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Rocks, Rails and Trails field trip, September 1987. Right to left, Chilton Phoenix, Paul Link and Leigh Gittins. In the background is the Portneuf Range and the Utah and Northern narrow-gauge roadbed south of Inkom.
Paul Link (with hat) and Chilton Phoenix enjoying life and each other. Rocks, Rails and Trails field trip, City of Rocks, September 1987.

Paul Karl Link
 Born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1953. Link was named after his father, Karl Paul Link, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin, who developed the anticoagulent compound Coumadin, from which the drug Dicoumarol and the rat poison Warfarin are synthesized. Paul came to Idaho first in 1976 to start his Ph.D. thesis on the Pocatello Formation. He was lucky to be hired by the Idaho State University Geology Department in 1980. He has a B.S. from Yale University, a B.Sc. Hons. from the University of Adelaide, South Australia and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is presently Professor of Geology and was Department Chair from 1986-1993. He is on the Board of Directors of the Portneuf Greenway Foundation. He and his wife Katie, with canine companions Blue (1980-1996), Rosie and Major Mitchell, live on the Pocatello West Bench, near where the photos on p. 114 and p. 136 were taken.

E. Chilton Phoenix
Phoenix claims to be a native son of Idaho, having been conceived in Pocatello, although born in Portland, Oregon, in 1921. When he was 11, his family moved to Jerome ("The Mother City") and he has lived in Idaho ever since except for military service in World War II and attendance at law school. He was in private practice in Pocatello until he joined the law department of Union Pacific Railroad Company from which he retired after 35 years of service. He has a B.A. from the University of Idaho and a J.D. from Stanford University. He has been active in historical pursuits, being one of the founders of the Bannock County Historical Society, a long-time member of the Oregon-California Trails Association and the first state president of OCTA. He has written and lectured extensively on Idaho history, has taught history at Idaho State University and is a lecturer on historical subjects in Elder hostel programs offered at ISU. He is an adjunct professor in the ISU Sociology Department.
Photos by Dianna Troyer.
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