Colorado: A Summer Trip

by Bayard Taylor

"" A Summer Trip"" is a travelogue written by Bayard Taylor in 1867. In the book, Taylor describes his journey through the Colorado Territory during the summer months. He provides detailed accounts of the landscape, climate, and wildlife of the region, as well as his interactions with the local people. Taylor's writing also touches on the history and culture of the area, including the impact of the gold rush on the region's development. The book is a fascinating glimpse into the American West during a time of rapid expansion and change. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Colorado or the American West in general.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: History

196 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Bayard Taylor was a poet, literary critic, translator, fiction and travel author.

His interest in poetry was coached by the influential critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold, who encouraged him to write a volume of poetry. Published at Philadelphia in 1844, Ximena, or the Battle of the Sierra Morena, and other Poems was dedicated to Griswold. It made little income, but indirectly was a means of his introduction to The New York Tribune.

With the money from his poetry and an advance for some journalistic work to be done in Europe, Taylor set sail for Europe. The young poet spent a happy time in roaming on foot through certain districts of England, France, Germany and Italy; this tour of almost two years cost him only £100. The accounts which he sent from Europe to The New York Tribune, The Saturday Evening Post, and The United States Gazette were so highly appreciated that on Taylor's return to America, he was advised to compile his articles into book form.

In 1846, he published Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff (2 vols, New York). This book's success brought Taylor recognition as an author. He was asked to serve as an editorial assistant for Graham's Magazine for a few months in 1848. That same year, Horace Greeley, then editor of the Tribune, placed Taylor on his staff, thus securing Taylor a certain if moderate income.

His poem "Greetings to America" was set to music by Julius Benedict and performed by the singer at numerous concerts on her tour of the United States.

Reviews

[Bob Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bayard Taylor traveled to Colorado in June 1866. This was at the time when Nebraska and Kansas were receiving many immigrants from all over the country. The trains were just beginning to be built west from the Missouri River toward Denver Colorado. Development in Colorado was driven by the discovery of gold and silver. Travel west of Denver was strictly by horse over treacherous passes in the Rockies. This was a very interesting travelogue of the 2 months of his trip. Most interesting is his discussion of how the territory looked as relatively undeveloped. It was a quick read, slowed only by going to google maps to trace his trip, trying to find the small settlements he passes through along the way.

[timv · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. This is a trip into the mountains of Colorado in 1866 before the railroad arrives. It really is a travel log as it pretty much describes the travel, but not many of the people he meets along the way. His descriptions of the natural beauty he encounters is pretty minimalistic. he spends most of his time traveling and very little time is spent getting to know any one place. From the excessive use of superlative’s and his constant commenting on the character of the people he meets, the author was obviously writing to titillate a East Coast newspaper and magazine crowd.

[Lianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just about done reading. The pack mules are the real stars of the book. If they're not falling asleep on the job or chasing the painter around they're sabotaging the expedition some other crazy way.


Picked it up at the library on a whim. Interesting to read about how Colorado was back in the frontier days. Apparently it was as amazing in 1868 as it is today.

At the part now where he's ripping on Golden City for calling themselves a city when they have only 400 residents. I bet Bayard is responsible for the town renaming itself Golden. I wish it went with Bayard's Goldenport recommendation instead though.