The year 1939 was a bleak and gloomy time in England. Fire and darkness loomed on the horizon as war with Nazi Germany drew ever closer. In the midst of this national angst young Mary Bosanquet had a revelation. She would toss off college in London, board a steam-ship, voyage to Vancouver, Canada, then buy and ride a horse alone more than 2,500 miles to New York city. Simple enough! She could ride, had a grand total of eighty English pounds to fund the one-woman expedition, and figured horses would be cheap out in the Wild West of Canada. Besides, she reasoned, if the world really was going to self-destruct, she wanted a memorable adventure, "such as befell heroic voyagers", before the global ship sank. If it was adventure the young English adventuress wanted, she got it! Bosanquet rode through the mighty Rockies, was wooed by love-struck cowboys, chased by a grizzly bear, feasted with lonely trappers, was adopted for the winter by a family of Irish farmers, and even suspected of being a Nazi spy, scouting out Canada in preparation for a German invasion. And through it all she had Jonty and Timothy, her whimsical and charming horses. If the three inseparable companions sought to put the news of Europe's descent into the madness behind them, then their eighteen month journey through the silent mountains, dreamy forests, and mighty plains of pristine Canada provided the sanctuary they sought. Illustrated with photographs taken during her remarkable trip, Bosanquet's story is as heart-warming today as the day it was written.
