Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West

Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West
ISBN-10
0826362834
ISBN-13
9780826362834
Category
Biography & Autobiography
Pages
256
Language
English
Published
2021-09-15
Publisher
University of New Mexico Press
Author
Gary B. Fogel

Description

With a reputation as the hot-air balloon capital of the world and the home of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta®, the skies of the southwestern desert city of Albuquerque frequently showcase the magic and adventure of ballooning. This legacy links back to the 1880s and a man by the name of Park Van Tassel. Through his pioneering flight, Van Tassel not only opened the skies to future generations across New Mexico, but he also opened minds to the possibility of manned flight throughout the American West. A charismatic, P. T. Barnum–like showman, Van Tassel rose from obscurity to introduce the new science of ballooning and parachuting throughout the West. Van Tassel toured extensively—from California to Utah, Colorado, and Louisiana and later embarking on an international journey that took him to Hawaii, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, Africa, and beyond. Sky Rider weaves together the many threads of Van Tassel’s extraordinary life journey, situating him at last in his rightful place among the prominent aerial exhibitionists of his time.

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