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Down the Yellowstone
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
- GenresNonfiction
97 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2007
74 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Lewis R. Freeman
48 books2 followersLewis Ransome Freeman was an American explorer, journalist and war correspondent who wrote over twenty books chronicling his many travels, as well as numerous articles.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 10, 2021
Is hard to place where this book fits in for a modern reader. I read it because I live near the Yellowstone, and I'm interested in local adventure stories.
The embellishments don't really make it a suitable history, though it does have some interesting bits that are likely accurate. His experiences skiing around Yellowstone National Park are ones of those, in a time before there were many amenities in the Park. And the nature of the journey doesn't give much of a narrative. He floats down the river. Sometimes there are some riffles, but mostly it is smooth.
It's not the tongue of the river, but the eddies around the edge, the details he notes without seeing their real significance, that attracted most of my attention. The proliferation of the farmers in 1920s Montana, their hard work and hopefulness, before the Depression would sweep so many of them off their homesteads. The absence of Native Americans, other than to compare their expatriation to the indomitability of mosquitoes. The hydroelectric dam at Billings, now gone. The general attitude toward the land. The hospitality of strangers, gone the way of the dam.
In the end, while it was a pleasure to see the landscape I know and love in print, by the time Freeman reached his confluence, I was ready to part ways. It was like getting stuck in a boat while your chatty uncle talks about all the places he's been and things he's seen, the things he has got away with, his successful ranch and literary career, the phrases he can drop in other languages... I can see him now, bobbing down the Missouri, chattering as if someone is still aboard, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
The embellishments don't really make it a suitable history, though it does have some interesting bits that are likely accurate. His experiences skiing around Yellowstone National Park are ones of those, in a time before there were many amenities in the Park. And the nature of the journey doesn't give much of a narrative. He floats down the river. Sometimes there are some riffles, but mostly it is smooth.
It's not the tongue of the river, but the eddies around the edge, the details he notes without seeing their real significance, that attracted most of my attention. The proliferation of the farmers in 1920s Montana, their hard work and hopefulness, before the Depression would sweep so many of them off their homesteads. The absence of Native Americans, other than to compare their expatriation to the indomitability of mosquitoes. The hydroelectric dam at Billings, now gone. The general attitude toward the land. The hospitality of strangers, gone the way of the dam.
In the end, while it was a pleasure to see the landscape I know and love in print, by the time Freeman reached his confluence, I was ready to part ways. It was like getting stuck in a boat while your chatty uncle talks about all the places he's been and things he's seen, the things he has got away with, his successful ranch and literary career, the phrases he can drop in other languages... I can see him now, bobbing down the Missouri, chattering as if someone is still aboard, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
December 19, 2015
Very interesting. Would be fun to float the Yellowstone river sometime. I would recommend this book. Better yet, visit the area and see it for yourself.
Very interesting. Would be fun to float the Yellowstone river sometime. I would recommend this book. Better yet, visit the area and see it for yourself.
Very interesting. Would be fun to float the Yellowstone river sometime. I would recommend this book. Better yet, visit the area and see it for yourself.
June 14, 2017
Good
I liked the book somewhat but it's not what I expected from the title. It was good in some areas and boring in others.
I liked the book somewhat but it's not what I expected from the title. It was good in some areas and boring in others.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews