# Calistoga explained — Travel Essays

> Chapter companion for Travel Essays by Robert Louis Stevenson.

## What happens

The narrator describes the town of Calistoga, its layout, and its character as a new and distinctly American settlement. He reflects on the presence of stagecoaches and highwaymen, recounts the story of the famous stage-driver Foss, and notes his first use of a telephone. The chapter also details the Springs Hotel and its surroundings, the volcanic heat of the valley, and the imposing presence of Mount Saint Helena.

## Themes in this chapter

### Travel and Discovery

The narrator explores the new and unfamiliar town of Calistoga, its geography, and its modern innovations like the telephone.

### National Identity and Patriotism

The description of Calistoga as a distinctly American town, with its grid layout, local newspaper, and pioneering spirit, reflects a sense of national character.

### Nature and the Sublime

The overwhelming presence of Mount Saint Helena and the volcanic heat of the valley evoke the sublime power of nature.

## Character check-ins

### Foss

The famous stage-driver, known for his daring skill and legendary feats, lives at Fossville and is briefly interviewed via telephone.

### Vasquez

Mentioned as a notorious highway robber whose fame is still young in the region.

### Samson

Kong Sam Kee, the Chinese laundryman, is noted as a business in Calistoga.

## Key lines

> It is difficult for a European to imagine Calistoga, the whole place is so new, and of such an occidental pattern; the very name, I hear, was invented at a supper-party by the man who found the springs.

A European would find Calistoga hard to picture because it is so new and distinctly Western; even its name was supposedly coined during a dinner party by the discoverer of the hot springs.

_Highlights the novelty and American character of the town._

> The cultus of the stage-coachman always flourishes highest where there are thieves on the road, and where the guard travels armed, and the stage is not only a link between country and city, and the vehicle of news, but has a faint warfaring aroma, like a man who should be brother to a soldier.

Stagecoach drivers are most admired in places where highway robbery is common and guards are armed, giving the stage a hint of military adventure beyond its role as a mere transport and news carrier.

_Connects the romance of stagecoaching to the danger of road agents._

> But it was an odd thing that here, on what we are accustomed to consider the very skirts of civilisation, I should have used the telephone for the first time in my civilised career.

It struck me as strange that I made my first telephone call in what is usually thought of as the edge of civilization.

_Reflects on the juxtaposition of frontier life and modern technology._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/travel_essays_se/chapters/i-calistoga
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/travel_essays_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/travel_essays_se/chapters