The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. Map.

Excerpt from Narrative of a Tour From the State of Indiana to the Oregon Territory: In the Years 1841-2 The book here published for the first time is the narrative of a traveler who accompanied the first emigrants from the United States to the Pacific Coast in 1841. It was printed for the author in 1843 and is practically unknown to scholars or the collectors of books relating to the history of western America. Its importance to any who are interested in this phase of the development of the United States will be evident, if for a moment we consider certain aspects of the times in which the writer lived. It is a truism to say that most Americans enjoy travel, and indulge themselves in this form of amusement to an extreme degree. The glamor of a journey, the thought of seeing new places, rather than the discomfort and not infrequent hardships, fill the minds of all would-be travelers; nor will the experience of others often deter those who have set their hearts upon visiting far places about which rumor has been weaving bright illusions. The desire for travel, mere travel for its own sake, without other aim than that of satisfying our curiosity, is general among all classes of the American people, as one may prove by glancing at the faces upon the sightseeing buses of any city street. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

“[This] richly documented book is the definitive study of the decisive role mountain men played in the exploration and expansion of the Western frontier.” —Jay P. Dolan, The New York Times Book Review Early in the nineteenth century, the mountain men emerged as a small but distinctive group whose knowledge and experience of the trans-Mississippi West extended the national consciousness to continental dimensions. Though Lewis and Clark blazed a narrow corridor of geographical reality, the West remained largely terra incognita until trappers and traders—such as Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Tom Fitzpatrick, and Jedediah Smith—opened paths through the snow-choked mountain wilderness. These and other Mountain Men opened the way west to Fremont and played a major role in the pivotal years of 1845–1848 when Texas was annexed, the Oregon question was decided, and the Mexican War ended with the Southwest and California in American hands—thus making the Pacific Ocean America’s western boundary.

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