Francis Parkman: The California and Oregon Trail

The

California and Oregon
Trail:

Being

Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life.

“Let him who crawls enamor’d of decay Cling to his couch, and sicken years away; Heave his thick breath, and shake his palsied head; Our—the fresh turf, and not the feverish bed” —Byron.

By Francis Parkman, Jr.

New-York:
George P. Putnam, 155 Broadway.
LONDON: PUTNAM’S AMERICAN AGENCY
Removed from Paternoster Row to
J. Chapman, 142 Strand.
1849.

     The journey which the following narrative describes was untertaken on the writer’s part with a view of studying the manners and character of Indians in their primitive state. Although in the chapters which related to them, he has only attempted to sketch those features of their wild and picturesque life which fell, in the present instance, under his own eye, yet in doing so he has constantly aimed to leave an impression of their character correct as far as it goes. In justifying his claim to accuracy on this point, it is hardly necessary to advert to the representations given by poets and novelists, which, for the most part, are mere creations of fancy. The Indian is certainly entitled to a high rank among savages, but his good qualities are not those of an Uncas or an Outalissi.

The sketches were originally published in the Knicker-bocker Magazine, commencing in February, 1847.