The American West of the late nineteenth century had seen its share of foreign travelers but none could compare to Isabella Bird, the archetypal Victorian Lady Traveler. The daughter of an English clergyman, Bird was on her way back from Hawaii, which she had spent nearly a year exploring on horseback, when she decided to stop off to investigate the Wild West. Having suffered from ill health as a child, Bird therefore threw herself into a life of open air and exercise as a means of recovery. A Lady s Life in the Rocky ...
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The American West of the late nineteenth century had seen its share of foreign travelers but none could compare to Isabella Bird, the archetypal Victorian Lady Traveler. The daughter of an English clergyman, Bird was on her way back from Hawaii, which she had spent nearly a year exploring on horseback, when she decided to stop off to investigate the Wild West. Having suffered from ill health as a child, Bird therefore threw herself into a life of open air and exercise as a means of recovery. A Lady s Life in the Rocky Mountains is told through letters the intrepid author wrote to her sister in the winter of 1873 regarding this equestrian sojourn during which she explored the magnificent unspoiled wilderness of Colorado, ascended the highest mountains, observed the abundant wildlife, and observed life on the remote frontier in all its phases. Bird s quest for equestrian adventure was to turn her into a compulsive traveler and eventually take her on other equestrian journeys to equally inaccessible places including Persia, Tibet, Japan, Korea and Morocco. Plus she was also the first woman ever to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of England. Yet this remains the most popular book the prolific author, and indefatigable traveler, ever penned. Enormously entertaining and amply illustrated, A Lady s Life in the Rocky Mountains remains a vivid account of an astounding equestrian journey.
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