TOURING THE OLD WEST

by Kent Ruth ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 15, 1971

Like other informal byway guides, this survey of personal highpoints is airily innocent of motel-by-campsite planning, but Mr. Ruth offers a variety of touring pleasures and satisfying pauses in the Western states. He urges the traveller to trace the old trails (Lewis & Clark, Oregon, Overland, etc.); to search out ""Frontier graffiti"" (Indian-inscribed rocks and trailside autographs); and to pursue back-door approaches to tourist-jammed sites. There is an interesting chapter devoted to exotic small railways and ""rail-into-auto"" roads and there's a roundup of historical sites with fur trading, military and mining pasts. It is regrettable that the author cites Indian communities per se as an attraction: like the Amish, they might have mixed feelings about being considered in the objective case. The author has included a Reading List which flows hither and yon -- but agreeably, like most of the book.

Pub Date: July 15, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stephen Greene

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION