Customer Reviews

Wah-to-yah & the Taos trail: Prairie travel and scalp dances, with a look at los rancheros from muleback and the Rocky mountain campfire

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Lewis H. Garrard was an exuberant 17 year old tourist in the Old West of 1846-1847. He traveled down the Santa Fe Trail with a wagon train and stopped off at Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River of Colorado and spent a couple of months with the Cheyenne Indians and the traders and mountain men who lived around the fort. When Governor Charles Bent of New Mexico and twenty others were killed in Taos in an Mexican/Indian uprising he joined an informal expedition of mountain men to take revenge. His group arrived after the U.S. army had recaptured Taos, but Garrard was in Taos for the trial and hanging of nine of the revolutionary trouble-makers, even loaning the hangman several lariats when he ran short. "Wah-to-yah" is said to be the only account of the trial and hanging of the Taos revolutionaries.

Garrard was a lot more tolerant than most travelers, obviously enjoying the company of the Cheyennes and his extravagant and untutored White companions. He feels the need to express himself occasionally about moral issues and the lack of civilized values of the Indians, Mexicans, and other prairie dwellers - but his condemnations are rote rather than persuasive. Garrard, we imagine, probably shared buffalo robes with comely young Cheyenne women and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, as he did buffalo hunting, dog-meat feasts, and tall tale sessions with the mountain men. He also demonstrates a moral core, condemning the U.S war against Mexico and the wholesale hanging of the revolutionaries in Taos -- sentiments which were not popular in the West at the time.

"Wah-to-yah" -- the Indian name for the Spanish Peaks of southern Colorado -- is perhaps the best account you will find of a young man's adventures in the Old West of mountain men and unconquered Indians. It is similar to Francis Parkman's "The Oregon Trail." The two young men were in the West during the same year but Garrard's book is "the fresher, the more revealing, the more engaging, the less labored" in the words of A. B. Guthrie's introduction to "Wah-to-yah." Garrard is a likeable person; Parkman is not. Both were keen observers and good writers.

"Wah-to-yah" is on the short list of essential books about the Old West. It's easy and engaging reading. We need an annotated edition, however, which will tell us more about the many characters - some of them famous, such as Kit Carson -- Garrard meets and the places he visits and put the book in its historical context of its times.

Smallchief

I read the book because Bernard DeVoto spoke highly of it in "Year of Decision, 1846". I was not disappointed with this eye-witness account of life in the Rockies and would recommend it to anyone interested in living history. One can be critical of the book. Some of the flowery descriptive prose does not sound like it came from the mouth of a 17 year old, but even if a "ghost writer" did some of the work, the kid kept the notes and did live the story. Garrard's observations on Indian life, mountain men, Taos women compared to well-bred Eastern women, and his comments about Jim Beckwith, a black mountain man are priceless as were his views on the hanging of the Taos rebels. This story would make an excellent film.

Garrard's book, besides being of particular interest, ties in with others about the west that combine to inform the reader as no other way can. The language used by such a young author is remarkable, but we must recall that usage changes with time. It helps to keep a dictionary handy. The first person account puts the reader not only on the trail, but in Cheyenne teepees and Bent's Fort where so much of the history of the west, and of those who opened it, came together. Susan Magoffin's book (Down the Santa Fe Trail, and into Mexico) is of another trip along the same route six months apart, and lends a womanly and complimentary view to that of Way To Yah. For those who found Garrard's book less than five star value, I say, read the book again. Often when I do this, appreciation of the work is enhanced. The more one reads of Santa Fe and those who traveled it's trail, the greater will become their respect for Lewis who opens to us the eyes of a young man thrilled with his situation, and who expresses himself as honestly as anyone I have had the joy to read. We are fortunate that he lived to weave into the fabric of the west his wonderful tale. Susan Magoffin reveals another side of the "trail" in her book, both of which combine to inform the reader while revealing truths of a time unfortunately past. Fascinating reading and a must for anyone seriously interested in the Santa Fe trade. Susan died at home, age 26. Lewis and she each wrote just one book.

This newsy contemporary recounting of a trip that includes being a guest in Cheyenne lodges, freezing on the Texas plains, witnessing the trials of the murderers of New Mexico Governor Charles Bent, and wonderful conversations with mountain men and French Canadian voyageurs is written by a boy with an enthusiasm for his experience and a good eye and ear. Lots about horses, mules, food and dancing. A lovely book and fine language.

