Between the Covers

Softcover. Two volumes. Original typescript logs of adventures undertaken by a group of young men along the Illinois-Iowa border, the first on foot, the other by boat, both interspersed with original black and white photographs and two cyanotypes. The photos are clear and well-executed. Descriptions as follows:

1. *Log Book of the Ankle Express, August 15-20, 1912*. Gray paperwraps, cloth tape spine, with title printed on the front cover, and a small cut-out photo of the "Ankle Express" knapsack carried by the group. Measuring 8.25" x 6". [41], (2) pp. of typescript, rectos only, approximately 7000 words, with 35 photos laid down (30 incorporated in the text; five on two pages at the end). Laid in are two small "calling cards," with Richmond's name penned in stylized script; Richmond's bookplate tipped in to the inside of the front cover.

The first log book describes a hike by Paul James Richmond and three of his friends, from Lacon, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa from August 15-20, 1912. The group of four (apparently high school friends), calling itself the "Ankle Express" journeyed by foot, and occasionally via a friendly auto ride to their destination, a trip of some 114 miles.

Both the journals are by Richmond, though only the second one bears his name under the title. He is probably also responsible for much of the photography, showing candid scenes of the group and the people and places they encounter along the way. Richmond and his friends A.T. Stephens, A.W. Ford, and B.B. Grieves embarked on their "Ankle Express" hike in the summer of 1912. Each man had an accompanying title and description of their responsibilities: "Captain" Stephens was to "command all hikes," "Admiral" Richmond was "the official route finder." Richmond's brother Lyle was to meet them at the end of the hike. An itinerary of the small towns they pass through each day is given on an introductory page: Sparland, Lundy ["At last we came to the corner that on the map was represented as the town, but no church spire or broad boulevards greeted our eyes. Not even a solitary country store. A great heap of ashes overgrown with grass and littered with broken bottles was all there was to be seen of the city..."], Whitefield Corners, Lombardville, Geneseo, etc. In the town of Bradford, at about 26 miles, they stop for ice cream and to bolster their provisions. Supper time finds them halting a few miles down the road: “Wood was chopped, water brought and soon our meal was well under way. Clerk Ford, while frying some bacon, awoke to the fact that a red hot coal was eating its way thru his right hind running gear.” Night was passed under a hedge between two fields. On the third day out, they accept a short ride in a Lambert car, as far as Atkinson. A photo of the car and crew accompanies the text. Finally, on Sunday, determined to have a nice dinner, they "liberate" a chicken from a farmyard and tuck him into a pail for safe-keeping. Shortly afterward they accept a ride from a Father Foley from Geneseo, who is a bit suspicious of the noises coming from the pail, but says nothing. Richmond prints the menu from their feast that day, including "Chicken a la Real Estate." Photos show the skyline of Davenport and Rock Island, and a group picture in front of the statue of Black Hawk. Three of the four adventurers sign their names on the final leaf of text.

2. *The Lucky Devils*. Plain brown stiff paperwraps, cloth tape spine. Measuring 8.25" x 6". [3], 38pp., rectos only, approximately 6000 words, with 25 photos pasted in, incorporated with the text. Laid in are two photo illustrated cards of the Lacon Public School, and one small black and white photo of the school.

The second journal describes a canoe trip down the Cedar River to Columbus Junction from March 23-27, 1919. Richmond and his five college friends, calling themselves the "Lucky Devils," took a canoe and a "borrowed" scow down the river during their spring break from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Illinois.

On the second trip in 1919, Richmond is accompanied by his college friends Glenn Browning, Burt Hogle, Scoop Hedges, Clair Lahman, and Sam Gaston. “Browning ... landed on the campus one fine day in the garb of a second Lieu’ie and knocked us most blind with the shine on those spotless boots of his.” Still he was ready to take the canoe trip during spring vacation. Along with a canoe belonging to Richmond, and the liberated scow, they head down the Cedar River during their spring break. Intent on augmenting their supplies with some hunting, they try several times to shoot ducks, to no avail. Richmond injures his thumb when his gun kicks back, "the only mishap on the whole, with the exception of when Brownie droped [sic] the axe on his ukulele and broke its neck.” After several days and no luck, a small group of ducks are seen floating just ahead. Sitting ducks indeed, as they approached only to have the hunters in the duck blinds warn them off from shooting their wooden decoys! When they reach their destination they again liberate the scow and send her off down the river: “The Old Battle Ship (the King of the Scows) was given a last blessing and slid into the murkie waters of the Iowa River. As she left her finial [sic] resting place to take up the long trail of the Iowa and Mississippi rivers we fired a salute in her honor. Yes in her honor for we could not bear the thought of having her become the property of any other wayfarer. She had come to us from the river. To the river we gave her.” Then they shouldered the canoe and headed for the railroad station, to go back to Cedar Rapids and on to Mount Vernon. Photos of the group on the river and in camp accompany the text. Three of the party sign the final page.

Paul James Richmond (1896-1983), son of Elijah Richmond, a judge of the Marshall County court in Illinois, also spent the summer of 1915 with his brother Lyle and sister Geraldine working for the Wylie Permanent Camping Company in Yellowstone National Park, according to records belonging to the Yellowstone National Park Archives. The three were "savages" hired as summer staff to look after the campers flocking to the park. All three had musical talents which they used to entertain the park visitors. In the second log of the "Lucky Devils," there are pictures of Richmond and his friend Brownie entertaining their friends with banjo and ukulele. Both of these log books show his wry sense of humor, love of the out-of-doors, and give perspective on life in small town Illinois and Iowa just after the turn of the 20th Century.

Item #404395