Kennet-Were left England in October 1868 on a boat bound for New York, arriving twelve days later. During his journey he visited a number of Eastern cities, various Civil War sites, Florida, and then New Orleans where he caught a Mississippi steamer to St. Louis. He traveled across the West--on the still-to-be-completed Union Pacific Railroad through Nebraska and Wyoming to Utah and then on the Central Pacific to Nevada and California. From San Francisco he traveled to Panama, crossing the isthmus by train, then returned to New York and back to England, all in nine months.

The quotes in the exhibition are all taken from Kennet-Were’s account of his trip which was published in the English newspaper The Gazette. The quotes use his original spelling.

Not only did Kennet-Were describe in his writings his experiences in post-Civil War America, but he also wrote social commentary. He noted the use of language by Americans, and described certain customs, such as the duel he witnessed near New Orleans, and the suggestion he carry a gun.

Francis Spencer with UW Vice President for Academic Affairs Thomas Buchanan

Francis Spencer with Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer

Kennet-Were’s sixty-four watercolors and a copy of his published account are held by the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. A descendant of Kennet-Were’s, Francis Spencer, born in London and now living in New Zealand and a well-known philanthropist to the arts in that country, presented the collection to the AHC in June 2002 in a ceremony at Wyoming’s Capitol.

Upon returning to England, Kennet-Were encouraged other Europeans to visit North America to explore the country themselves. "Remembering all the enjoyment which we derived from the tour so inadequately described in the foregoing articles, I cannot help advising future travelers to forsake for once the beaten paths of Europe to seek adventure in the great country across the Atlantic. To one who studies men and manners the various peoples who have sought new homes on the North American continent offer subjects of the deepest interest, while in the latest development of the Anglo-Saxon race, and in the power which it presents of subduing all other nationalities to its influence, an Englishman is especially concerned.”
Kennet-Were concluded his account by stating the traveler will “look back with as much pleasure to the time he has passed as we do to our ‘Nine Months in the United States’.”

Retrace the Trip

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