“He touched my eyes with gladness, with balm of morning dews,
On the topmost rim He set me, ’mong the hills of Santa Cruz,
And I saw the sunlit ocean sweep, I saw the vale below—
The Vale of Santa Clara in a sea of blossomed snow.”
About This Book
A travel narrative tracing a motor journey across the western frontier from New Mexico toward British Columbia, blending vivid landscape description, encounters with frontier communities and Native pueblos, and practical observations on routes, road conditions, agriculture, mining, and local industries. The author intersperses personal adventure anecdotes with guidebook-style information about climates, land values, and resources, and portrays the continuing presence of pioneer livelihoods—pack trains, ranching, prospecting—alongside emerging coastal development and orchards. Chapters alternate regional sketches, cultural notes, and travel advice, offering both evocative scenes and factual material for prospective settlers and adventurous motorists.