Elizabeth Letts researched the story of Annie Wilkins, a Maine resident, who decided in 1954, at the age of 63, to ride horseback across the U.S. to see the Pacific Ocean. Wilkins referred to herself as a saddle tramp and made a circuitous route from New England to Los Angeles--in part because she never looked at a complete map of the US and relied on state maps from gas stations and advice from folks she met along the way. You'll root for Annie, her horses Tarzan, Rex, and King, and her sweet dog, Depeche Toi (Hurry Up in English), as they endure winter storms, crossing the Great Basin, dealing with speeding traffic along the roads, a flash flood, and human and equine illnesses. And she meets Andrew Wyeth and Art Linkletter along the way!
Publisher's description:
In 1954, Annie Wilkins, a sixty-three-year-old farmer from Maine, embarked on an impossible journey. She had no relatives left, she'd lost her family farm to back taxes, and her doctor had just given her two years to live--but only if she "lived restfully." He offered her a spot in the county's charity home. Instead, she decided she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean just once before she died. She bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men's dungarees, loaded up her horse, and headed out from Maine in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. She had no map, no GPS, no phone. But she had her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness. Between 1954 and 1956, Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, journeyed more than 4,000 miles, through America's big cities and small towns, meeting 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 who loved animals as much as she did. As Annie trudged through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by her at terrifying speeds, she captured the imagination of an apprehensive Cold War America. At a time when small towns were being bypassed by Eisenhower's brand-new interstate highway system, and the reach and impact of television was just beginning to be understood, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.