Kipling went through the Territories and States west-to-east, going home the long way from India after he had earned his first fame. The British liked descriptions of America, especially ones that weren't too fond.
Kipling liked parts of the States, mostly the San Francisco women who liked him (he implies that they like him a little too much, or show it too easily, or something); and the enormous salmon in Multnomah. He really, really doesn't like the American tendency to self-praise, whether or not he thinks it justified.
Project Gutenberg, American Notes
So wrote clew in History (19th c.).