Across America on an Emigrant Train
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Jim Murphy |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin (Trade) |
| An account of Robert Louis Stevenson’s twelve day journey from New York to California in 1879, interwoven with a history of the building of the transcontinental railroad and the settling of the West. | |
In the summer of 1879, the young writer Robert Louis Stevenson received a telegram from America. Fanny, a dear friend in California, was ill. Stevenson packed his bags and left his home in Scotland. When the steamer reached the east coast of America, his journey had just begun. Stevenson had little money, so he traveled across America the cheapest way: he went by train. The trip from New York to Monterey, California, would take two exciting weeks.
As the train chugged up mountains, through Indian territory, and over trestle bridges, Stevenson recorded his impressions of the rough, vast country and the people he met. Jim Murphy weaves a lively account of Stevensons journey with fascinating glimpses of the construction of the transcontinental railroad. It is a vivid introduction to one of the most important chapters in the history of the American West.
