A Typed Fourteen-Page Manuscript Of A 1932 Automobile Driving Tour Through The American West In Cadillacs

WATERS, L. H. [TOUR DIRECTOR]

Publication: Unknown Tour Participant, 1932, Various Locations

The typed travelogue of a participant in a driving tour of the American West that journeyed from Virginia to California and back again in Cadillac cars. The tour, which was directed by Mr. L. H. Waters, left Richmond on June 27, 1932. On the tour the author saw many major tourist attractions of both the natural and man-made varieties. Those mentioned and described include Biltmore Estate, the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, the city of Albuquerque, assorted Southwestern Native American sites, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest in Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Las Vegas (before it became the entertainment and gambling destination that it is today), the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Yellowstone and other nearby natural monuments, and Pike's Peak in Colorado, among others. The group also ventured across the Mexican border to visit Tijuana. It is clear that the author was much taken with the natural wonders visible in the west, as the manuscript describes those with evident awe and at much greater length than the other destinations: "... On westward towards the setting sun we visited the world-famous Painted Desert stretching across hundreds of acres, before the eyes is the world's most magnificent palette, with the colors already mixed. It is a breath-taking vision that bursts on one's sight. As far as one can see colors mingle and glow. With each hour, as the light changes in the sky, so change the colors of this wonderland. It is truly the foot of the rainbow ... The Grand Canyon is truly one of the world's greatest spectacles. And in its power to rouse the emotion of the looker-on, to stupefy or to exhilarate, it has no equal of any kind anywhere, unless it be the starry firmament itself. In the bewildering glory of its gorgeous coloring, the rim of the Grand Canyon is one of the stillest places on earth, even when it is crowded with people ... Its [Yellowstone's] phenomena and beauty make one want to tarry beyond the time ... We then drove to the top of Pikes Peak over the 'World's Highest Highway' running through the Pike National Forest, to the very tip-top point of Pike's Peak. This is undoubtedly the grandest scenic highway in the [sic] world. The intrepidity of thought which conceived and the daring which achieved such a road almost overwhelm even the most thoughtless. While the sensation and exhileration [sic] of looking from the mountain on countless miles of the earth's surface is in itself well worth the trip, the great beauty and wonder of it is the way in which this road climbs up and around mountains in its ascent to the summit; turning, twisting, winding ... views that make one's heart swell with the joy of merely living and having eyes with which to see the wondrous beauties of the world ..." The manuscript is in very good condition with folds and minor toning and rust on the first page.

Inventory Number: 52315