author

Augustus Allen Hayes

1837–1892

A restless 19th-century writer and traveler, he turned his experiences in the American West and abroad into lively adventure fiction and travel writing. His life moved from Harvard to years in China, then back to the United States, where he also worked in business and publishing.

1 Audiobook

The Denver Express

The Denver Express

by Augustus Allen Hayes

About the author

Augustus Allen Hayes Jr. was an American author born in 1837 and died in 1892. Sources available here describe him as a Harvard graduate who contributed to magazines and periodicals, and as the author of works including New Colorado and the Santa Fe Trail (1880) and The Denver Express (1884).

He appears to have led an unusually varied life. Biographical notes connected with later editions of his work say that he spent many years in China and, after returning to the United States, served as secretary and acting vice president of the Brush Electric Light Company. The same sources also credit him as one of the founders of the comic weekly Life.

That mix of travel, journalism, business, and fiction helps explain the energy of his writing. Even in brief surviving summaries, he comes across as someone drawn to new places and new ideas, with a career that stretched well beyond the printed page.