Last of the Saddle Tramps

Rating:
Summary: The Courage to ride
Review: At the age of 62 it seemed that Mesannie Wilkins had reached the end of the road. Her farm was about to be repossessed by the bank and the doctors had giver her less than two years to live.
She was told to take it easy. Friends and relatives invited her to stay with them for the brief time left to her. But Mesannie refused to go quietly. With her last bit of money she bought Tarzan, an ex-summer camp horse, and with only 32 dollars left in her pocket set out, on horseback, from her home in Maine.

Her goal - California.

"Last of the Saddle Tramps" is Mesannie Wilkins' recollection of this 7000 mile journey. This tale is a wonderful mixture of the humorous horsey incidents (like her Tennessee Walker trying to walk back to Tennessee), the incredible physical hardships and the wonderful hospitality offered to her by her fellow Americans during the ride.
Mesannie Wilkins' style of writing is, much like herself, warm, humorous and unassuming. She has a wonderful gift for, with only a few lines, painting accurate images of the people encountered on the trail.
Most importantly, however, this is a tale of the incredible courage of one woman who, faced with seemingly unsurmountable odds, refused to give up on her life and her dream. Mesannie Wilkins is a true inspiration, today as much as during her lifetime.