The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters

Like if Little Big Man was from the point of view of Huck Finn trampling from Kentucky to the gold fields of California with his inept and hopelessly optimistic father and a wonderful supporting cast in tow. No idea how I’d never heard of this book until I’ve started reading Pulitzer Prize winners from the past. Should be on the same shelf as other coming of age/western stories as Red Sky at Morning. Absolutely loved it and can’t recommend highly enough.

Although The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters is grounded in fiction its bibliography indicates Taylor made extensive use of letters, memorandums, maps, memoirs, guidebooks, journals, and sermons to give the novel sincere authenticity. In a nutshell, it is the adventures of young Jaimie McPheeters as he journeyed with his father to seek gold in the mid 1800s. [As an aside, I could not help but think of Natalie Merchant's song "Gold Rush Brides" when I read The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters.] The story has everything: clashes with Indian tribes (including kidnapping, torture and murder), gambling, religion (Mormonism and the question of polygamy), humor, weather, and the hardships of the trail. This was the wild west; a time when at plate show more passing someone could offer a live rattlesnake in lieu of money. Confessional: I didn't know if I liked audacious Jaimie McPheeters when I first met him. My favorite parts were the interactions he had with his father. The interesting conversation about Latin and who killed the dead language was one of my favorites. Taylor has an interesting way of using words. The words 'pranced' and 'shotgun' usually do not go together in the same sentence.
A word of warning: speaking of language, it is a bit dated with derogatory and racist words. show less

Imagine Twain sending Huck Finn to California via Wagon Train. What fun! But also exciting, poignant and heartbreaking at the same time. This is the story of Jaimie McPheeters and his father Sardius (a doctor), who is a bit of a gambler and prone to drink. Sardius has run afoul of his creditors and decides it's best to strike out with Jaimie to the California Gold fields to make their fortune and the adventure is on.

The story is told both in the first person view of Jaimie and by Sardius via letters home to his wife. Jaimie has one adventure after another -- from falling off the river boat, encounters with murderous thieves (loved how he got himself out of that one!), getting separated from the train and after being caught in a show more thunderstorm finally "finds" his camp again although it's really another camp he "found" (no spoilers here, you'll see that one coming a mile away). There are so many laugh out loud moments in this book one can't describe them all, but I have to say the time when Sardius tried to teach Jaimie the "dead" language of Latin was tops with me. ROFL.

Jaimie's travels take you across the plains of the Midwest, the Rockies, a winter stopover with the Mormons in Salt Lake (now those were some interesting moments), across the desert and finally over the Sierra Nevadas and on into the Gold Country and burgeoning San Francisco. All in all a jolly good yarn, both for the very young and the still young at heart. Highly recommended. show less

When I was a kid, there was a television show with a very cute Kurt Russell playing a kid who traveled around all over the west. It was a Western, but not a traditional one. The title of the show was The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. Little did I know the idea for the show came from a novel, and a Pulitzer winner at that!

Jaimie goes with his father, Dr. Sardius McPheeters, heading west lured by the dreams of striking it rich in the gold fields of California. Leaving Louisville, Kentucky suddenly to escape creditors, Dr. McPheeters takes his son Jaimie on a trip chasing his dreams. It is a hearty tale filled with larger than life characters and unbelievable adventures with last moment saves from utter destruction -- the fare of any show more western. But what sets this apart is a wonderful tongue-in-cheek humor that comes up at the most unlikely times giving a readability to a book which, otherwise, would be a true eye-roller and soon put away as not worth reading. show less

"The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" is an epic tale of the wild west. In the years 1849-1850 rumors were afloat that there was gold to be found in California, and if that wasn’t enough to attract the adventurous, there was also an abundance of free land and opportunity. The biggest challenge was getting there.

The plot: Dr. McPheeter’s is an educated, intelligent well-known respected family man from Missouri with one major vice. He gambles. And when his debt reaches unsustainable proportions his most attractive option is to head west to dig for gold. And Jaimie, his teenage son gets the pleasure of tagging along. Jaimie is the narrator of this audacious tale.

In this story we hear of the trials and tribulations of a wagon train bound show more for the wild west, and the treacherous journey into unknown territory. It is akin to watching someone descend into Dante’s "Inferno" in search of the utopia at the end of the rainbow. Much of the path taken by the wagon train is similar to that of A. B. Guthrie’s classic "The Way West", encountering Indian attacks, shortages of food and supplies, difficulties in navigating the rough terrine, and a variety of personal issues. Jaimie’s precocious personality tends to cause a lot of aggravation and trouble along the journey.

If this novel hadn’t won the Pulitzer Prize, I may have never invested the time to read it – simply because it is repetitive of many books I have read in the past. However, it is amusing to hear the tale from the perspective of a naïve, young teen who has no fear and boundless amounts of energy.

Several interesting twists to the plot include a stay at the Mormon village in Utah which was at that time viewed as a dangerous cult, and the suspenseful outcome upon reaching the final destination of San Francisco.

Robert Lewis Taylor authenticates his tale by meticulous research citing over 130 references, and basing the plot in parts on the historic journal of a real gold-digger. show less

Within a few pages of starting The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters I thought I was in for a treat. It immediately reminded me of a more humorous version of Lonesome Dove, which also won the Pulitzer and was also on a topic I didn’t think I cared about.

The story was that of a father and son who left their comfortable lives in Louisville to strike it rich in the gold rush of 1849. I think we all know how the gold rush worked out for most folks, and the folks in this book were no exception. They did get lucky in various ways several times, but of course there was always a setback lying in wait behind the next corner.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, but I could have done without all the weird racist shit. It’s written from the 1st show more person perspective, and I kept thinking that the protagonist was going to eventually realize that his opinions of “Indians,” and other nationalities were ridiculous, but that time did not come. There was one kind-of exception where he eventually grudgingly admitted that this one particular girl wasn’t as bad as “those Indians,” but that hardly felt like a learning moment.

The book won the Pulitzer in 1958, which many will accept as an excuse for the racism. If you’re willing to accept that, or you simply don’t care about those types of over/undertones, then you may very well enjoy this book. The pacing is good, the plot is interesting, there’s plenty of character development, and the descriptions are excellent – when they’re not racist. show less

Absolutely one of my all time favorite books from my childhood...I believe I read it in elementary school or as a Freshman in high school...I think the school librarian recommended it...the book is meticulous in it description of the travel of this kid in 1849 to the gold fields of California...a must read for any child enterprising to enough to pick up a book of over 525 pages...It impressed me greatly