Charles F. Lummis tells of an America long departed, when the western and southern frontiers were wilderness, nature untrammeled and settlers rugged in the face of unforgiving conditions.
Written as a retrospective of the adventurer's youth, A Tramp Across the Continent, through its varied events and encounters, transports the reader to an era lost to time. The tale begins in 1884, when the author - disgruntled and unhappy with the tedium of everyday life - sets off from Ohio with the intention of reaching California on foot. His trek, spanning some 3,500 miles and 144 days, is filled with joy, pain and lessons aplenty.
The author traverses several of North America's most distinctive landscapes; the bare Midwestern plains, the rugged Rocky Mountains, the deserts of Arizona, and finally the valleys and hills of California. It is the people however which make the journey of Lummis so unique; he is accosted by outlaws multiple times, but evades robbery with a combination of sheer bravado and his trusty revolver.
While the author reflects on the people and landscapes he traverses, his narrative proceeds at a good pace. Whether Lummis is watching mean convicts do hard labor in the sun or partaking in the happy fiestas of local Mexican migrants, his descriptions are lively and evocative. Surprises are frequently in store; relying sometimes on mere prejudice, the young Lummis is surprised to be welcomed by those he felt would shun him, and cast out from places he'd assumed hospitable.
