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Summary
Summary
'There never was anybody who had adventures as well as Miss Bird' SPECTATOR
'Venture deep into the Colorado wilderness, and you will find her long-lasting legacy in the community of people choosing to live a life without limits' RUBY WAX, GUARDIAN
'This book is an unputdownable record of a truly astounding journey' DERVLA MURPHY, IRISH TIMES
Born in 1831, Isabella, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes in 1872 'in search of health' and found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. A year later she took a solo trip from San Francisco to the Rocky Mountains.
' I dreamt of bears so vividly I woke with a furry death-hug at the my throat, but feeling quite refreshed .' The intrepid journeys of the indefatigable Miss Bird are relayed here in the delightful letters she wrote to her sister. They tell of 'truly grand' isolated wilderness and abundant wildlife, of small remote townships of her encounters with rattlesnakes, wolves and grizzly bears and her reactions to the volatile passions of the miners and pioneer settlers.
Author Notes
In 1854 Isabella's doctor recommended the air of America to improve her health. She finally left almost 20 years later first to Australia, where a rapid recovery enabled her to climb the world's largest volcano in Hawaii. In 1873 she set off for the Rocky Mountains .After a brief respite at home she made her way to Japan then Malaya and later to Tibet. She died at home in Scotland in 1904.
Table of Contents
Letter I. Lake Tahoe |
Morning in San Francisco |
Dust |
A Pacific mail train |
Digger Indians |
Cape Horn |
A mountain hotel |
A pioneer |
A Truckee livery stable |
A mountain stream |
Finding a bear |
Tahoe |
Letter II. A lady's "get-up" |
Grizzly bears |
The "Gem of the Sierras" |
A tragic tale |
A carnival of colour |
Letter III. A Temple of Morpheus |
Utah |
A "God-forgotten" town |
A distressed couple |
Dog villages |
A temperance colony |
A Colorado inn |
The bug pest |
Fort Collins |
Letter IV. A plague of flies |
A melancholy charioteer |
The Foot Hills |
A mountain boarding-house |
A dull life |
"Being agreeable" |
Climate of Colorado |
Soroche and snakes |
Letter V. A dateless day |
"Those hands of yours" |
A Puritan |
Persevering shiftlessness |
The house-mother |
Family worship |
A grim Sunday |
A "thick-skulled Englishman" |
A morning call |
Another atmosphere |
The Great Lone Land |
"Ill found" |
A log camp |
Bad footing for horses |
Accidents |
Disappointment |
Letter VI. A bronco mare |
An accident |
Wonderland |
A sad story |
The children of the Territories |
Hard greed |
Halcyon hours |
Smartness |
Old-fashioned prejudices |
The Chicago colony |
Good luck |
Three notes of admiration |
A good horse |
The St. Vrain |
The Rocky Mountains at last |
"Mountain Jim" |
A death hug |
Estes Park |
Letter VII. Personality of Long's Peak |
"Mountain Jim" |
Lake of the Lilies |
A silent forest |
The camping ground |
"Ring" |
A lady's bower |
Dawn and sunrise |
A glorious view |
Links of diamonds |
The ascent of the Peak |
The "Dog's Life" |
Suffering from thirst |
The descent |
The bivouac |
Letter VIII. Estes Park |
Big game |
"Parks" in Colorado |
Magnificent scenery |
Flowers and pines |
An awful road |
Our log cabin |
Griffith Evans |
A miniature world |
Our topics |
A night alarm |
A skunk |
Morning glories |
Daily routine |
The panic |
"Wait for the waggon" |
A musical evening |
Letter IX. "Please ma'ams" |
A desperado |
A cattle hunt |
The muster |
A mad cow |
A snow-storm |
Snowed up |
Birdie |
The Plains |
A prairie schooner |
Denver |
A find |
Plum Creek |
"Being agreeable" |
Snowbound |
The grey mare |
Letter X. A white world |
Bad travelling |
A millionaire's home |
Pleasant Park |
Perry's Park |
Stock-raising |
A cattle ring |
The Arkansas Divide |
Birdie's sagacity |
Luxury |
Monument Park |
Deference to prejudice |
A death scene |
The Manitou |
A loose shoe |
The Ute Pass |
Bergen's Park |
A settler's home |
Hayden's Divide |
Sharp criticism |
Speaking the truth |
Letter XI. Tarryall Creek |
The Red Range |
Excelsior |
Unfortunate pedlars Snow and heat |
A bison calf |
Deep drifts |
South Park |
The Great Divide |
Comanche Bill |
Difficulties |
Hall's Gulch |
A Lord Dundreary |
Ridiculous fears |
Letter XII. Deer Valley |
Lynch law |
Vigilance Committees |
The Silver Spruce |
Taste and abstinence |
The Whisky Fiend |
Smartness |
Turkey Creek Canyon |
The Indian Problem |
Public rascality |
Friendly meetings |
The way to the Golden City |
A rising settlement |
Clear Creek Canyon |
Staging |
Swearing |
A mountain town |
Letter XIII. The blight of mining |
Green Lake |
Golden City |
Benighted |
Vertigo |
Boulder Canyon |
Financial straits |
A hard ride |
The last cent |
A bachelor's home |
"Mountain Jim" |
A surprise |
A night arrival |
Making the best of it |
Scanty fare |
Letter XIV. A dismal ride |
A desperado's tale |
"Lost! Lost! Lost!" |
Winter glories |
Solitude |
Hard times |
Intense cold |
A pack of wolves |
The beaver dams |
Ghastly scenes |
Venison steaks |
Our evenings |
Letter XV. A whisky slave |
The pleasures of monotony |
The mountain lion |
"Another mouth to feed" |
A tiresome boy |
An outcast |
Thanksgiving Day |
The new-comer |
A literary humbug |
Milking a dry cow |
Trout-fishing |
A snow-storm |
A desperado's den |
Letter XVI. A harmonious home |
Intense cold |
A purple sun |
A grim jest |
A perilous ride |
Frozen eyelids |
Longmount |
The pathless prairie |
Hardships of emigrant life |
A trapper's advice |
The Little Thompson |
Evans and "Jim" |
Letter XVII. Woman's Mission |
The last morning |
Crossing the St. Vrain |
Miller |
The St. Vrain again |
Crossing the prairie |
"Jim's" dream |
"Keeping strangers" |
The inn kitchen |
A reputed child-eater |
Notoriety |
A quiet dance |
"Jim's" resolve |
The frost-fall |
An unfortunate introduction |