Customer Reviews

A Tramp across the Continent

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Lummis was a real character with a 'perfect body and awakened mind' who walked from Cincinnati to his new job in Los Angeles in winter of 1884-1885. His adventures are terrific and his self-confidence supreme and enabling of his success. He was open and accepting of all people, flamboyent, bombastic and an asset to the development of Los Angeles, its library, the Southwest Museum and the peaceful relocation of the native Americans to reservations. (He had been appointed to that task by his Harvard classmate, Teddy Roosevelt. Clean, funny and very well written!

My son ended up having to read this book for a college history class. I picked it up and thumbed through it and was immediately drawn into Lummis' explanation of the fluidness and even reverence with which the New Mexican of his time could curse all things. I read this book in one day.

This true (I guess) narrative of Lummis' hike in the late 19th century westward to California has it all: Frontier adventures, bungled robberies, hunting, winter survival, humorous observations of human nature, confessions of weakness, personal examination of bigotry. Lummis' wit is liberally sprinkled throughout this book and his sarcasm isn't bitter, but sassy and refreshing. He truly came to love the people he ran across, and I can't help but imagine that the hospitality he frequently found himself receiving from others was a reflection of his worthiness of it.

Highly recommended as a piece of cross-genre Americana. Lummis' prose isn't buried in the 19th century, although some aspects of his wordsmithing bear the marks of that age. This is an accessible work for the literate modern reader.

This is a good read with some nice narrative of southwestern culture and history. I was a bit disappointed as Lummis tends to spend a disproportionate amount of time recounting historical facts dating back to earlier Spanish eras (as an example...granted, interesting in and of themselves) but not as much time detailing his own personal adventures. There were some times in the book where he mentioned some escapade that would have been really interesting to read about, but he just summarized them in a couple of lines. I suspect this has to do with the fact that he was writing for a 19th century audience, and not a 21st Century audience. The items we find interesting about the 19th Century were of course common place at that time. By the time he wrote the book, the frontier was not as wild as it had been a couple of decades prior, and he probably wanted to explore "lesser discussed" topics. In conclusion, I wouldn't consider this a hardcore page turner, but never the less worth the read. If you like hearing first hand accounts from 19th century authors, I would highly recommend Diary of a Forty Niner by Alfred T. Jackson (Author), and Chauncey L. Canfield (editor). There is some dispute as to its accuracy, but a captivating, romantic tale of the golden days of California's Gold Rush.