Could You Ride a HORSE from Maine to California???
Friends! This week in Louisville is Spring Break and our friends and family are traveling all over the world, quite literally. (Some of our family is in Naples, Florida, while some are in AMSTERDAM, other friends are in ROME and FLORENCE, just for example.). Spring fever seems to be striking lots of folks, yours truly included, so I thought I’d share with you a wildly fun read should you need an escape of the finest kind: a good book!
This past winter, I read an intriguing article about author Elizabeth Letts. She was coming to speak at a lecture series in Naples, Florida. The article showcased several of her books, all of which sounded interesting, but one in particular JUMPED off the page at me. See what you think:
THE RIDE OF HER LIFE: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts
Sadly, we weren’t going to be in town to hear her speak, however you’d be stunned to know I promptly ordered the book! One of our daughters-in-love, Diana, a/k/a “Sweet D,” is an avid horseback rider and jumper, so I sent her a picture of three of Elizabeth’s books. Sure enough she’d read The Eighty Dollar Champion.
Checkout the below covers too and then we’ll get to riding across the United States on horseback with dog in tow!!!!
While I’m not an avid horseback rider (Please don’t ask me about the time a horse took off with me when I was young, I’m still not over it…), the entire concept of Elizabeth’s book intrigued me. Also, because this is a Christian website (!!!), I’ll not reveal Annie’s nickname, LOL, so let’s just call her Annie.
I’d immediately dub her “The very definition of a major whippersnapper…”, but that’s too long of a moniker. And, whippersnappers are usually young, whereas Annie was not, which makes the book that much more fascinating.
Elizabeth tells us Annie called herself a tramp. She declared, “I go forth as a tramp of fate among strangers.” Elizabeth adds, “Society has called these people by different names: vagabonds and drifters, pilgrims, hoboes, and hippies.”
Regardless, reading about Annie and her travels will cause your mouth to drop on more than one occasion. And, because this all took place in the 50’s, most folks invited her in to their homes to stay with them, rather than let her camp along the road. Plus if they had a barn, they’d offer it to her horse.
Stranger Danger was an unknown phrase back then causing us readers to say, “Those were the days!” That’s what makes this book so heartwarming.
The other point that appealed to me about this book is it’s all based on an absolutely true account of Annie’s experience. She hailed from Minot, Maine. She road her horse, with dog in tow, all the way to California at the ripe age of sixty-two….
Elizabeth, the author, drove more than 10,000 miles across the country researching and documenting as many details as she could find about Annie’s journey. She hunted down old gas station maps and stayed on back roads. She said, “The old America is still there; you just have to know how to look for it.” (You can tell from reading the Notes in the back of the book how thorough Elizabeth was with her research.)
Early into the book, we learn Annie is stricken with tuberculosis. In those days, that was a death sentence and her doctor told her as much. She had no money, no relatives, she works herself nearly to death (all of this is quite sad) until she somehow gets the notion to go see California before she dies. The dangling carrot of hope fuels her quest…
Annie buys a horse, outfits it with an old saddle she had, and ties a very long clothesline to her dog’s collar, who incidentally, had never been on a leash before. I immediately thought, “Oh, well, let’s see how THIS rolls!”
For all of you Frenchies out there, you’ll be amused to meet Annie’s dog who’s named Depeche-Toi. I should’ve named at least one of our children this— it means “hurry up.” Just makes me chuckle over and over and over again!
Equally amusing, Annie’s horse is named Tarzan. She pretty much trains him as they go. Fortunately he doesn’t put the breaks on a lot, however when trucks pass, he can be unpredictable. Not to mention the fact that Depeche Toi’s clothesline could become tangled up with Tarzan and unraveling the two became a more-than-once occurrence, much to Annie’s dismay.
Soon word spread of Annie’s adventure and folks in towns she approached came out to greet her. They gave her mail people had sent, offering her grand hospitality. Never considering herself a celebrity, Annie was becoming one more and more with each city she visited. Newspapers called her “The Widow Wilkins.”
One of a boatload of examples is when Annie and crew arrived in Spencer, Massachusetts. A riding club met her and offered her a stable for Tarzan and a place to spend the night for Annie and Depeche Toi. Elizabeth tells us, “A love for horses transcends all boundaries, and Annie felt instantly at home with this gaggle of friendly riders.”
While Annie presses onward, inventions are popping up across the country such as the television and the rotary dial telephone. (This was in 1954.) Elizabeth offers such fun snippets of history along the way which makes Annie’s journey that much more fun. You won’t believe some other items included—items we’ve long taken for granted that sprang up during Annie’s trip.
Did you know it was Ann Landers who said,
Wonder what Ann would think of this day and time??? All we see are peoples’ heads down scrolling on their cell phones…
As you can imagine, Annie’s westward expedition isn’t always smooth sailing. Rain, sleet and snow impede her travel, coupled with sometimes frigid temps and sometimes scorching ones. Plus her tuberculosis rears its ugly head from time to time, along with other setbacks. As God would orchestrate, a doctor all but appears out of nowhere at the appropriate time.
I loved it when Annie passes thru’ Kentucky. You’ll recognize many of her stops. Checkout one of many favorite quotes:
“Now Annie and her companions might as well have landed with a bump in the Land of Oz. The highway between Paris and Lexington was one of Kentucky’s most beautiful, lined on both sides with some of the country’s most prestigious and well-kept Thoroughbred farms. As they rode along this quiet two-lane road, they passed stone antebellum mansions set well back from the road. Stone fences that reminded her of the ones back in Maine lined the roadway, and ornate wrought-iron gates set off well-manicured pastures and long driveways. Rolling out in front of each mansion were large green pastures, with horses in every one.”
Can’t you picture that? I’m telling you , this is such a fun read! You’ll even learn a fun fact or two about Dixie Highway…and President Lincoln, among other tidbits to entertain you.
Finally, let me close with a favorite quote from Elizabeth’s Acknowledgments:
So friends, did Annie make it all the way to California? Will she live to see it? Do people keep tracking her down, interviewing her, writing about her in the newspapers and even inviting her on famous tv shows? (Would you believe Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx for starters???) How many thousands of miles will she cover?
You know where to find the answers to these questions: Run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and grab The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America. You’ll want to tell all your friends about it!
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”