Tag: Lyell D. Henry Jr.

For several decades following the end of the Civil War, the most popular sport in the United States was walking, by newspapers often noted as “pedestrian mania” or “walking fever” that only began to give way in the mid-1880s to fast-rising crazes for baseball, bicycling, and roller skating. Lyell D. Henry Jr. tells this story in Trekking across America: An Up-Close Look at a Once-Popular Pastime (University of Iowa Press). Duncan Jamieson greatly enjoyed reading the book, and concludes his review saying that it “is a must read for anyone interested in adventure”.