George Frederick Ruxton
George Frederick Ruxton was an English traveler and author born in 1821 in Oxfordshire. He grew up in a household of six siblings and faced challenges early on, including the death of his father when he was nine. Ruxton attended the Royal Military College but was expelled for disregarding authority. He then volunteered for the Spanish army, where he served from 1833 to 1839 and earned notable recognition for his bravery. After returning to England, he briefly served in the British army before withdrawing to live among Canadian trappers and indigenous communities, honing his skills as a frontiersman. His adventures led him to explore Africa and Mexico, ultimately settling in the Rocky Mountains, where he documented his experiences in the book "Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains." Ruxton's promising literary career was cut short when he succumbed to dysentery in 1848 at the young age of 27, leaving behind a legacy of exploration and storytelling.
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Subject Terms
George Frederick Ruxton
Writer
- Born: July 24, 1821
- Birthplace: Oxfordshire, England
- Died: August 29, 1848
- Place of death: St. Louis, Missouri
Biography
George Frederick Ruxton was born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1821, the third son of six born to English couple John and Anna Maria Hay Ruxton. When the boy was nine years old, his father died, and his mother was then more lenient with young Ruxton’s sometimes stubborn and troublesome behavior. He enrolled at the Royal Military College at age fourteen, but he disregarded authority and rules and was expelled after two years. At seventeen, he volunteered in the Spanish army, serving from 1833 to 1839, and at the end of his service he was awarded the Cross of the First Class of the Military Order of San Fernando for his performance at the 1839 battle of Belascoin.
Now a knight in Spain, Ruxton returned to England and was named a lieutenant in the British army, in which capacity he traveled to Canada. However, after arriving in North America, Ruxton withdrew from the army and spent some time living alongside Canadian trappers and indigenous communities and hunting to support himself. He returned to England for only a brief few months in the spring of 1844 before setting out again for further travels, this time exploring Africa and Mexico before arriving in the United States to live in the Rocky Mountains with the mountain men. He recounted these experiences in Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, published in 1847.
Back in Liverpool by the summer of 1847, the traveler completed numerous manuscripts during the next several months, including books, essays, and sketches. He was planning to return to the American West, but during a stopover in St. Louis in August 1848, he was struck by the dysentery epidemic. With his condition exacerbated by spinal and internal injuries he had previously suffered, he died in 1848, when he was only twenty- seven years old.