1861: May 11-July 11
Thoreau and Mann used a combination of railroads and steamboats during their Journey West.
To the West:
Massachusetts - New York - Ontario - Michigan/Indiana - Illinois
In the Midwest:
Mississippi River - Minnesota - Minnesota River - Mississippi River
The Way Home:
Wisconsin - The Lakes - Ontario - New York - Vermont/New Hampshire - Massachusetts
The Fitchburg Railroad in the 1800s. (Photo courtesy of Keene Public Library and the Historical Society of Cheshire County from USA - Fitchburg Locomotive, No.212, Keene New Hampshire, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44000794
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Massachusetts
Sunday, May 11, 1861: From Concord to Worcester by train.
Thoreau and Mann had two choices of departure times. Which one they took is uncertain.
They probably stayed at the home of friend Harrison Gray Otis Blake at 3 Bowdoin Street in Worcester. [The house has since been torn down and has been replaced by a pseudo-rotary between Harvard and Lancaster Streets.]
Monday, May 13, 1861: From Worcester to Albany, N.Y., by train.
In Albany, they stayed at the Delavan House at Broadway and Steuben Street.
[The Delavan burned down in 1894 and was eventually replaced by a railroad station. Today a bank sits on the site.]
New York
Tuesday, May 14, 1861: From Albany to Suspension Bridge, N.Y., by train.
They overnighted at the New York Central House. [It was destroyed by fire in 1871.]
Wednesday, May 15, 1861: To Niagara Falls via train, which was a 15-minute ride from the community of Suspension Bridge.
Thoreau and Mann may have taken the 9:15 a.m. train.
While in Niagara Falls, they stayed at the American House, at Second and Falls Streets. [It burned down in 1863. Today that area includes a pedestrian walkway, an art museum, and a conference center.]
Thursday, May 16 to Sunday, May 19, 1861: Explored the Niagara Falls area, including at least one visit to the Canadian side.
Ontario
Monday, May 20, 1861: From Suspension Bridge, N.Y. to Windsor, Canada West by train; then by ferry across the river to Detroit, Michigan.
The hotel where they stayed in Detroit is unknown.
Michigan/Indiana
Tuesday, May 21, 1861: From Detroit, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois, by train.
They stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel, at the corner of Randolph and Wells Streets. [It was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871.]
Illinois
Wednesday, May 22, 1861: Thoreau and Mann spent the day in Chicago.
Thursday, May 23, 1861: From Chicago to Dunleith via train.
At Dunleith, they boarded the steamboat Itasca.
Mississippi River
Friday, May 24 to Sunday, May 26, 1861: Travel up the Mississippi River on the steamboat Itasca.
According to Thoreau and Mann's notes, they first crossed over to Dubuque, Iowa, from Dunleith, Illinois. They reached Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, by 5 p.m. on Friday.
On Saturday, they continued up the river. They were at Brownsville, Minnesota, in the early morning hours. They entered Lake Pepin around 4 p.m. and got to Red Wing, Minnesota, around 7:30 p.m.
They reached St. Paul, Minnesota, at 2 or 3 a.m. on Sunday. Thoreau and Mann went to the American House in St. Paul for breakfast, before they took the stagecoach to St. Anthony and eventually checked into the Tremont House.
The Tremont House stood at the corner of Main and Pine Streets in St. Anthony. [It burned down in 1873. Today the complex known as St. Anthony Main includes its former footprint.]
Minnesota
Monday, May 27 to June 4, 1861: Thoreau and Mann explored the area around St. Anthony and Minneapolis. Included on their list of sights to see were St. Anthony's Falls, Nicollet Island, Minnehaha Falls, Fort Snelling, and Hennepin Island.
They stayed at the Tremont House, at the corner of Main and Pine Streets in St. Anthony. [It burned down in 1873. Today the complex known as St. Anthony Main includes its former footprint.]
Wednesday, June 5 to Friday, June 14, 1861: The men moved out to the edge of Lake Calhoun and stayed at a boarding house run by Mrs. Hamilton. They explored both the Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet areas.
