The California and Oregon Trail: Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain LifePaperback, 1 September 2007

The firsthand account of a personal journey through Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Kansas in the 1840s, this classic work of American adventure is not only an excellent resource for eyewitness observations of Native American culture in the mid 19th century but also an essential document of the cultural attitudes and prejudices of Eastern European-descended Americans of the era. Criticized by contemporary reviewers, including Herman Melville, as demeaning to Indians, Parkman's tale nevertheless remains a fascinating and entertaining read. Originally serialized in Knickerbocker's Magazine and first published in book form in 1849, this replica edition returns to print a previously hard-to-find work of American history. American horticulturist and historian FRANCIS PARKMAN (1823-1893) helped found the Archaeological Institute of America. He is the author of The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century and the eight-volume France and England in North America, both considered among the great masterpieces of historical literature.