Maybe my wife doesn't need to know about this but I've been hanging out with some wild women lately. But that's not as risque as it sounds, since they all came to me safely enclosed between the covers of a book. In this post I'ld like to introduce you to several female adventurers whose exploits ranged from Africa to the Grand Canyon to the Adirondacks.
Beryl Markham's West with the Night is a whoosh of a ride on horseback and in airplanes. She was born in England in 1902 and moved to East Africa with her father while still a toddler (Her mother went in a different direction with a different man!) She grew up free and unfettered by convention...think hunting warthog by spear with the local Murani. Along the way she learned to tell really good stories.
Her dog's name was Buller and "He fought anything that needed to be fought, and when there was nothing immediately available in this category, he killed cats." One night a leopard slipped into Beryl and Buller's sleeping hut and dragged the dog into the bush. Buller, though badly chewed, managed to survive while the leopard got the worst of the encounter. In another 'only in Africa' incident Beryl was "moderately eaten by a large lion" and lived to tell about it. Then came the warthog hunt and, well, you've got to read it to believe it.
Those adventures all happened while she was still a young girl. As an adult she became a trainer of race horses and then a bush pilot in the early days of aviation. As you might guess these pursuits led to more stories of thrilling 'by a nose' races and 'by a hair' close calls in the air. What West with the Night is not, is a tell all. She never mentions her three husbands and numerous lovers. You'll have to look elsewhere, for example, to find the story about her affair with Prince Henry, Duke of Glouchester, where she had to hide in a Buckingham Palace cupboard when Queen Mary came into the room!
You might think cataloging the botany of the Grand Canyon to be a rather staid achievement compared to flying solo over Africa and across the Atlantic. Don't be so sure. Not when you consider that the only way to access much of the canyon was in a raft when the Colorado river had been run only a few times. Brave the Wild River tells the story of two women, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, who took on the challenge in 1938.
The 2023 book by science journalist Melissa Sevigny tells of the half-baked 43 day expedition and its colorful cast of characters. There are personality conflicts, near catastrophe's and a lot of interesting history, geology and botany. While not considered 'women's work' at the time it should be noted that the plants they collected and the notes they took are still an invaluable resource for botanists and land managers to this day. A fun and inspiring read.
Along these lines...a few related books of interest:
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* Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine De Saint-Exupery is the lyrical classic of the early days of flying.
* Amelia Earhart's The Fun of It and Jean Batten's My Life are two books by famous women flyers.
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* Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen shares time, geography and bedmates with Markham's book. Made famous by the Robert Redford/Meryl Streep movie.
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You don't have to go out west or to the other side of the world to find remarkable women adventurers. Doc - Orra A. Phelps, M.D. - Adirondack Naturalist and Mountaineer is Mary Arakelian's biography of her aunt Orra, who lived in Wilton just a little north of Saratoga Springs. This book resonated with me because of personal connections on several levels. My mother grew up in Wilton just a short distance from Orra's Parkhurst Road home and she often spoke of her famous neighbor. In the book there's a chapter on Dr. Phelps service in the Navy during the second world war. My grandfather ran a store in Wilton during those years and knew everyone in the community including the Phelps family. He was drafted in the final months of the war just before he aged out of eligibility and was killed in action in Europe as the fighting was winding down.
After the war Orra returned to Wilton and the Adirondacks, taking a job with theVeterans Administration. Upon retirement she devoted herself fully to the mountains and natural history education. She had previously written the first two editions of the Adirondack Mountain Club's guide to High Peaks trails. In retirement she became the club's first ranger-naturalist at Heart Lake. When I joined ADK in the mid-80's there were many people who had known Orra personally and held her in high esteem. Finally, I visit the Phelps Preserve frequently. This is the part of her family farm that has been preserved by Saratoga PLAN. Walking the trails Orra walked, beneath oak and ash, alongside several headwater streams of the Snook Kill is my way of connecting with both an amazing person and the community of my family's heritage.
