The Oregon Trail

First published in 1849, this narrative records Francis Parkman's 1846 journey from the Missouri frontier along the overland route toward the Rocky Mountains. With his cousin Quincy Adams Shaw he travels among emigrant wagons, hunters, and Sioux camps, hunting buffalo on the plains and living for a time with a band near the Platte. He notes trail routine, tribal politics, and the physical cost of the ride, including his own illness. Forts, rivers, and the empty grassland form the setting. The book is a first-person travel account of the plains before the later mass migration, not a guidebook for later settlers and not a novel of pioneer families.

Quarter bound in brown cloth with a design in gold by Pendrey, orange paper boards with a pattern in red by Pendrey. Map endleaves. Pale brown slipcase.