"A fascinating and highly readable account of a fragment of American history that is not widely known."—The New York Times
"If you are looking for a gift for the outdoorsman, Adventures in the Wilderness is one you can be quite sure will not be exchanged."—The Conservationist
"Gives a revealing view of the history of the conservation movement in America."—The Quarterly Review of Biology
William H. H. Murray wrote his celebrated book in the spring of 1869 to introduce city-dwellers to the rewards of camping in the wilderness. Thousands of tourists streamed to the Adirondacks that summer in what was known as “Murray’s Rush.” Unfortunately, most had not read the book carefully, and that summer was unusually wet and cold. The result was an enormous outcry against Murray and his “lies,” to which he responded with vigor in an article published in the New-York Daily Tribune, October 23, 1869, and included here.
William H. H. Murray was a prominent Boston clergyman, horse breeder, and camping enthusiast.
William K. Verner is Director of the Schenectady Museum and Planetarium.
Warder H. Cadbury teaches philosophy at the State University of New York at Albany and is an authority on Murray.
May 1989