Compulsively Aimless

Given the time, I would roam every back road of the America.  In planning for that day, I collected some references guides to take with me.  Here's a short list.   1.  A Field Guide to America's History, Douglass L. Brownstone (1984).   A reference guide showing where to look at the land to find man-made footprints across America complete with a glossary and bibliography.  Bought used at BJ's Books, Warrenton, VA 2.  The Lost Towns & Roads of America: A Journey Revealing Early America Still Here Today, J.R. Humphreys (1961).  Humphries set out from the Atlantic Highlands of New Jersey westward across the country to following Indian and pioneer trails through the midwest and southwest all the way to Spanish settlements along the California coast.    Map of journey on inside boards.  Extensive black and white photos.  Bought used somewhere. 3.  America's Architectural Roots: Ethnic Groups that Built Amer...

Lewis and Clark opened the American way west.   They inspired our romance with traveling west.  Over two hundred years later, Americans have created a ritual of road trips west.   1.  The Journals of Lewis and Clark, edited by Bernard DeVoto (1953).    The title says it all.  From St. Louis to the Pacific and back.  Edited by the great western historian DeVoto.  Bought used but can't remember where.  2.  Lewis and Clark: Historic Places Associated with the Transcontinental Exploration, edited by Robert Ferris (1975).   A modern retracing compiled by the National Park Service.  Complete with black and white pictures, maps, and paintings.  Bought used somewhere.   3.  Undaunted Courage: Merriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, Stephen E. Ambrose (1996).    Best seller that provides the full text of the adventure from beginning to the e...

Every bibliophile sooner or later gravitates toward some topic that defines who they are.  Roads west were one of my first interests.  In 1919, my maternal grandfather found three foolhardy friends and drove from Ohio to California in a 1915 FIAT.  This was still an adventure and in the days when there were still essentially wagon trails and very few paved roads.  I was captivated by the journal he left behind and retraced the trip 70 years later and tried to publish a book about the adventure.  The book never made it into print but the interest in roads west has always been strong.  I keep thinking I'll return to it and finish the job of publishing a book on my westward retracing.   1.  The Oregon Trail, Francis Parkman, Illustrated by Thomas Hart Benton (1946).   A classic story of pioneers pulled westward.  The Oregon trail set the scene for others to come west.  Parkman himself lived among native American tribes for a summer ...