The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1878-05-31
Western wilds, and The Men who Redeem

WtsteTH WIur, anu lho hcu WIN IteueV"
Them. An Authentic Narrative, Embra-
cling an Account of Seven Years Travel
and Adventure in the Far West by j. II.
Beadle, Author of "Liie in Utah; !" West
ern correspondent Cincinnati Commercial,
etc, illustrated. Jones Brothers & Co.
Cincinnati, Chicago, Philadelphia. 1873.
Mr.. Beadle may fairly be regarded as the
writer of some of the most attractive litera-
ture of the day. "Western Wilds" opens
with the commencement of the authors ro-
wing life in 1868, and accompanies him
through all his many thousands of miles of
travel on foot, on horseback, bv canoe, dug.
out and wagon train, and every means Of
locomotion known to civilized and uncivili-
zed man, among savage Indians and no less
savage white men, upon tours of observation
in the wilds of mountain, plain and desert,
and through adventures whose recital causes
the heart to throb, and the blood to leap
with accelerated momentum, and brings the
record down to the death of Brigham Young,
and the precarious fortunes of his tottering
hierarchy.
Intertwined with personal observations of
men, things and localities, all of which are
attractively presented, the lights and shades
of incident and hazardous enterprise appear
to relieve the work of any suspicion of hea-
viness, and at the same time add many of
its distinguishing charms. Some of the
noteworthy adventures are in the varied ex-
perence of the author, but more were gath
cred from the lips of scouts, hunters, ran
gers, and the men and women upon the
frontier with whom he came in conta"t, and
they make up series of haps and mishaps,
comic, tragic and dramatic, which will be
read and re-read by American fresdes for
many years to come, aud always with in
terest.
western Wilds" treats of the peculiar
institutions of the Mormon settlements the
habits and customs of various Indian tribes
the trials, dangers and supersttions of pros
pectors; mining life, with glance at its
perils, s,.profts and disappointments; exciting
adventures of well-known scouts; the Nor.
mon war; the Mountain Meadow Massacre,
or which John d. Lee was tried, found
guilty and shot; the life of General Custer
the dead prophet, with sketch of his life
and numerous heresies beside an array of
other facts, incidents and happenings. This
ought to be enough to insure pleasing va.
riety.
Several we'll known names are tasseleC
with the stigma of unaduterated wickedness
by the simple relation of facts; occasionally
a hero is rescued from obscurity and set upon
a modest pedestal for the admiration of his
countrymen but the narratives are simple
and progressive, convincing with their inhe
rent truthfuluess and total absence of egotisn
and affectation We haye never examined
a work upon the subjects treated by this, 81
free from technicaites, so true to nature
and So well calculated to fascinate the atten
ton of all classes of readers.
1t is royal octave volume OF 624 pages
elegantly printed and bound. Its illustra
tions, of which there are l27, are the fines
we ever saw in a work for popular sale, an
they are remarkably effective in elucidatin
the text. "Western Wilds" will be eagerl
purchased wherever the English language
read.