Three Roads to Urga is a description of travel, people and nature in Outer Mongolia. Based on historical events described in the text, Three Roads was likely written in the late 1920s. The author is unidentified, but possibly a Swedish entrepreneur named Georg Soderbom who accompanied many scientific expeditions to Central Asia. The text is plain and rough in places, but a thoroughly enjoyable read. Although his humorous descriptions of the backward conditions and people of Mongolia may seem uncomplimentary at times, it is also apparent that he held an abiding respect and affection for the country and its culture.
Three Roads to Urga is a description of travel, people and nature in Outer Mongolia. Based on historical events described in the text, Three Roads was likely written in the late 1920s. The author is unidentified, but possibly a Swedish entrepreneur named Georg Soderbom who accompanied many scientific expeditions to Central Asia. The text is plain and rough in places, but a thoroughly enjoyable read. Although his humorous descriptions of the backward conditions and people of Mongolia may seem uncomplimentary at times, it is also apparent that he held an abiding respect and affection for the country and its culture.
This project is a detailed account recalling travel to and in Outer Mongolia along three routes that led to Urga (now Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia). It includes descriptions of the travel conditions, modes of transportation, trade practices, the Russian, Mongolian, and Chinese people of the region, an encounter with the "Andrews expedition" (likely the Central Asiatic Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, 1922-1925, led by zoologist Roy Chapman Andrews), daily living, housing, customs, and festivals, and animals indigenous to the area. Additionally, 79 silver prints were adhered to the text and depict the probable author, peoples encountered, transportation vehicles, housing, animals, places visited, and landscapes. Join us to transcribe this text from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Archives.
