A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains

by Isabella L. Bird, Daniel J. Boorstin (Introduction)

Overview

Women were scarce enough in the West of the late nineteenth century, and a middle-aged English lady traveling alone, by horseback, was a real phenomenon. It was during the autumn and early winter of 1873 that Isabella Bird made this extended tour of the Rocky Mountain area of Colorado, when she was on her way back to England from the Sandwich Islands. What she called "no region for tourists and women" is today a popular resort, though some of the back trails retain their inaccessibility and wild aspect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780806113289
Publisher:	University of Oklahoma Press
Publication date:	12/15/1975
Series:	The Western Frontier Library Series , #14
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Isabella Lucy Bird (1831-1904), the daughter of a clergyman, grew up in Tattenhall, Cheshire. Early in life, she suffered from a spinal compliant and in 1854 she was sent by her doctor to America and Canada to improve her health. She continued to suffer from back trouble, insomnia and depression until, at the age of forty, she set off for Australia and Hawaii where her health miraculously improved. She wrote Six Months in the Sandwich Islands (1875) and climbed the world's largest volcano. In 1873, Isabella Bird set off for the Rocky Mountains; her letters were published in Leisure Hour in 1878 and later published in this edition in 1879. In 1881 Isabella married Dr John Bishop, who died in 1886. Other journeys led to Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880), The Golden Chersonese (1885), Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (1891), Among the Tibetans (1894), Korea and Her Neighbours (1898) and The Yangtze Valley and Beyond (1899). Isabella Bird died in Edinburgh in 1904.

Table of Contents

Prefatory note; 1. Lake Tahoe; 2. A lady's 'get-up'; 3. A temple of Morpheus; 4. A plague of flies; 5. A dateless day; 6. A bronco mare; 7. Personality of Long's Peak; 8. Estes Park; 9. 'Please ma'ams'; 10. A white world; 11. Tarryall Creek; 12. Deer Valley; 13. The blight of mining; 14. A dismal ride; 15. A whisky slave; 16. A harmonious home; 17. Woman's mission.

Editorial Reviews

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 . . . Isabella inspired a generation of Victorian women to dare to be bold, and her spirit lives on—Ruby Wax, Guardian

There never was anybody who had adventures as well as Miss Bird—Spectator

This book is an unputdownable record of a truly astounding journey—Dervla Murphy, Irish Times

The adventure inspired her travel book, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, which became my bible as we revered this incredible woman in the Colorado wilderness—Ruby Wax, Guardian

A forty-something British woman rode for 800 miles through the Rockies, consorting with pioneers, consumptives and desperadoes as she went. The result was A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, an instant bestseller at the time, and a classic of travel literature to this day—Independent

There never was anybody who had adventures as well as Miss Bird—SPECTATOR

This book is an unputdownable record of a truly astounding journey—Dervla Murphy, Irish Times

From the Publisher