www.hoofprints.com
  • Shopping Cart
  • Shopping Cart
  • 0 Items
  • |
  • $0.00
  • Login
  • Home
  • |
  • Shipping Charges
  • |
  • Blog
  • |
  • Customer Service
  • |
  • QUICK ORDER
  • |
  • View Cart
  • |
  • My Account
  • Request Catalog
  • Subscribe
Departments
  • MADE IN USA
  • ------ NEW ! -----
  • Valentine's Day Gift Ideas
  • 5 STAR CUSTOMER FAVORITES
  • SALE
    • ALMOST GONE!
    • Bizarre Bazaar
    • ALL Half Price/One of a Kind
    • Half Price Books & Magazines
    • Marked Down
    • Sale Jewelry
    • Sale Art
    • Sale Garments
    • Dollar Sale
  • COWGIRLS
  • HORSE LOVERS
    • Horsey Apparel
    • Horse Books
    • Calendars for Horse Lovers
    • Jewelry
    • Horse Art
    • Horsey Gift Ideas
    • Bad Attitude Products
    • Useful Stuff for Horse People
    • Horse Manure
    • Spiritual - Christian
    • Christmas
  • PURSES BAGS & TOTES
  • I TRAIN HORSES?
  • DONKEY LOVERS
  • BARN GIRL - AG WOMEN
  • EQUINE PROFESSIONALS
    • Farrier Apparel
    • Farrier Art
    • Farrier Gifts
    • Business Items
    • Educational
    • Signs and Magnets
  • DOG LOVERS
    • Dog Books
    • Dog Lovers Jewelry
    • Gifts for Dog Lovers
    • Dog Art
  • GREETING CARDS
    • Holiday Cards
    • Sympathy & Memorials
    • All Occasion Cards
  • HOOFPRINTS GUEST LODGE
  • View Cart
  • Account Info
  • Address Book
  • Find a Farrier
  • More About Us
  • Kind words from others
  • Funny stuff
  • Articles
  • Archives
Home  /   HORSE LOVERS  /  A Womans Place is on a Horse

The Ride of Her Life - The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse & Their Last-Chance Journey Across America

The Ride of Her Life - The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse & Their Last-Chance Journey Across America

Item Number: BKROHL
  Be the first to review this item
Unit Price: $27.95

The Ride of Her Life - The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts

Hardcover, 319 pages

Last of the Saddle Tramps book fans will be delighted with this well-researched story of author Mesannie Wilkins' life, and her cross country horseback adventure in the 1950s.

When Mesannie compiled her memories, notes and diaries into her book chronicling the 7,000 mile journey. She didn't tell it ALL. There was adversity: divorces, an abusive husband with a criminal record. A stint in vaudeville. The "Uncle" Waldo that she lived with until his passing and her subsequent decision to make her cross country ride - was a hired hand, not a relative. She rode a donkey to her job at a shoe store; the whole town called her "Jackass Annie" and not in a fond way...

Thanks to Elizabeth Letts' superb research, we now get to learn the rest of the story about this remarkable woman. Seeing the details that were omitted from her own telling of the story (details that were likely deemed unpalatable for 1960's readers) make us appreciate all the more what an extraordinary character that Annie (Mesannie) Wilkins really was.

Every page is filled with detail and trivia, fleshed out only as a best-selling author can do. We discover that early on in the trip, there was a run-in with the Humane Society. Her horse was examined from ears to tail, as was her short-legged Spaniel Depeche-Toi. She weighed 170+ pounds, was carrying a lot of gear, and the horse was only 14 hands.

We learn more about what happened after the ride ended in California. Surprisingly, other than archived newspaper articles, almost no physical evidence remains from Annie's journey. She sold postcards along the way, stayed in numerous homes and every chapter describes events where photographs were taken. I've never seen any of these items for sale on ebay, or documented online anywhere. I'm hoping this book of Elizabeth's makes the best-seller list as her others have - maybe some memorabilia from this remarkable adventure will resurface again.

Printed in USA.

Includes FREE Rider's Prayer Bookmark

Quantity 







 Detailed Description

The triumphant true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion

In 1954, sixty-three-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor’s advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men’s dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. Annie had little idea what to expect beyond her rural crossroads; she didn’t even have a map. But she did have her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness.

Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, rode straight into a world transformed by the rapid construction of modern highways. Between 1954 and 1956, the three travelers pushed through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by them at terrifying speeds. Annie rode more than four thousand miles, through America’s big cities and small towns. Along the way, she met ordinary people and celebrities—from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers—a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher. In a decade when car ownership nearly tripled, when television’s influence was expanding fast, when homeowners began locking their doors, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.





You may also like:

Cowboy Bandana Wild Rag 100% Silk Scarf
Cowboy Bandana Wild Rag 100% Silk Scarf
Set of 4 Anna Blake Books
Set of 4 Anna Blake Books
Land of the Horses - A True Story of a Lost Soul and a Life Found by Chris Lombard *NEW!*
Land of the Horses - A True Story of a Lost Soul and a Life Found by Chris Lombard *NEW!*
On the Hoof - Pacific to Atlantic, A 3,800 Mile Adventure by Jesse Alexander McNeil *NEW!*
On the Hoof - Pacific to Atlantic, A 3,800 Mile Adventure by Jesse Alexander McNeil *NEW!*
Tough by Nature - Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West Coffee Table Book
Tough by Nature - Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West Coffee Table Book
Faux Sheepskin Trapper Hat
Faux Sheepskin Trapper Hat
Buffalo Plaid Flannel Shirt Jacket
Buffalo Plaid Flannel Shirt Jacket
  • Company Information
  • Shipping Charges
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Testimonials
  • Site Map
  • My Account
  • Login / Register
  • View Cart
  • Customer Service
  • Blog
  • Returns
  • Customer Service
Order Management System powered by MOM and SiteLINK7

HoofPrints - Farriers Greeting Cards - 13849 N 200 E  Alexandria, IN 46001 - Phone 765-724-7004