Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

uffaloes scouring their native prairies, before they are driven beyond the reach of a
civilized tourist. (Washington Irving, A Century of Commentary, 277).
Irving’s letter reveals his motives for his participation in the expedition. Irving acted upon human curiosity
combined with a sense of sorrow that the Indians and their culture were fast vanishing. As one author
points out, “Those works dealing with the Indians can be viewed as a more detailed illustration of his belief
that the Indian was doomed.” (Littlefield, 142). Irving’s apology for the Tour, reflected his motivation in
traveling. He wrote,
It is a simple narrative…I have no wonders to describe, nor any moving accidents by flood
or field to narrate; and as to those who look for a marvelous or adventurous story at my
hands, I can only reply in the words of the weary knife grinder: “Story! God bless you I
have not to tell sir.” (Washington Irving, Three Western Narratives, 12).
Curiosity and conservative sorrow motivated his participation in the expedition. Accordingly, he
discourages the reader from expecting a grand narrative. Irving’s statement that he has no story did not
mean that he had no motives in writing the Tour. In his account of the journey the Count de Portales wrote
that Irving had an intention of writing a book. (Pourtales, 35). Irving kept a journal of his time there from
which he drew A Tour on The Prairies, a fact that suggests that Portales reported correctly. Rather than a
grand adventure, Irving’s little book contains continued musings on the loss of American freedom as he saw
it manifested in the loss of Indian freedom. Irving may also have intended the book as an example of his
Americanism. Upon his return he faced accusations of being a literary traitor. Though not the entire
reason for his trip and the subsequent book, this concern probably contributed to his motivation. (Pierre
Irving, Vol. 2, 488-489). The Tour on the Prairies, therefore, offers not a western adventure story but a
reflection on American tradition and patriotism.
Since the ideas expressed in A Tour on the Prairies voice the same concerns as his earlier works, so
too does his style. He wrote the Tour in the style of the romantics as he had his other works. The Tour may
have had an even stronger romantic tone to it because, as one biographer wrote, “As the author grew older
9