The Canoe and the Saddle

by Theodore Winthrop and John Harvey Williams

Book Overview

In 1853, with money in his pocket and elegant clothes in his saddlebags, a twenty-four-year-old New Englander of aristocratic Yankee stock toured the territories of California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The Canoe and the Saddle recounts Theodore Winthrop's Northwest tour. A novelized memoir of his travels, it became a bestseller when it was published shortly after the author's untimely death in the Civil War.

This critical...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803298633
• ISBN13: 9780803298637
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A Good Edition of a Classic Text

I have two copies of this book including the first edition published in 1863 and a 1913 edition that contains Winthrop's Western Letters and Journals and also has color plates and other illustrations. My interest is in his journey over the "Boston Hooihut" over Naches Pass to meet Kamiakin at the Ahtaneum Mission. It is the rarest of accounts of pre-1855 Eastern Washington and gives the reader valuable insight into era attitudes and lifestyle. The floral, abstract writing style may put off anyone looking for a casual read. The book contains, however, a wealth of information and description on what the great State of Washington might have been like before the Civil War...before dams clogged up the Columbia River and before Native Americans were relegated to reservations.