Description

In the spring of 1871 Ralph Waldo Emerson boarded a train in Concord Massachusetts bound for a monthandahalflong tour of Californiaan interlude that became one of the highlights of his life On their journey across the American West he and his companions would take in breathtaking vistas in the Rockies and along the Pacific Coast speak with a young John Muir in the Yosemite Valley stop off in Salt Lake City for a meeting with Brigham Young and encounter a diversity of communities and cultures that would challenge their Yankee prejudices

Based on original research employing newly discovered documents The California Days of Ralph Waldo Emerson maps the public story of this groups travels onto the private story of Emersons final years as aphasia set in and increasingly robbed him of his words Engaging and compelling this travelogue makes it clear that Emerson was still capable of wonder surprise and friendship debunking the presumed darkness of his last decade