Ruxton of the Rockies: Autobiographical Writings by the Author of Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains and Life in the Far West Volum

I did not give this book five stars for two reasons. First, there were no maps to guide one along as to his whereabouts and second, Chapter 2 (and the first few pages of Chapter 3) was so long and monotonous I almost put it down. I'm glad I did continue reading though, as this was one heck of a book! George Frederick Ruxton was a restless young man from England who traveled to Spain (the boring chapter), Ireland, Africa, Canada, Mexico and finally to the American West in the 1840's. His writing is so vivid, descriptive and lifelike as to what it was like in those days, it's as if you were traveling right along next to him suffering from the intense, bitter cold of a Rocky Mountain winter, to shooting buffalo, deer and big horn sheep for food, getting his mules across frozen rivers, dodging Indians and renegade Mexicans, descibing geological landforms, along with the flora, fauna and local people he encounters. It is sad that he died at such a young age, his name may have been amongst the literary giants. His "Life in the Far West" and "Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains" are classics now. I enjoyed the book. A page turner (after chapter 2)!

unique writings on what the early west was like, through the eyes of a sopisticated European beholder, Ruxton, a former military attache to Paris, comments on the various tribes, and, interestingly, gives his opinions on the taste of its game. His favorite: panther... Next: beaver and its tail. Unfortunately lacks maps.