Gulick, Howard E.

Civil engineer who spent much of his free time travelling about Baja California and, later, Nayarit, Mexico. His observations resulted in two publications: LOWER CALIFORNIAN GUIDEBOOK (1956) and NAYARIT, MEXICO, A TRAVELER'S GUIDEBOOK ... (1965).

Biography

Howard Gulick was born in Visalia, California, on August 25, 1911. In 1920 he moved with his parents to Los Angeles and later, in 1922, to Glendale, California. Gulick graduated from Glendale High School in 1929 and from the California Institute of Technology in 1934 with a bachelor's degree in engineering.

From 1935 to 1972 Gulick worked for the Public Service Department of the City of Glendale as a civil engineer in the water and electrical utility department. During World War II (September 1942-January 1946), he served in the Air Force and was stationed at Yuma, Arizona. Apart from his duties as post engineer and purchasing officer, Gulick spent his free time practicing Spanish, exploring the border and developed an interest in the desert.

In 1950, he made his first long trip into Baja California, traveling as far south as Loreto in a new Jeep station wagon. Gulick continued to spend his vacations traveling the peninsula (except 1958) until 1961. In 1964, he recalled, "besides merely covering roads, I studied and looked for old trails, missions, ranches, etc. Along with all this, detailed notes of road mileages enabled me to plot the roads on a base map. During this period most long weekends were spent down there [often in the company of Faustino Perez of Ensenada], and frequently two-day weekends also."

Peter Gerhard, a historian, proposed that they collaborate on a guidebook to Baja California which would incorporate Gulick's notes for the road log portion. In 1956, the first printing of the LOWER CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK appeared at a time when popular interest in the peninsula was increasing. Gulick conceived of this guidebook "as a volume which would not only help the traveler find his way to hitherto unmapped roads, but would describe, from personal observation, the area and points of interest." Popular among peninsular travelers, the LOWER CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK was reissued in three updated editions before a fifth revised edition, entitled the BAJA CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK (1975) was published. Walt Wheelock replaced Peter Gerhard as co-author.

Between 1962 and 1964, Gulick shifted his focus to the state of Nayarit, Mexico, and, in 1965, published NAYARIT, MEXICO; A TRAVELER'S GUIDEBOOK TO THIS HISTORIC AND SCENIC STATE OF MEXICO'S WEST COAST, AND ITS CAPITAL, THE CITY OF TEPIC. This work was the first English-language guidebook to Nayarit.