It was the railway system which moulded the American hobo into the legendary figure he became, especially in the depression years, but surviving until today. His origins, however, go back to the early pioneer days. He is in fact a unique and indigenous American product, 'capriciously used and discarded by a callous but dynamic system'. Revered and romanticized by some as the prototype of free man, he is hated and feared by others for his nonconformity. In order to trace the origins of the various types of hobo and their effect on American life, Kenneth Allsop travelled 9,000 miles across the continent, following old hobo routes, interviewing and researching as he went along.

It was the railway system which moulded the American hobo into the legendary figure he became, especially in the depression years, but surviving until today. His origins, however, go back to the early pioneer days. He is in fact a unique and indigenous American product, 'capriciously used and discarded by a callous but dynamic system'. Revered and romanticized by some as the prototype of free man, he is hated and feared by others for his nonconformity.In order to trace the origins of the various types of hobo and their effect on American life, Kenneth Allsop travelled 9,000 miles across the continent, following old hobo routes, interviewing and researching as he went along.

Prefatory NotePart One: Strangers and Sojourners1 Some people just got that roamin' blood in them2 King of the roadPart Two: Stones in My Pathway3 Extinct (Official)4 Leatherstocking of the freight cars5 The phantom deer arise6 The pot of gold7 In God we trusted, in Kansas we busted8 Out into the kindly sunlight9 Strict beauty of locomotive10 A little strychnine or arsenic11 The curse of our Yankee nation12 The dream cinder dick13 Weary Willy and Tried Tim14 Father, fix the blinds so the bums can't ride15 The wand'ring boys16 Roosevelt roosts17 The abyss, the channel-house18 Sex and the single man19 Hobo-trekkers that forever search20 Voices calling in the night21 Men without allegiancesPart Three: The Great Harp22 Feet got to rolling like a wheel, yeah, like a wheel23 The freezin' ground was my foldin' bed last night24 If they had met God they would have asked him for a bone25 Ain't it hard to stumble when you got no place to fallPart Four: Join The Wob, Wob, Wobbly Band26 Halleluiah, I'm a bum27 Don't waste time in mourning. Organize!28 Agitators and pork-chop philosophersPart Five: Goths And Vandals29 The black shadowPart Six: River's A-Risin'30 Wrap your troubles in dreams31 They'd toughed it out just as long as they could take it32 Who we gonna fight?33 Dust can't kill me34 RentaslavePart Seven: Picture-Book Heroes35 You've been to that town a thousand timesPart Eight: The Woods Are Full of Wardens36 The American spectreBibliography