Westering Man

 Westering Man: The Life of Joseph Walker by Bil Gilbert is a fascinating portrait of a life, a territory, and an era. The titular character was one of the great mountain men, and his story spans from Tennessee to California, from 1798 to 1876. Walker was an extraordinary explorer, but he was not given to self-promotion. He rarely wrote down anything he did, so big periods of his life are more or less lost to history. This actually makes for good reading, because Gilbert is then forced to explain the economic, military, anthropological, geologic, and historical forces in the largely indigenous American West. In other words, you may not know exactly what Walker did in New Mexico in 1820, but you'll learn a lot about that region in that time. Biographical inferences can be drawn from these details. Gilbert is thorough and engaging: the book is rich in facts but reads more like good reportage than a textbook.

Joseph Walker was the first white man to see large swaths of the continent. He was the first European to see Yosemite, for example. He found gold in Arizona. He led the first Americans overland to the California Coast. He has a Sierra pass named for him, along with a Nevada river and lake. He discouraged the Donner Party from taking the Hastings Cutoff. He maintained amicable relations with myriad Native American tribes, Mexican governors, British trappers, and ex-Confederate soldiers. Reading Westering Man, I spent a good deal of time reflecting on places I've traveled to and through. I thought of Utah, Arizona, Missouri. The east side of the Sierras, there in Owens Valley between Mt. Whitney and the Panamint Range, especially came to mind. I'm traveling to Death Valley this November. I know that as I drive down 395, the view bright and arid and open, I'll be thinking of Joseph Walker.