Stewart Edward White (1873–1946)

Blue cloth boards decorated with mountain scene in buff/yellow and black showing pack horses moving through a pass, edges untrimmed, 198 pp., Color Frontis of horse riders and dogs on a steep mountain trail by Fernand Lungren, fourteen illustrations from photographs, half-tone thumbnail sketches on each page, and map.
Stewart Edward White (1873-1946) was an American fiction and nonfiction writer with emphasis on natural history and outdoor living. White describes opening a pass in the High Sierras between Kings River and the Kaweah Range along the famous and isolated Roaring River. Opening Elizabeth pass was challenging at 12,000 ft in 1905, he was one of the first to explore this beautiful area later to be part of the Pacific Crest Trail.
White's books were popular at a time when America was losing its vanishing wilderness. He was a keen observer of the beauties of nature and human nature, yet could render them in a plain-spoken style. Based on his own experience, whether writing camping journals or Westerns, he included pithy and fun details about cabin-building, canoeing, logging, gold-hunting, and guns and fishing and hunting. He also interviewed people who had been involved in the fur trade, the California gold rush and other pioneers which provided details that give verisimilitude. He salted in humor and sympathy for colorful characters such as canny Indian guides and "greenhorn" campers who carried too much gear. Theodore Roosevelt wrote White was "the best man with both pistol and rifle who ever shot" at Roosevelt's rifle range at Sagamore Hill.
Farquhar - Yosemite, The Big Trees and the High Sierras, #20: "This is an account of an actual trip in the Sierra made in 1905 by Steward Edward White and his wife Elizabeth, who, in the story is called 'Billy.' 'Wes' White, who accompanied them, was not related to the author. The Forest Ranger, not named in the book, was modeled upon Sam L. N. Ellis, of Tulare County. The White party camped at Roaring River and Explored Deadman and Cloud ('Cloudy' in the book) canyons. From the head of the former they took their stock across the divide into Lone Pine Meadow on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah. The name 'Elizabeth Pass,' given by Stewart Edward White for his wife, has been retained for the route now followed by the trail, a little to the west of the point crossed by the 1905 party. 'The Pass’ first appeared as a story in The Outing Magazine (March, April, and May, 1906) which displayed 22 illustrations from photographs, of which 13 were used for the book.”… (altro)

Green cloth with bright gilt titles to spine, pictorial front board with hiker entering woods, bold red titles to front board, top edge gilt. 17 black and white full page illustrations and color frontis by Thomas Fogarty.

Respected author of fiction and non-fiction on travel, adventure, natural history and the joys of an outdoor life, this book blends as a novel and observations on hiking, camping, and self-reliance in the great outdoors. There is much lore of the forest and good advice on packing and traveling light.… (altro)

Written the early 1907, this is a maritime mystery along the style of Jules Verne in writing and subject.

The Laughing Lass, an abandoned schooner, is found off the coast of a volcanic island in the South Pacific, by the U.S. cruiser Wolverine. There is no one aboard the ship, so the Wolverine’s captain puts a crew on board with the idea of bringing it back. The following day, that crew is missing.

The naval crew find a skiff with a survivor barely alive. He is brought aboard and the tale of the ship, its missing crew and all that happens is told by the survivor.

The tale is about the man who hired the ship for its mysterious voyage, the Laughing Lass crew of cutthroats and the fantastical happenings during the long months spent on the island. It is a tall tale that is told.

The style is verbose and liberally sprinkled with nautical terms. Someone up on old sailing vessels or has read books of this topic/style will understand them.

I did enjoy it and felt I had to finish it. Sometimes reading books from another era, on subjects I don’t normally read about, can make the little grey cells work a bit more.… (altro)