When the young Quaker naturalist John Kirk Townsend returned to Philadelphia from the west coast of North America, where he had lived for two years, he began writing an account of his adventures for his family and friends. Published in 1839, his Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains, to the Columbia River, and a Visit to the Sandwich Islands, Chili, &c., with a Scientific Appendix was charming, full of encounters with native peoples and historic figures, mountain men, grizzlies, and bison, all viewed through the eyes of a greenhorn in his mid-twenties. Townsend captured the wonder of western travel, its danger, and his own barely restrained excitement at the new lands and new creatures he was discovering almost every step of the way. In 2001, the magazine National Geographic Adventure named it one of the 100 greatest adventure books of all time.