J. Smeaton Chase
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J. Smeaton Chase (1864-1923) American Author.
J. Smeaton Chase has become an integral part of California literature: revered for his poignant descriptions of California landscapes. An Englishman who toured the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains in 1915 with his burro, Mesquit, Chase published poetic diary entries detailing his escapades through the Sierra Nevada mountains and California desert.
Joseph Smeaton Chase was born in London in April 1864. He arrived in Southern California in 1890, although information surrounding his motive for doing so is sparse. It is known however, that he lived on a mountainside and managed to obtain a job tutoring a wealthy rancher’s children in the San Gabriel Valley. Chase was always drawn to the plants, animals, and Native Americans that resided along the California coast. Subsequently, in 1911 he took a trip with local painter Carl Eytel, traveling on horseback from Los Angeles to Laguna and then down to San Diego. Chase journeyed through the uncouth California land and detailed his escapades in his book California Desert Trails [1]. He was passionate that the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains be preserved as a national park. Chase appeals to readers who appreciate the unspoiled west and California history.
Chase died March 29, 1923 in Banning, California, after several years of poor health. His wife continued to live in their Palm Springs home and died September 30, 1962 in Riverside County, California. She was born April 18, 1876. They are buried in a graveyard at the foot of Mt. San Jacinto, but his name is engraved at their parents headstone in Bexley Churchyard, Kent, England.
[edit] Works by J. Smeaton Chase:
- California Coast Trails: In 1911, Chase journeyed 2,000 miles on horseback from Mexico to Oregon and intimately recorded his experiences along the way. In his journals, Chase poetically provides a glimpse of California’s towns and wilderness as they appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. [2]
- California Gold: Chase’s daily journal recordings of coastal California. The book is laced with stunning depictions of California trails and enhanced by a rich history surrounding Chase’s various stops.
- Narrative of Palm Springs CA in 1919: One of the first travel books of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. Describes the animals, plants, and Native Americans that resided in Palm Springs before it was transformed into a posh resort town.
- Yosemite Trails: Camp and Pack-Train in the Sierra Nevada (1911): Details Chase’s route through in the strikingly beautiful Sierra Nevada. He captures the land and the people with such vibrancy that the reader is absorbed by his depictions of majestic California landscapes. [3]
