A Tenderfoot in Colorado (Timberline Books) - Softcover

Townshend, Richard Baxter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0870819380 ISBN 13: 9780870819384

Publisher: University Press of Colorado, 2008

Synopsis

Now back in print, A Tenderfoot in Colorado is R. B. Townshend's classic account of his time in the wild frontier territory known as Colorado. Townshend arrived in the Rockies in 1869, fresh from Cambridge, England, with $300 in his pockets.

He found friends among some of Colorado's more colorful characters, people who taught him much about life on the frontier. Jake Chisolm taught him how to shoot after rescuing him from two men preparing to skin him at poker. Wild Bill of Colorado taught him the meaning of "the drop" and warned him against wearing a gun in town unless he wanted trouble. Capturing the Western vernacular more accurately than any other writer, Townshend includes vivid details of life in the West, where he killed a buffalo, prospected for gold, and was present for the official government conference with the Ute Indians after gold was discovered on their lands.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Baxter Townshend prowled the eastern Rockies and Upper Arkansas for five years before starting a cattle ranch near present-day Colorado Springs. When he recognized the oncoming threat of the homesteader to his way of life, he sold his land and returned to England, where he settled at Wadham College. There he spent his days playing golf and tennis, practicing his shooting, and fascinating his countrymen with the stories found in this volume.

Review:

"[A] bright, authentic eye-winess account of Colorado's rip-roaring past."
-Tom Noel, The Denver Post

"This book was fun to read... If you're at all curious as to what Colorado was like before civilization started to dominate the place, you'll enjoy these tales."
-Ed Quillen, Colorado Central Magazine

"Townshend. . . . conveys these tales of frontier life with a keen ear for vernacular speech. He leaves readers with a sense of eavesdropping on history-in-the-making, which is no small accomplishment."
-Bruce J. Dinges, Journal of Arizona History

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0870819380
• ISBN 13: 9780870819384
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304