Over the years, Colorado has attracted its share of literary vagabonds, but none have described the state in such eloquent prose as those who visited the area during its early years. Included in this volume are the impressions of eleven legendary writers, from the hilarious diatribe of a young Rudyard Kipling to the extensive narrative of a mature Walt Whitman. Whether with Horace Greeley in the new-born city of Denver, touring William Palmer's Glen Eyrie with English women's rights advocate Emily Faithfull, or on the trail with Zane Grey outside of Meeker, these essays provide a first-hand look at Colorado as it progressed from a disputed Mexican province to a state on the verge of opening its wilderness for discovery by an eager American public.