Starting as a trickle in the Rocky Mountains, the Eagle River emerges in a glacial valley, cuts through a spectacular gorge near Red Cliff, and then creates the broad flood plain of the Eagle River Valley. At Dotsero, the river joins the mighty Colorado River. As long as humans have settled along the river, they have depended on it for their livelihood, trapping beaver for hats, mining gold and silver, collecting water for locomotive engines and channeling it for crops and ranching, harvesting ice for food preservation, and, most recently, converting water into snow with modern machines. Today the Eagle River Valley is the backbone of two of the greatest ski areas in the world, Vail and Beaver Creek. Sparkling through the ancient riverbed, the Eagle River continues its course to this day, flowing through the same valley that drew pioneers here in the 19th century. Title: Chronicler of Eagle County honored Author: Kathy Heicher Publisher: Vail Daily Date: 4/26/09 During her 40 years in the Eagle Valley, Lake Creek resident Shirley Welch has prowled historic graveyards and hiked through old mining camps. A few years ago, while volunteering for a hospice association, she started helping patients write their "living histories." She has also done a bit of fiction writing. When a national publishing company wanted to produce a local history book about the Eagle River Valley, it found Welch. She spent last fall buried in the Eagle County Historical Society's photo archives. Welch sorted through hundreds of images, seeking the right photos to reveal the history of the valley. The images she selected range from Camp Hale down to Dotsero. The resulting book, "The Eagle River Valley," is part of Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series. Available at local libraries and for purchase at various local outlets, the book is a little treasure for this valley where local history books tend to be scarce. Welch was at first reluctant to take on the book project. The publishers had a short timeline, and she was concerned that gathering photos would involve a lot of knocking on doors. "When I found out the historical society had over 1,000 photos, I knew I could go ahead," she said. (The photos can be accessed at the Eagle Library, or through the library district's Web site, www.evld.org.) Welch divided the selected images by geographic area. Detailed captions and Welch's short narratives help tell the story. The "Eagle River Valley Book" is just one of the reasons that Welch was chosen as this year's recipient of the Nimon-Walker award. The library shelves also contain a couple of manuscripts that Welch helped people complete. She worked with 92-year-old Robert Maloit on his memoir. Maloit's father was the superintendent of the New Jersey Zinc mine at Gilman for 43 years. "I offered to type it for him if it was not more than 200 pages. He sent 111 pages -- "hand written," she remembered, with a laugh. She also worked closely with the late Frank Doll on his memoir. She visited Doll weekly for three months and taped their talks about his grandfather and father's ranches in the Gypsum Creek Valley. "Frank had an exceptionally sharp memory, and he knew how to tell a story," Welch said. Even as the "Eagle River Valley" book has sold 1,200 copies, Welch is continuing to document local history. Most recently, she's been working with Squaw Creek residents Sam and Betty Carter to capture their stories. Locals can look forward to future works by Welch on local bookshelves. Kathy Heicher is a freelance writer who is a long-time valley resident. Author Shirley Welch has collaborated with the Eagle County Historical Society to select some of the most notable images from its extensive photographic archives. These photographs date back to the 1800s and provide a colorful picture of the pioneer mountain community. A longtime resident of the valley, Welch also writes fiction and living histories for Mountain Hospice patients. Used Book in Good Condition