Re-Riding History: Horseback over the Sante Fe Trail [Hardcover]

Curtiss Frank (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997

In the early 1970s, Curtiss Frank and Jack Underhill, a pair of mismatched thirty-somethings who had been chums since boyhood, decided to ride horseback over the old Santa Fe Trail, or at least over a several-hundred-mile section of the far end of it. And the motive for the trip? Curtiss Frank says that reading the many firsthand accounts of the earliest trail travelers stirred up his blood and got him to wondering what it would be like to retrace the original pioneer route with the aim of reliving the experience and also discovering what physical evidence of the past remained visible. As the author notes, other adventurers had undertaken the same journey, going by foot, horseback, or even wagon. But uniformly, they had used public roads, which today in many places are at a considerable distance from the original Santa Fe Trail. What Frank and Underhill proposed was to find the actual historical ruts and stay in them across private ranchland and open country so as to make a faithful retracing of the authentic route followed by the nineteenth-century freight caravans. This is their story.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

CURTISS FRANK, in his own words, ''grew up with an inordinate interest in things most others had given up on. From the mule wagons of the family plantation in Mississippi to the law cases of his father's Wall Street firm, his tastes careened between intellectual and hands-on concerns. Initially inspired by Francis Bacon, he developed several ten year plans to achieve comprehensive goals only to be subverted by the mysteries. The result has been an inability to choose among the occupational categories offered by the census and other simpleminded formats. His career has included college professor, logger, farmer, builder, stone mason, innkeeper, and now writer. Each has been a love affair.''

Product Details

• Hardcover: 253 pages
• Publisher: Sunstone Press; 1st edition (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865342547
• ISBN-13: 978-0865342545
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,916,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tombstone speaks, February 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Re-Riding History: Horseback over the Sante Fe Trail (Hardcover)

From The Tombstone Epitaph ,Oct 1997,Vol.CXVIII,#10 ...The story of the ride, which comprises the basis for the book--there are interstices in which historical accounts from previous travelers are used--consists of Thoreau-like...reflections on man and nature, with plenty of Larry & Curly Ride The santa Fe Trail (note that they left Moe behind--he's the smart one) incidents to keep it from ever getting dull. The book is a good,fun read that works on several levels, from brain food to belly laughs....