillful in her presentation that the most amateur of geologists can understand what she says. A glossary is helpful and so is the detailed index.

Oregon has never seen a book quite like this. It is a book to be paged through admiring the photos, then read slowly, and finally placed in your bookcase as a reference. Bishop’s work will be around for a long time.

Bishop is well-known in Eastern Oregon. She taught at Eastern Oregon University and published articles and photos in several newspapers. Bishop holds a doctorate in geology from Oregon State University, and has also taught at Marylhurst, Lewis and Clark and other schools. Her research helped define Oregon’s exotic terrains, including the Baker terrain and the terrains of the Blue Mountains, the oldest rocks in Oregon.

The oldest known rock in Oregon “is a Devonian limestone that rises above sagebrush and bunchgrass near Suplee,” says the caption to a Bishop photo, that shows the rock.

With a dog

Finding an acceptable place to stay when traveling with your best friend can be a challenge. Lizann Dunegan helps out with her new book, “Canine Oregon-Where to Stay and Play With Your Dog” (Fulcrum Publishing, 268 pages, soft cover, $17.95).

Dunegan, a veterinary technologist, lives in Portland with her two border collies, so she writes from experience. Her research has made traveling with a dog much easier.

The book describes 150 hiking trails, dog-friendly accommodations and restaurants in all parts of Oregon, teaching your dog traveling etiquette, canine first-aid, and has checklists of what to bring on your adventures.

This publisher offers a similar book on Colorado, and will have one on Washington in the fall of 2004.

Looking back

“Expect annoyance, discomfort and some hardships,” passengers were warned about stagecoach trips. You can read about the experiences in Grover C. Meek’s “Stagecoach Days” (Bear Creek Press, 28 pages, soft cover, $5.95).

The little book, first published in the Wallowa Sun in 1926, comprises recollections of liveryman Henry McElroy, who worked on the old run between Elgin and Joseph, a nine-hour, 50-mile ride.

Cramped quarters, hard seats, jolting ride: Well, it sounds like some old pickup, doesn’t it?