New-York tribune., 1918-02-24
"The L. r. TraH" by Zanc GreV, pub
lisl1ed By Ha1per d Bros. $l.5O.

"1he u. p. Tral,' By Zanc Grey, pub
Hshed By Harper d: Bros. $l.5O.
THE inspiration, or rather kind OF
invitation, appears on one Of the
hyleavcs. 1t is framed in a para
graph from the pen OF Robert Louis Stew
enson and reads as follows:
When I think how the railroad
has been pushed through this unwatered will
derness and haunt of savage tribes; how at
each stage of the construction roaring, I'M
promptu cities, full Of gold and lust and
DEATH sprang up and then died away again
and are now but waysidc stations in the des-
ert; how in these uncouth places Chinese
pirates worked side by side with border rur
fans and broken men from Europe, gambling,
drinking. Guarrelling and numbering like
wolves; and then when ! 80 on to remember
that all this epical turmoil was conducted by
gentlemen in frock coats, with view to moth
ing more extraordinary than fortune and
subsequent visit to Paris--it seems to as
if this railway were the one typical achieve
mcnt of the age in which we live, as if it
brought together into one plot all the ends
of the world and all the degrees of social
rank, and offered to some great writer the
busiest the most extended and the most
varied subject for an enduring literary work
If it be romance, if it be contrast, if it be
heroism that require what Troy to
this 2"
And at the beginning Of his dedication
to Mr. Ripley Hitchcock the author OF
"The U. p Trail writes:
"Jn the light of my quotation from Steven
son it may be presumptuous for me to aspire
to tell the story of the building Of the
Union Pacific Railroad.
But many night by the campfire on the
starlit desert have ! listened to my old guide
Al Doyle. while he rccounted his experiences
as tcamster, grader, spiker and fighter during
the construction of that great work. It is
as though | had lived through the blood and
lust and death, the 'epica turmoil the
labor of giants, the heroism and sacrifice
Of this widest time in the opening of the
West
"For the romance. for the inspiration.
have my own love of wild desert, plain and
mountain; | have Doylo's stories Of sudden
death and terrible lust and alluring gold
unforgettable stories; and it seems as though
all the labor and violence and havoc of those
years have become embodied in my imagina-
ton"
z I NOW remains to discuss the measure
Il of success with which Zane Grey has
realized his own and the Stevenson ideal
In this connection and before quite get
ting to the immediate matter in hand it is
interesting to note q letter quoted by The
New York Tribune book reviewer, which
was sent to Mr.. Grey by an old Indian
woman living in Pennsylvania. She con-
fessed that until she came across his novels
she was in a condition OF booll-weariness.
She complained that the white mans books
were "altiical.' But of his own works
she said:
"In the desert you found your God You
clothed Him in the sun and the silence You
heard His voice in the wind-read His work
IN nature and measured His power in the
storm. He is not full grown-your God-bit
by bit you add to His glory, and His smile
ills your sodl with peace. | long to
see you attempt the BIG settings. They de-
mand the mystical language of the soul
YOU lave it very strong. You will write q
book of living flame (when YOUR God is full
grown. The dovry of the Indian blood prom
lses Nou brilliant future If Eou foster It
and follow where it leads Tou
viii get the plot for your story without men
tal effort while route a peculiar guidance
Will accompany every step Of the way 1t
VIII be a strange story, written By the silence
and by the SOUL
After quoting this remarkable document,
The Tribune said
"Mr. Grey has not yet written his book OF
living fame but something about The L. F.
Trail something about Ny Grey himself,
suggests that some day-not soon-the Indian
Woman's prophecy may be fulfilled The fact
that he is part Indian is revealed in the lnvs-
tical element in his work, in his passionate
love for the West.
''Io write story like 'rhe u P. Trail is a
real achievements 1t places Nh Grey among
the authors who know that We have a his
tory which is tremendously worth the telling
in fiction, and who have the insight and the
power to make the past a living reality"
The st. Louis Globe-Democrat, appar-
entity also reaching the decision that this
Is not the "book of living fame" suggests
that
"somc day some one viii write the great
american epic of the conquering of the West.
which Neihardt has shadowed forth in his
Songs Of Hugh Glass and when that is writ
ten tine gigantic task Of those men who
brought into communication the Atlantic and