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TO MY SISTER, TO WHOM THESE LETTERS WERE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN, THEY ARE NOW AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

FOR the benefit of other lady travellers, I wish to explain that my “Hawaiian riding dress” is the “American Lady's Mountain Dress,” a half-fitting jacket, a skirt reaching to the ankles, and full Turkish trousers gathered into frills falling over the boots,—a thoroughly serviceable and feminine costume for mountaineering and other rough travelling, as in the Alps or any other part of the world.

NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

IN consequence of the unobserved omission of a date to my letters having been pointed out to me, I take this opportunity of stating that I travelled in Colorado in the autumn and early winter of 1873, on my way to England from the Sandwich Islands. The letters are a faithful picture of the country and state of society as it then was; but friends who have returned from the West within the last six months tell me that things are rapidly changing, that the frame house is replacing the log cabin, and that the footprints of elk and bighorn may be sought for in vain on the dewy slopes of Estes Park.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

• LETTER I.
  Lake Tahoe—Morning in San Francisco—Dust—A Pacific mail train—Digger Indians—Cape Horn—A mountain hotel—A pioneer—A Truckee livery stable—A mountain stream—Finding a bear—Tahoe Pages 1-16
• II.
  A lady's “get-up”—Grizzly bears—The “Gem of the Sierras”—A tragic tale—A carnival of colour 17-24
• III.
  A Temple of Morpheus—Utah—A “God-forgotten” town—A distressed couple—Dog villages—A temperance colony—A Colorado inn—The bug pest—Fort Collins 25-39
• IV.
  A plague of flies—A melancholy charioteer—The Foot Hills—A mountain boarding-house—A dull life—“Being agreeable”—Climate of Colorado—Soroche and snakes 40-48
• V.
  A dateless day—“Those hands of yours”—A Puritan—Persevering shiftlessness—The house-mother—Family worship—A grim Sunday—A “thick-skulled Englishman”—A morning call—Another atmosphere—The Great Lone Land—“Ill found”—A log camp—Bad footing for horses—Accidents—Disappointment 49-72
• page: x
• VI.
  A bronco mare—An accident—Wonderland—A sad story—The children of the Territories—Hard greed—Halcyon hours—Smartness—Old-fashioned prejudices—The Chicago colony—Good luck—Three notes of admiration—A good horse—The St. Vrain—The Rocky Mountains at last—“Mountain Jim”—A death hug—Estes Park 73-96
• VII.
  Personality of Long's Peak—“Mountain Jim”—Lake of the Lilies—A silent forest—The camping ground—“Ring”—A lady's bower—Dawn and sunrise—A glorious view—Links of diamonds—The ascent of the Peak—The “Dog's Lift”—Suffering from thirst—The descent—The bivouac 97-118
• VIII.
  Estes Park—Big game—“Parks” in Colorado—Magnificent scenery—Flowers and pines—An awful road—Our log cabin—Griffith Evans—A miniature world—Our topics—A night alarm—A skunk—Morning glories—Daily routine—The panic—“Wait for the waggon”—A musical evening 119-142
• IX.
  ‘Please Ma'ams”—A desperado—A cattle hunt—The muster—A mad cow—A snow storm—Snowed up—Birdie—The Plains—A prairie schooner—Denver—A find— Plum Creek—“Being agreeable”—Snowbound—The grey mare 143-166
• X.
  A white world—bad travelling—A millionaire's home—Pleasant Park—Perry's Park—Stock-raising—A cattle king—The Arkansas Divide—Birdie's sagacity—Luxury—Monument Park—Deference to prejudice—A death scene—The Manitou—167-192
• page: xi
• A loose shoe—The Ute Pass—Bergen's Park—A settler's home—Hayden's Divide—Sharp criticism—Speaking the truth 167-192
• XI.
  Tarryall Creek—The Red Range—Excelsior—Unfortunate pedlars—Snow and heat—A bison calf—Deep drifts—South Park—The Great Divide—Comanche Bill—Difficulties—Hall's Gulch—A Lord Dundreary—Ridiculous fears 193-207
• XII.
  Deer Valley—Lynch law—Vigilance Committees—The Silver Spruce—Taste and abstinence—The Whisky Fiend—Smartness—Turkey Creek Canyon—The Indian Problem—Public rascality—Friendly meetings—The way to the Golden City—A rising settlement—Clear Creek Canyon—Staging—Swearing—A mountain town 208-223
• XIII.
  The blight of mining—Green Lake—Golden City—Benighted—Vertigo—Boulder Canyon—Financial straits—A hard ride—The last cent—A bachelor's home—“Mountain Jim”—A surprise—A night arrival—Making the best of it—Scanty fare 224-238
• XIV.
  A dismal ride—A desperado's tale—“Lost! Lost! Lost!”—Winter glories—Solitude—Hard times—Intense cold—A pack of wolves—The beaver dams—Ghastly scenes—Venison steaks—Our evenings 239-252
• XV.
  A whisky slave—The pleasures of monotony—The mountain lion—“Another mouth to feed”—A tiresome boy—An outcast—253-270
• page: xii
• Thanksgiving Day—The newcomer—A literary humbug—Milking a dry cow—Trout-fishing—A snow-storm—A desperado's den 253-270
• XVI.
  A harmonious home—Intense cold—A purple sun—A grim jest—A perilous ride—Frozen eyelids—Longmount—The pathless prairie—Hardships of emigrant life—A trapper's advice—The Little Thompson—Evans and “Jim” 271-284
• XVII.
  Woman's Mission—The last morning—Crossing the St. Vrain—Miller—The St. Vrain again—Crossing the prairie—“Jim's” dream—“Keeping strangers”—The inn kitchen—A reputed child-eater—Notoriety—A quiet dance—“Jim's” resolve—The frost-fall—An unfortunate introduction 285-296

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

• Estes Park Frontispiece.
• Bad footing for horses To face page 67
• Grand Crater To face page 101
• Lava beds, Long's Peak To face page 107
• My home in the Rocky Mountains To face page 120
• The Great Divide To face page 203
• An Indian Camp To face page 215