4 Preface 



they shall not be pushed and jammed and crowded 

 after they are dead. 



We Americans stand for liberty, and have wasted 

 no end of windy rhetoric in extolling our quality 

 and quantity of it, and then journey for our pleas- 

 ure to where we are hedged about with customs and 

 manners, limitations and restrictions, which are as 

 absurd as they are annoying. Fortunately, the best 

 things in life are not purchasable; they would not 

 be best things if they were. Among them are vaca- 

 tions, which are sweetened and spiced with a little 

 money, such as one can afford, but gravied by a 

 great deal. Discontent is a good thing. It makes 

 us go, as fuel does the locomotive ; but overcharged 

 with it, we do nothing but sizzle and smoke. 



Our Atlantic mountain ranges are replete with 

 lovely scenery and a most interesting people. Our 

 northern frontiers and Canada are jeweled with 

 lakes as beautiful as the sun shines on, shadowed 

 with noble forests and laced with lovely streams. 

 The Pacific ranges, from our southern borders to 

 the Arctics, are made up of clusters of peaks, cas- 

 cades, interlocked lakes, glaciers, and forests which 

 have no rivals in Europe. The canons of the 

 Yellowstone, Colorado, and Yosemite need not be 

 described. For uniqueness, brilliancy of colors, 

 and grandeur, they have no rivals that are known or 

 accessible. Nor need I speak of the astonishing 

 beauty and strangeness of the Yellowstone National 

 Park. To Alaska no description can do justice. It 



