Ray Stannard Baker (1870–1946)

This is a wonderful collection of early travel accounts through Yellowstone during the years 1870 to 1916. Selected and annotated by Janet Chapple, this anthology effectively presents the awe and amazement of travellers as they experienced the remarkable natural wonders of Yellowstone. The stories are a joy to read, as these adventurers documented their experiences with a delightful style, descriptively and enthusiastically detailing their wonderment at this unique sector of the American show more landscape.

With an evident passion for Yellowstone, Chapple provides detailed prefatory notes on the illustrations (including Thomas H. Thomas’s sublime watercolor sketches), and an informative introduction providing historical context. In addition, she meticulously introduces and annotates each individual account, providing the reader some welcomed background on both the writer and the circumstance of the excursion.

Highlights of the anthology include Elwood “Billy” Hofer’s 1887 “Winter in Wonderland” ski excursion; Frank D. Lenz’s 1892 cycling tour; hiker C. Hanford Henderson’s 1899 walk around the Grand Loop Road; and journalist Ray Stannard Baker’s 1903 tour via horseback. Another small, but noteworthy, touch is the evocative old-fashioned fonts used for the chapter headings. This is an exemplary work, fully immersive to time and place; and highly recommended for lovers of Yellowstone and those appreciative of fine historical travel writing. show less

Travel is much more accessible these days than it was a century ago, and as a result travel narratives proliferate, both in print and on the web. That means there's not much that's truly new in the genre, not much left to write ... though that doesn't stop people from trying. As much as nearly anywhere, that axiom is especially true for America's great National Parks; a place like Yellowstone, for example, get around four million visitors these days, nearly all of whom share what is show more essentially the same oft-told experience that has characterized the park since the arrival of the automobile. People know that, and at some level, they know what their experience is likely to be even before they arrive.

Things were much different, though, a century ago. In 1900 fewer than 10,000 people visited the park, and Yellowstone was far from becoming a national tourism cliché. Regardless of how one traveled through the park, the experience was still bound to be an adventure into the unknown, one marked by a feeling of excitement and wonder. The narratives of that day, no matter how prosaic in tone, couldn't help but reflect that sense of real adventure. And that, in short, is what makes this book so wonderful. The stories have a trailblazer's romance to them, a feeling of being part of something new and grand ... and this gives them a remarkable, evocative power that makes them well worth reading.

The volume itself is well-done, too, giving these stories the respect and presentation they deserve. The selection of essays is balanced and appropriate; the annotations and notes are professional and thoughtful, even including definitions of arcane terms; and the book is well composed, with relevant period illustrations, quality page layout, and good paper. All in all, this is an outstanding publication effort, one of the best anthologies of National Park literature I've seen.

Highly recommended. show less

One of the great things of the digital age is that it is possible to stumble across a book like this, in the public domain and freely available to read on my Kindle. I started to read PARNASSUS ON WHEELS by Christopher Morley, which starts with a letter to Grayson saying how much the book owes to Grayson's ADVENTURES IN CONTENTMENT. So I did a little research and found the book available on Project Gutenberg and downloaded it, inspired by one Amazon reviewer who called it the best book ever show more written. I won't quite endorse that view, but it is a wonderful book, nevertheless, and surprisingly relevant after all these years.

It tells the story of a man who, in his own opinion at least, has failed in the city and moved to the country where he first rents then buys a small farm. Each chapter tells a pretty much self-contained story about some aspect of his life in the country, with his unmarried sister keeping house for him. He tells us about the funeral for the local doctor and of that man's character and simple good works through the years. He gives us a view of grassroots democracy at work that seems so distant from our poisonous 21st century political climate. He tells us all about the local preacher, who seems a much more admirable character than most of the current bunch. And he talks of his neighbors, near and far--though none are so far in the close-knit country community where he lives. There is a haunting story of a mysterious tramp who lives everything twice. There is the local "pagan" who denies that there is a biblical hell (and who knows pretty much everything about cows.) He also meets the local millionaire and puts him to work greasing axles. And there is a whole chapter about making a new axe handle.

Although it seems like a straightforward memoir, the book is actually fiction (and the first of a series of nine books). But there is so much unarguable common sense and wisdom throughout this book that is is a sheer pleasure to read, even if you have no desire to be a farmer and little interest in farming. Though he feels that the church is an essential part of the community, while admitting to rarely attending it, the author can also say, "Theology possesses a vaingloriousness which places it faith in human theories; but science, at its best, is humble before nature herself. It has no thesis to defend: it is content to kneel upon the earth, in the way of my friend, the old professor, and ask the simplest questions, hoping for some true reply."

Or, "Sometimes I think that Success has formed a silent conspiracy against Youth. Success holds up a single glittering apple and bids Youth strip and run for it; and Youth runs and Success still holds the apple."

Or, "True emotion is rare and costly and that which is awakened from without never rises to the height of that which springs spontaneously from within."

Or on the local democratic way of deciding things, such as whether to spend $800 to expand the local school: "That's real politics: the voluntary surrender of some private good for the upbuilding of some community good."

To acknowledge the downside, this book is very male-centered, and the author doesn't seem to view the sister as much more than a simple soul whose contentment lies in cooking and housework.

In the end, though, ADVENTURES IN CONTENTMENT is about the connections between people and how our life is empty without them. Spending a little while with this book is well worth your investment of time. show less

I found the early accounts of traveling through Yellowstone Park a real treat to read, interesting and engaging, and sometimes quite fun. My favorites were Eleanor Quackenbush Corthell's account of traveling by wagon with her eight young children; and the beautifully illustrated account by Welsh artist, Thomas H. Thomas, including many color plates. The most memorable selection to me, though, was only two pages long, the very brief, but tense, account by George L. Henderson of his horse show more being stuck in a bog. This is a very handsome book, with many maps and illustrations, and notes for each selection. In particular, the introductions and biographical sketches of the authors that preceded each account provided very welcome context. show less