A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains

by Bird, Isabella L.

• ISBN13: 9780486428031
• ISBN10: 0486428036
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-04
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

In 1873, a middle-aged Englishwoman toured the Colorado Rockies on horseback - alone, for the most part. Painting an intimate portrait of the "Wild West," Bird wrote eloquently of flora and fauna, isolated settlers and assorted refugees from civilization, vigilance committees, lynchings, and the manners among the men she encountered in the wilderness.

Author Biography

Isabella Bird (1831–1904) was born in England and became one of the most famous travel writers of the 19th century. After a childhood marred by illness, she was encouraged by her physician to travel. With 100 pounds given to her by her clergyman father, Bird explored Canada and the United States. During her travels, she wrote to her sister about her experiences and drew on that material for her first book. Later, Bird journeyed to Japan, China, Tibet, and Korea. Her discerning observations have been entertaining readers for over a century.

Table of Contents

Letter I	1	(8)
Lake Tahoe
Morning in San Francisco
Dust
A Pacific mailtrain
Digger Indians
Cape Horn
A mountain hotel
A pioneer
A Truckee livery stable
A mountain stream
Finding a bear
Tahoe
Letter II	9	(4)
A lady's ``get-up''
Grizzly bears
The ``Gem of the Sierras''
A tragic tale
A carnival of colour
Letter III	13	(8)
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	21	(5)
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	26	(13)
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	39	(12)
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	51	(13)
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 Lift''
Suffering from thirst
The descent
The bivouac
Letter VIII	64	(13)
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	77	(12)
``Please ma'ams''
A desperado
A cattle hunt
The muster
A mad cow
A snowstorm
Snowed up
Birdie
The Plains
A prairie schooner
Denver
A find
Plum Creek
``Being agreeable''
Snowbound
The grey mare
Letter X	89	(13)
A white world
Bad travelling
A millionaire's home
Pleasant Park
Perry's Park
Stock raising
A cattle king
The Arkansas Divide
Birdie's sagacity
Luxury
Monument Park
Deference to prejudice
A death scene
The Manitou
A loose shoe
The Ute Pass
Bergens Park
A settler's home
Hayden's Divide
Sharp criticism
Speaking the truth
Letter XI	102	(9)
Tarryall Creek
The Red Range
Excelsior!
Importunate 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	111	(9)
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	120	(8)
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	128	(7)
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	135	(9)
A whisky slave
The pleasures of monotony
The mountain lion
``Another mouth to feed''
A tiresome boy
An outcast
Thanksgiving Day
The newcomer
A literary humbug
Milking a dry cow
Trout-fishing
A snow-storm
A desperado's den
Letter XVI	144	(7)
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	151	(1)
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 childeater
Notoriety
A quiet dance
``Jim's'' resolve
The frost-fall
An unfortunate introduction