Isabella Bird

Isabella Bird: The Well-Educated World Traveler Isabella Bird is not a modern-day author; she lived in the 1800s, and traveled the world as a single, brave woman who wrote about her adventures in letters back to her sister in England. In A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, Bird collected her travel letters from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. She bought a horse, traveled alone, and found places to board at the local houses and farms along the way. Bird stayed at Estes Park, Denver, Colorado Springs, and crossed over many mountain passes. In time she became famous for her ability to endure bad trails and bad weather. Perhaps most important is the way Bird described the environment, competing forces of nature, and human behavior patterns in unpredictable Colorado. The travelogue is as much about her as the places she visited, and it stands as an important historical record of the people and geography of Colorado. It is fascinating to read about her attitudes and reactions to people she met, as much as the places she visited. Bird discussed weather and climate, geography and landforms, and plants and animals in such a way that makes the audience feel as if they are traveling right along with her. And, as she did with nature, Bird found the people and cultures of Colorado just as confusing as they were intriguing. She discussed her thoughts on men, women, families, ethnic groups, communities, and violence. During her travel, Isabella Bird encountered bizarre weather and climate patterns that both thrilled and irritated her. At one moment she would face danger in the form of inclement weather, and the next moment she would encounter sunshine and warmth.