A Thousand Trails: The Personal Journey of William Cameron Townsend, 1917-1919

Winifred M. O'Rourke was a writer and journalist in Saskatoon.

William Cameron (“Cam”) Townsend started his missionary work as a colporteur or Bible salesman in Central America at the age of 21. During his sophomore year at college he made the decision to take the next year off from school for missionary work. Following up an advertisement from the Bible House of Los Angeles calling for college students to give a year’s work, Townsend and his friend Robbie Robinson set out from San Francisco by ship to Guatemala on September 15, 1917.

This book contains many extracts from Cam’s journals and also his letters home to his family in California. A very descriptive writer, he expressed vividly the type of terrain through which he travelled (mostly on foot), whether it was through forests with dense undergrowth or over mountain trails.

Although there are stories about the places visited and the people met by the young colporteur, including the Central American Indians who knew little Spanish and often could not read, the book reveals Cam Townsend’s reflections and his openness in his missionary work. He learned early that it was wise to call on the mayor or commandant of the town before starting his door-to-door visits. He and his companion travelled dependent upon the goodwill of “believers” they met or someone willing to give them shelter for the night. They paid for their meals, although on occasion no one would make a meal for them and they would have to travel further.

At the end of this year, Cam Townsend decided to stay on in that part of the world, and he married a woman missionary working in the administration in the same area. Later Townsend realized his life-long ambition to have the Bible translated into ethnic languages and dialects by founding the Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Hugh Steven, author-at-large of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc., was a close associate of Cam Townsend for many years. His compilation and editing of A Thousand Trails have resulted in a very readable book. It is a pity that several typographical errors were missed in the proofreading.