Minnesota River
Saturday, June 15, 1861: Thoreau and Mann were in St. Paul.
Sunday, June 16 to Saturday, June 22, 1861: They accompanied a "pleasure excursion" with the steamboat, Frank Steele. They left St. Paul and sailed up the Minnesota River to the Lower Sioux Agency at Redwood, Minnesota; then turned around and came back to St. Paul.
Mississippi River
Sunday, June 23 to Wednesday, June 26, 1861: Thoreau and Mann left St. Paul and relocated to Red Wing, Minnesota, where they explored Barn Bluff and the surrounding area for a few days.
In Red Wing, they stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel, at the end of Potter Street. [The hotel burned down in 1869. Today that area is occupied by the mills of Archer Daniels Midland.]
Wednesday, June 26 to Thursday, June 27, 1861: They steamed down the Mississippi River on the steamboat War Eagle. They reached Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on Thursday morning.
Wisconsin
Thursday, June 27, 1861: From Prairie du Chien to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by train.
In Milwaukee, they stayed overnight at the Lake House, at the corner of Lake and Ferry Streets. [The building was lost to fire in 1897.]
The Lakes
Friday, June 28 to Sunday, June 30, 1861: Crossed Lake Michigan via the steamship Edith. They stopped at the ports of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Carp River [Leland], Michigan, before landing at Mackinac Island in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Sunday, June 30 to Thursday, July 4, 1861: Thoreau and Mann spent time exploring Mackinac Island. They stayed at the Mackinac House on Main Street. [The hotel burned down in 1887. It was rebuilt and reopened as The New Mackinac. During the Depression of the 1930s, the tourist trade lapsed and the hotel deteriorated. It was purchased by the city in 1938 and torn down. Today that lot is a small park with information kiosks and benches to sit upon.]
Thursday, July 4 to Friday, July 5, 1861: Crossed Lake Huron via the steamship Sun. They reached Goderich, Canada West, at 10 p.m. on Friday.
Ontario
Saturday, July 6, 1861: From Goderich to Toronto, Canada West, by train.
In Toronto, the men stayed at the Rossin House, at the southeast corner of the intersection of King and York Streets. [It was destroyed by fire in 1862. The hotel was rebuilt the following year. In 1909, its name was changed to the Prince George Hotel. The building was torn down in the 1960s to make way for more contemporary structures to serve the surrounding financial district. Today rising up from that corner looms the 25-story Standard Life Centre, a tower of granite and glass that opened in 1984.]
Sunday, July 7, 1861: Thoreau and Mann spent the day in Toronto.
Monday, July 8 to Tuesday, July 9, 1861: Thoreau's last jotting in his notebook indicates that the two men left Toronto on this day and headed for Ogdensburgh, N.Y. Neither he nor Horace Mann, Jr., documented what time they left Toronto. The train schedules offer several options. The overnight one listed below appears to be the most likely scenario.
New York
Wednesday, July 10, 1861: Thoreau and Mann spent enough time in Ogdensburgh, N.Y., to eat both lunch and dinner there. They may very well have been hanging around to wait for the 4 a.m. express train to Boston. Here is their path across northern New York state.
Vermont/New Hampshire
Wednesday, July 10, 1861 (continued): Thoreau and Mann's express train to Boston crossed Vermont and New Hampshire. Normal train schedules seemed not to publish the express's exact arrivals and departures from the depots. But the following route represents the tracks it traveled and the towns it passed through.
Massachusetts
Wednesday, July 10, 1861 (continued): Thoreau and Mann's express train to Boston crossed from New Hampshire into Massachusetts. Normal train schedules seemed not to publish the express's exact arrivals and departures from the depots. But the following route represents the tracks it traveled and the towns it passed through. The train arrived at Boston at 8:30 p.m. Unfortunately, no transportation to Concord was available until the following morning.
Thursday, July 11, 1861: Thoreau and Mann took the train from Boston to Concord to finish their two-month journey. They rode past Walden Pond on their way home.