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The Mountains: The Adventures of a Tenderfoot
*New Introduction, annotations, research, editing, by Linda Pendleton.
In 1904, it was said of Stewart Edward White’s book, “The Mountains,” that the great outdoors awakens under White’s pen as he writes of his wanderings in the mountains of the West. He does not conceal the hardships, the dangers, and discomforts of mountain travel, as he shares practical advice on pack horses, camp food, camp gear, formal tourists on the trail in Yosemite, cowboys, prospectors, fishing and golden trout, the gigantic redwoods, and the fauna and flora, along with the beauty and enjoyment of spending time in nature. He also writes with humor of the tenderfoot, a man who wonders the mountain trails without ever learning the true lessons of the country.
In the fascinating chronicle of life on the California mountain trails more than one hundred years ago, he wrote, “For the ridge, ascending from seaward in a gradual coquetry of foot-hills, broad low ranges, cross-systems, cañons, little flats, and gentle ravines, inland dropped off almost sheer to the river below. And from under your very feet rose, range after range, tier after tier, rank after rank, in increasing crescendo of wonderful tinted mountains to the main crest of the Coast Ranges, the blue distance, the mightiness of California's western systems. The eye followed them up and up, and farther and farther, with the accumulating emotion of a wild rush on a toboggan. There came a point where the fact grew to be almost too big for the appreciation, just as beyond a certain point speed seems to become unbearable. It left you breathless, wonder-stricken, awed. You could do nothing but look, and look, and look again, tongue-tied by the impossibility of doing justice to what you felt. And in the far distance, finally, your soul, grown big in a moment, came to rest on the great precipices and pines of the greatest mountains of all, close under the sky.”
In Linda Pendleton’s new Introduction we learn who Stewart Edward White was and the legacy he left of his many fiction and nonfiction books following his death in 1946. An explorer, conservationist, naturalist, and big game hunter, his love for nature, conservation, and adventure were to become very much a part of his literary works over his long literary career. Several of his nonfiction works are classics in the exploration of the paranormal and communication from the spirit world. He wrote with passion, whether about the adventures beyond the veil or about adventures in nature and the earthly frontier.
Linda Pendleton is author of nonfiction and fiction books, comics, and ecourses.
In 1904, it was said of Stewart Edward White’s book, “The Mountains,” that the great outdoors awakens under White’s pen as he writes of his wanderings in the mountains of the West. He does not conceal the hardships, the dangers, and discomforts of mountain travel, as he shares practical advice on pack horses, camp food, camp gear, formal tourists on the trail in Yosemite, cowboys, prospectors, fishing and golden trout, the gigantic redwoods, and the fauna and flora, along with the beauty and enjoyment of spending time in nature. He also writes with humor of the tenderfoot, a man who wonders the mountain trails without ever learning the true lessons of the country.
In the fascinating chronicle of life on the California mountain trails more than one hundred years ago, he wrote, “For the ridge, ascending from seaward in a gradual coquetry of foot-hills, broad low ranges, cross-systems, cañons, little flats, and gentle ravines, inland dropped off almost sheer to the river below. And from under your very feet rose, range after range, tier after tier, rank after rank, in increasing crescendo of wonderful tinted mountains to the main crest of the Coast Ranges, the blue distance, the mightiness of California's western systems. The eye followed them up and up, and farther and farther, with the accumulating emotion of a wild rush on a toboggan. There came a point where the fact grew to be almost too big for the appreciation, just as beyond a certain point speed seems to become unbearable. It left you breathless, wonder-stricken, awed. You could do nothing but look, and look, and look again, tongue-tied by the impossibility of doing justice to what you felt. And in the far distance, finally, your soul, grown big in a moment, came to rest on the great precipices and pines of the greatest mountains of all, close under the sky.”
In Linda Pendleton’s new Introduction we learn who Stewart Edward White was and the legacy he left of his many fiction and nonfiction books following his death in 1946. An explorer, conservationist, naturalist, and big game hunter, his love for nature, conservation, and adventure were to become very much a part of his literary works over his long literary career. Several of his nonfiction works are classics in the exploration of the paranormal and communication from the spirit world. He wrote with passion, whether about the adventures beyond the veil or about adventures in nature and the earthly frontier.
Linda Pendleton is author of nonfiction and fiction books, comics, and ecourses.
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1904
14 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Stewart Edward White
602 books27 followersFrom about 1900 until about 1922, he wrote fiction and non-fiction about adventure and travel, with an emphasis on natural history and outdoor living. Starting in 1922, he and his wife Elizabeth "Betty" Grant White wrote numerous books they claimed were received through channelling with spirits. They also wrote of their travels around the state of California. White died in Hillsborough, California.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 28, 2008
I wasn't that excited to read this book because it was so old, but a friend recommended it so I was curious. I was very pleasantly surprised within the first paragraph. Told in the first person, this is the story of three cowboys who travel from southern California to Yosemite on horseback. The language used made me long to be a writer!
June 23, 2021
Entertaining advice on roughing it in the wilderness a hundred years ago. Humourous anecdotes, antiquated speech habits, and some funny stuff about foul-mouthed cowboys and a city-slicker sidekick called Tenderfoot.
August 4, 2022
Gonna go live in the Sierra Nevada now, bye
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews