"A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" by Isabella L Bird (1831 - 1904) represents a series of the author’s letters to her sister, written during her journey to Colorado. In a six-month period of time she covered over a thousand miles alone, riding a horse, often without any appointed destination. The book is actually a detailed record of this fascinating experience filled with beautiful, vivid descriptions of the scenery, the people she met, their way of life. Among others was "Rocky Mountain Jim" Nugent, a rough man, whom she portrayed as an "awful looking a ruffian as one could see”, but who became her guide and companion, and appears in the book in a romantic outlook. A well brought-up young lady, she rode through the American West, wearing Hawaiian riding dress, climbed mountains and helped with grazing.