This is the autobiography of a man who traveled through early California and the Southwest in the 1800's. How did we find the story of James O. Pattie? Through a remarkable stroke of luck.
An anonymous traveler passed through Cincinnati one day in 1830, and the local newspaper carried a story about him. The man was identified only as "a passenger who arrived yesterday from Vera Cruz," and the story contained a few of the man's vague, political comments about Mexico.
Had they taken the time to interview him, his stories would have filled an entire newspaper. His name was James O. Pattie, and he had just returned from wandering in the almost unknown territory between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.
But, at a bookstore on Main Street, the owner Timothy Flint, was interested in Pattie's stories. Flint, once a missionary and minister, had given up religion in favor of writing, editing, and bookselling. By 1830 Flint was a well-known author, and he was particularly interested in the West.
Josiah Johnston, the US senator from Louisiana, shared that interest and he had arrived in Cincinnati just the day before.
One month before landing in Cincinnati, Pattie was on his way home from California by way of Mexico. He was so broke that he couldn't keep going upriver to Kentucky. Senator Johnston heard of Pattie's trouble, and offered to pay his fare on the same steamboat he was taking to Cincinnati.
Once there, the senator introduced young Mr. Pattie to the bookstore owner and writer, Timothy Flint. Pattie sailed back home to Augusta, Kentucky, but one year later he went back to Cincinnati and the bookstore. Work began on this narrative, and was published one year later.
Here you have the first-hand account of a daring and brash young man who set off into the unknown and brought back a treasure chest of tales.
Enjoy!
General Editor of Mountain Man Classics, Win Blevins, has received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement in writing about the West. He has also been inducted into the Western Writer's Hall of Fame.
"Win Blevins has long since won his place among the West's very best." Tony Hillerman on 'Give Your Heart to the Hawks.'
"Blevins possesses a rare skill in masterfully telling a story to paper. He is a true storyteller in the tradition of Naïve people." Lee Francis, Native American Studies, UNM
"Blevins shows us the glory years of frontier life, fresh and rich." Kirkus Reviews on a book from Win's Rendezvous Series, 'Beauty for Ashes'
"One of the finest novels to come out of the American West in a long time. An amazing book, grandly conceived and beautifully written." Dallas Morning News on 'Stone Song, The Story of Crazy Horse.'
