The Oregon Trail

Humor & Entertainment

Jr., Francis Parkman

Humor

Blurb

CONTENTS: I THE FRONTIER II BREAKING THE ICE III FORT LEAVENWORTH IV "JUMPING OFF" V "THE BIG BLUE" VI THE PLATTE AND THE DESERT VII THE BUFFALO VIII TAKING FRENCH LEAVE IX SCENES AT FORT LARAMIE X THE WAR PARTIES XI SCENES AT THE CAMP XII ILL LUCK XIII HUNTING INDIANS XIV THE OGALLALLA VILLAGR XV THE HUNTING CAMP XVI THE TRAPPERS XVII THE BLACK HILLS XVIII A MOUNTAIN HUNT XIX PASSAGE OF THE MOUNTAINS XX THE LONELY JOURNEY XXI THE PUEBLO AND BENT'S FORT XXII TETE ROUGE, THE VOLUNTEER XXIII INDIAN ALARMS XXIV THE CHASE XXV THE BUFFALO CAMP XXVI DOWN THE ARKANSAS XXVII THE SETTLEMENTS ***  an excerpt from CHAPTER I: THE FRONTIER Last spring, 1846, was a busy season in the City of St. Louis. Not only were emigrants from every part of the country preparing for the journey to Oregon and California, but an unusual number of traders were making ready their wagons and outfits for Santa Fe. Many of the emigrants, especially of those bound for California, were persons of wealth and standing. The hotels were crowded, and the gunsmiths and saddlers were kept constantly at work in providing arms and equipments for the different parties of travelers. Almost every day steamboats were leaving the levee and passing up the Missouri, crowded with passengers on their way to the frontier. In one of these, the Radnor, since snagged and lost, my friend and relative, Quincy A. Shaw, and myself, left St. Louis on the 28th of April, on a tour of curiosity and amusement to the Rocky Mountains. The boat was loaded until the water broke alternately over her guards. Her upper deck was covered with large weapons of a peculiar form, for the Santa Fe trade, and her hold was crammed with goods for the same destination. There were also the equipments and provisions of a party of Oregon emigrants, a band of mules and horses, piles of saddles and harness, and a multitude of nondescript articles, indispensable on the prairies. Almost hidden in this medley one might have seen a small French cart, of the sort very appropriately called a "mule-killer" beyond the frontiers, and not far distant a tent, together with a miscellaneous assortment of boxes and barrels. The whole equipage was far from prepossessing in its appearance; yet, such as it was, it was destined to a long and arduous journey, on which the persevering reader will accompany it. The passengers on board the Radnor corresponded with her freight. In her cabin were Santa Fe traders, gamblers, speculators, and adventurers of various descriptions, and her steerage was crowded with Oregon emigrants, "mountain men," negroes, and a party of Kansas Indians, who had been on a visit to St. Louis.

History

Americas

IndyPublish

Francis Parkman (1823-1893) was an American historian, best known as the author of The Oregon Trail (1847) and his monumental seven volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although the biases of his work have met with criticism. He was also a leading horticulturist, briefly a Professor of Horticulture at Harvard University and the first leader of the Arnold Arboretum, originator of several flowers, and author of several books on the topic. Parkman has been hailed as one of America's first great historians and as a master of narrative history. His work has been praised by historians who have published essays in new editions of his work. Other works include: The Conspiracy of Pontiac (1851), Vassall Morton (1856), Pioneers of France in the New World (1865), The Book of Roses (1866), The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century (1867), and Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV (1877).

Pioneers of France in the New World

Europe

Almost hidden in this medley one might have seen a small French cart, of the sort very appropriately called a Òmule-killerÓ beyond the frontiersÉ reads the first page.

The Oregon Trail (Large Print Edition)

BiblioBazaar

"The Oregon Trail" by Francis Parkman still stands as a classic of American literature and of a rapidly vanishing past. Parkman lived the Oregon Trail, slept it, ate it, marveled at it, and wrote an excellent memoir that leaves one with the feel of sand in your boots and the smell of buffalo roasting on the fire. In 1846, Parkman left his comfortable Boston home to embark on a strenuous overland journey to the untamed West. This timeless account of Parkman's travels and travails provides an expressive portrait of the rough frontiersmen, immigrants, and Native Americans he encounters, set against the splendor of the unspoiled wilderness. "The Oregon Trail" is a wonderfully descriptive first person account of overland travel in the rugged west and the life of the Indian (as viewed by an outsider). The strength of Parkman's book is in the details. Parkman had a keen eye whether it is turned towards imposing landscapes, Indian village life and travel, or buffalo hunting. This book has a gritty feel that paints the grandeur of western vistas as well as the hard reality of subsistence life (both Indian and white traveler) lived outdoors in a frequently unforgiving land. The descriptive power of "The Oregon Trail," as well as the fascinating telling of life among the Indians and on the plains makes this well worth the time. Parkman's brilliance lies in the fact that he was no "arm chair" historian. He personally visited nearly every town, battlefield, and waterway he wrote about. While Parkman's patrician air and unabashed racism sometimes jolt the modern reader, "The Oregon Trail" remains a colorful classic by one of the 19th century's most prominent narrative historians.

IDB Productions

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jr., Francis Parkman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jr., Francis Parkman

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jr., Francis Parkman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail

Pioneers of France in the New World

The Oregon Trail (Large Print Edition)

The Oregon Trail