A good non-fiction book chronicling life and hardships in the Rocky Mountain West before it was really 'settled'. The author traveled and interacted with all manner of people (Mexicans, French Canadians, American Indians etc.) that were roaming/working in that area during the 1840's. This book makes you realize how pampered a life we now lead and that we really have no concept of being truly cold, without shelter, lost and hungry or being in danger of losing our lives due to the elements or through violence. There is also a lot of humor in this book. It is all the more remarkable in that the author has an excellent writing style and vocabulary. He also shows not a little horror at some western 'justice'... imagine my surprise when I learned that Lewis Garrard was only 17 when he embarked on this journey and the book was first published three years later. One portion of this book is apparently the only written eyewitness account of the trial and hanging of the 'revolutionaries' at Taos, NM. Worth reading!

Main character - Lewis H. Garrard
Location - present-day American southwest
Story - Adventure of a seventeen year old among the Indians (mainly Cheyenne) and Indian traders
This book is absolutely brilliant! Lewis experienced a time and place that is gone forever and he documented it with a style, flair and grasp of the English language that most of us will never possess. I can't recommend this book enough. It is essential reading for those interested in the Old West and have no choice but to live vicariously through books such as Garrards. Again, this book is truly brilliant. It is literature of the highest degree. Thank you Lewis for putting your western adventure down in words for all to enjoy. Well, at least those with enough good taste to seek out such a book.

I've read a number of histories of this period and have at times seen historians' references to this book. I've considered reading it for about thirty years and finally purchased it. I had no idea what a well written and entertaining book this was. If you've any interest in the late fur trade era, you should get this one.

Lewis H. Garrard was an exuberant 17 year old tourist in the Old West of 1846-1847. He traveled down the Santa Fe Trail with a wagon train and stopped off at Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River of Colorado and spent a couple of months with the Cheyenne Indians and the traders and mountain men who lived around the fort. When Governor Charles Bent of New Mexico and twenty others were killed in Taos in an Mexican/Indian uprising he joined an informal expedition of mountain men to take revenge. His group arrived after the U.S. army had recaptured Taos, but Garrard was in Taos for the trial and hanging of nine of the revolutionary trouble-makers, even loaning the hangman several lariats when he ran short. "Wah-to-yah" is said to be the only account of the trial and hanging of the Taos revolutionaries.

Garrard was a lot more tolerant than most travelers, obviously enjoying the company of the Cheyennes and his extravagant and untutored White companions. He feels the need to express himself occasionally about moral issues and the lack of civilized values of the Indians, Mexicans, and other prairie dwellers - but his condemnations are rote rather than persuasive. Garrard, we imagine, probably shared buffalo robes with comely young Cheyenne women and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, as he did buffalo hunting, dog-meat feasts, and tall tale sessions with the mountain men. He also demonstrates a moral core, condemning the U.S war against Mexico and the wholesale hanging of the revolutionaries in Taos -- sentiments which were not popular in the West at the time.

"Wah-to-yah" -- the Indian name for the Spanish Peaks of southern Colorado -- is perhaps the best account you will find of a young man's adventures in the Old West of mountain men and unconquered Indians. It is similar to Francis Parkman's "The Oregon Trail." The two young men were in the West during the same year but Garrard's book is "the fresher, the more revealing, the more engaging, the less labored" in the words of A. B. Guthrie's introduction to "Wah-to-yah." Garrard is a likeable person; Parkman is not. Both were keen observers and good writers.

"Wah-to-yah" is on the short list of essential books about the Old West. It's easy and engaging reading. We need an annotated edition, however, which will tell us more about the many characters - some of them famous, such as Kit Carson -- Garrard meets and the places he visits and put the book in its historical context of its times.

Smallchief

"For fun and pleasure" is why seventeen year old Lewis Garrard went west with Ceran St. Vrain's wagon train in 1846. What unfolds is a unique first hand narrative of overland travel along the Sante Fe Trail to Bent's Fort, Colorado and then on to Taos, New Mexico. This book is supposedly the only eye witness account of the trials and hangings of the revolutionaries who attempted to overthrow the newly acquired American occupancy in Taos by murdering Govenor Charles Bent and several others. Garrard's writing is commendable, being such that the reader feels they are right there with him. We read descriptions of how it was to live with, travel and meet trappers, frontiersmen, mountaineers, and Indians (both friendly and hostile), go on buffalo hunts, endure starvation, lack of water, the forces of nature, etc. while in the mountains and deserts of the southwest. Considered an historical masterpiece and rightfully so.

Boy...Lewis sure is a witty fellow!!...I like his writing style...very descriptive....a true social observer.....A lot of "savage Indians" and interesting characters with Green River knives along young Mr.Garrard's journey .....some of the language is VERY un-PC by today's standards....I'm surprised Al Sharpton hasn't called for a boycott of this book ;)...Nice footnotes and forward....They say it is a classic Southwest history book and I agree...