Inspired by the sheer rawness of the west, Isabella Bird paints a vivid verbal scenery of the joys and hardships she encountered during her travels through the Rocky Mountains. Her descriptions of the land, the air, and the sounds of the wilds are utterly factual, yet ravishing. The mesmerizing letters to her sister relate unpredictable anecdotes of eating nothing but raisins for fourteen hours, and of a blond-ringlet, one-eyed desperado suitor called "Rocky Mountain Jim." While she doesn't paint a rosy picture of everyone and everything, she nonetheless celebrates Colorado in its purest and most powerful state.
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains began as a series of magazine articles solicited by Leisure Hour. Published in book form in October 1879, it sold out within a week.