The Oregon Trail

"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.