Passing Strange

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Clarence King, a prominent figure in nineteenth-century western history, was a brilliant scientist and bestselling author who mapped the West after the Civil War. Lauded by John Hay as “the best and brightest of his generation,” King concealed a profound secret from his peers and family: for thirteen years, he led a double life as both the celebrated white explorer and a black Pullman porter named James Todd. The blue-eyed son of a wealthy trader crossed the color line, revealing his true identity only to his common-law wife, Ada King, on his deathbed. Martha Sandweiss, a noted historian, is the first to uncover King’s concealed life, exploring the complexities of a man who publicly championed a vision of a uniquely American “race” while privately nurturing his love for Ada and their five biracial children. The narrative unfolds the story of a family navigating the intersections of celebrity, class, and race—from the “Todds” wedding in 1888 to Ada’s death in 1964, one of the last Americans born into slavery, and ultimately to the legacy of King’s granddaughter, who married a white man and adopted a white child to shield her family from racism. This remarkable research spans from the Civil War to the civil rights era, revealing a uniquely American tale of self-invention, love, deception, and race.