Westward I Go Free: Tracing Thoreau's Last Journey

by Corinne Hosfeld Smith, Laura Dassow Walls (Foreword by)

Overview

While Henry David Thoreau’s travels to the Maine Woods and Cape Cod were well documented and have been followed by “Thoreauvians” for decades, his 1861 “journey west” with Horace Mann, Jr.—which took the duo from Massachusetts to Minnesota and back—was left to be veiled in mystery. This book details this, the last, longest, and least-known of Thoreau’s excursions. The story of two 19th-century men and the 21st-century woman who was determined to follow their 4,000-mile path, this account will intrigue history buffs as they follow in the footsteps of a popular American writer and naturalist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781927043301
Publisher:	Libri Publishing
Publication date:	06/01/2012
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Corinne Hosfeld Smith is a librarian with more than 30 years of experience who serves on the staff of the Mondor-Eagen Library at Anna Maria College. She lives in Athol, Massachusetts. Laura Dassow Walls is the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Emerson's Life in Science, The Passage to Cosmos, and Seeing New Worlds and the coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism.

Table of Contents

Foreword Laura Dassow Wells xiii

Preface xxi

The Travelers and their Route 1

Chapter 1 Concord to Worcester 31

Chapter 2 In Worcester 41

Chapter 3 Worcester to Albany 59

Chapter 4 Albany to Suspension Bridge 79

Chapter 5 Niagara Falls, Goat Island, and Environs 93

Chapter 6 Niagara Falls to Detroit 117

Chapter 7 Detroit to Chicago 127

Chapter 8 In Chicago 147

Chapter 9 Chicago to Dunleith 171

Chapter 10 Dunleith to ST. Paul 191

Chapter 11 Around ST. Paul and Minneapolis 211

Chapter 12 The Lower Sioux Agency Excursion 251

Chapter 13 St. Paul to Prairie Du Chien 285

Chapter 14 Prairie Du Chien to Milwaukee 305

Chapter 15 Milwaukee to Mackinac Island 329

Chapter 16 Mackinac Island to Toronto 349

Chapter 17 Toronto to Ogdensburg 369

Chapter 18 Ogdensburg to Boston 381

Chapter 19 Boston to Concord 397

Great Circle Sailing 415

Acknowledgements 429

Index 431

Editorial Reviews

In retracing Henry David Thoreau's little known final journey to Minnesota, undertaken in 1861 as he was dying of tuberculosis, librarian Smith mixes the personal and historical with varied success. For each leg of the trip the legendary transcendentalist undertook with a much younger companion, Horace Mann Jr., the author divides her presentation into three parts: documenting the duo's undertakings in that part of the country; updating readers on how the location has changed; and forging her own "Thoreauvian" connection. While the first two strategies are fairly productive, as the author skillfully reconstructs the journey from scraps of notebooks and other obscure sources (primarily Thoreau's Minnesota field notebook) and communicates the ways in which the country has changed in the last 150 years, the third approach is more problematic, with Smith inserting herself into the narrative, and in clichéd prose. Some of these side trips are useful (a discourse on Frank Lloyd Wright is illuminating), but including a poem she wrote for a local municipal event reads as indulgent. While Smith too often writes from the perspective of a fan, she succeeds, via enthusiasm and meticulous research, in bringing to life an underreported aspect of Thoreau's life, one that may inspire future studies. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Meticulously researched, brimming with energy and wit, it admirably fills an omission that previous biographies have been content to skip over."  —Jerry Dennis, author, The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas

"In her superbly written and researched book, she takes us to the places where Thoreau went and describes them, then and now. In addition, she enriches each segment of their trip with her own 'Thoreauvian adventure,' which reveals fascinating connections with Thoreau and others, from Frank Lloyd Wright in Wisconsin to lilacs on Michigan’s Mackinac Island."  —J. Parker Huber, author, The Wildest Country: Exploring Thoreau's Maine

"Corinne H. Smith has woven a complex tapestry of history, biography, and acute observation that would delight the sage of Walden Pond."  —David K. Leff, author, Deep Travel: In Thoreau's Wake on the Concord and Merrimack



"Smith succeeds, via enthusiasm and meticulous research, in bringing to life an underreported aspect of Thoreau's life, one that may inspire future studies." —Midwest Book Review (February 2013)


"Smith here presents a beautifully detailed account of their trip. . . . The story of Thoreau's last journey is a fascinating one that is still very much worth the read. Highly recommended for all Thoreau buffs, Thoreau collections, and travel memoir enthusiasts." —Library Journal Xpress Reviews (February 2013)

From the Publisher

During the spring and summer of 1861, Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) went on a long journey west with the teenaged Horace Mann Jr. (1844–68) as his traveling companion. Smith here presents a beautifully detailed account of their trip, in which they went to Minnesota and back, returning by a different route, and using railroads and steamships in both directions, interspersing a narrative of her own journey re-creating theirs. It was to be the last journey that Thoreau made before succumbing to consumption the next year. (It was thought that the journey would improve his health.) Smith details the men’s route to and from Minnesota—including stops at Niagara Falls, NY; Redwing, MN; and Mackinac Island, MI; and travel through Ontario—as well as their botanical discoveries. Both men were avid observers of nature, but Smith’s emphasis is naturally on Thoreau, who filled 100 pages of a notebook with his observations.

Verdict Some Thoreau fans may find the current-day travel narrative distracting; it might have worked better as its own separate travel memoir. Nevertheless, the story of Thoreau’s last journey is a fascinating one that is still very much worth the read. Highly recommended for all Thoreau buffs, Thoreau collections, and travel memoir enthusiasts.—Sharon Britton, Bowling Green State Univ. Lib., Huron, OH

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Library Journal