The Oregon Trail
Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life

The 1878 sixth edition of Parkman's gripping account of his 1846 journey and his interactions with the Oglala Sioux.

Francis Parkman (Author)

9781108032698, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 September 2011

398 pages
21.6 x 13.7 x 2.5 cm, 0.52 kg

The American historian Francis Parkman (1823–93) published extensively on colonial North America, focusing particularly on the territorial rivalry between France and England. This famous travel diary was written early in his career and originally published in instalments in Knickerbocker's Magazine (1847–9) before appearing in book form in 1849. It enjoyed great popularity, and the 1878 sixth edition, reissued here, was fully revised by the author. The book describes Parkman's two-month journey in summer 1846 along the eastern part of the heavily-used emigrant route, from St Louis to the Rockies and back via Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas. It focuses particularly on a three-week hunting expedition during which Parkman lived with the Oglala Sioux. Parkman's elegant style and colourful descriptions read like an adventure novel, but the book is also a witness to the prejudices of its time about nationality and race, particularly with regard to Native Americans.

1. The frontier
2. Breaking the ice
3. Fort Leavenworth
4. 'Jumping off'
5. The 'Big Blue'
6. The platte and the desert
7. The buffalo
8. Taking French leave
9. Scenes at Fort Laramie
10. The war parties
11. Scenes at the camp
12. Ill-luck
13. Hunting Indians
14. The Ogillallah village
15. The hunting camp
16. The trappers
17. The Black Hills
18. A mountain hunt
19. Passage of the mountains
20. The lonely journey
21. The pueblo and Bent's Fort
22. Tete Rouge, the volunteer
23. Indian alarms
24. The chase
25. The buffalo camp
26. Down the Arkansas
27. The settlements.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]