ABSTRACT
The West that Isabella Bird envisions in her travelogue is astoundingly masculine: men dominate towns, greatly outnumber women in rural areas, and, importantly, define codes of civility. Christine DeVine argues that Jim is a Janus figure because of his two-sided face and his location at the entrance of Estes Park, and that this is "a clear indication that Bird is playing with fictionality in her travel writing" See DeVine, "Isabella Bird and Mountain Jim". Her host at Estes Park explains Jim's duplicity in the following way: "When he's sober Jim's a perfect gentleman; but when he's had liquor he's the most awful ruffian in Colorado. Isabella's freedom metaphorically contained in the ever-changing American landscapes full of danger and colored by unpredictable weather and people is greatly emphasized by the silence of the voiceless addressee. The relationship between the sisters, seen through Bird's letters home, is quite unusual in that Henrietta is often patronized and trivialized by Isabella's exciting adventures abroad.
