Product Description
"From boyhood," wrote Francis Parkman, "I had a taste forthe woods and the Indians." His lifelong fascination with theseAmerican subjects are brilliantly recorded in "The Oregon Trail" and"The Conspiracy of Pontiac," his two earliest works. Parkman began histravels to the northern wilderness during his student years at Harvardin the 1840s, then went west after graduation. His first and mostfamous book, "The Oregon Trail," is a vivid account of his adventureson the open frontier and his encounters with Plains Indians in theirlast era of free, nomadic life. "The Conspiracy of Pontiac and theIndian War after the Conquest of Canada," Parkman's first historicalwork, portrays the fierce conflict that erupted along the Great Lakesin the aftermath of the Seven Years' War and chronicles the defeats inwhich both the eastern Indians and their forest "received their finaldoom." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

"Crown Jewel"
The Library of America has done it again - directing me toward this priceless book by Francis Parkman, whom I had heard of but never read. It is perhaps the best accounting I have read thus far about the era and aura surrounding historical depictions of the Oregon Trail. It began in diary form, fleshed out later into a splendid historical novel. He is a marvelous writer, a factual storyteller; equal to if not surpassing Mark Twain's captivating talent, in my own opinion; but more importantly, he was a remarkable man of solid character and it is readily apparent, thus adding credibility to his every word. His wit and prose are truly out of the ordinary and he uses both to great effect to capture the imagination of the reader which he accomplishes virtually from the first sentence. A remarkable work and one that will last through ages more, unchallenged as not only the last of it's kind, but as the best benchmark for any historical endeavor that may yet be written about the Oregon Trail.

He was a young adventurer, who set out on the Oregon Trail mostly because he could. His was a journey destined to explore the Indian Nations if he could - in all their original state of gore and glory. This became an obsession; something he required of himself while he was on the prairie - and he shrugged off life-threatening illness, hardship and peril to write it down as he saw it roll before his eyes. They accepted him into their lives and their village, not without some trepidation, but with hospitality as they knew it nonetheless. As he moves within their culture through this short time, he notices everything down to the slightest detail, providing excellent insight into the daily rituals of plains Indian life. His descriptive passages of the moving of the villages, complete with dogs, children, warriors and old mothers, fathers and, of course, the Chief are remarkable in that it required not only tactful diplomacy, but astonishing bravery as well. He remarked, but did not dwell on it, nonetheless, the reader senses the acute danger present with every step along a path such as this.

There was also much humor through everyday occurrences that he never failed to note. One passage comes to mind from pages 206/207 and it's regarding, of all things, a dog being admonished for bad behavior by one of the native women: "....scolding an old yellow dog, who lay on the ground with his nose resting between his paws, and his eyes turned sleepily upward to her face, as if he were pretending to give full respectful attention, but resolved to fall asleep as soon as it was all over.."

His eyes beheld Fort Laramie in it's hey day, the mountain men of self-exile and boundless energy when in pursuit of the beaver, the lazy and the disagreeable, the "complexions" that had little to do with who you were in such a primitive yet natural scenario. But it is not primarily the culture differences or the human aspect - wild and therefore superstitious vs. civilized and educated - of his accounting but of his open mindedness, his willing to look beyond surfaces of people unlike himself and search for the soul within; the search for fact and truth what ever it was, where ever it was, and whomever it belonged to. He held a genuine interest in his undertaking and his virtual pen was faithful in that regard. His eye for beauty and appreciation of the boundless and magnificent wilderness excursion fills the reader with longing to have experienced such as this themselves, even though most of us know it takes a separate breed of individual to breach the hardship inherent in such a journey. And, as one who has grown up in the West, it is easy to spot a counterfeit.

Truly a masterpiece of Western Americana, taking it's rightful place alongside Mari Sandoz/s "Old Jules".

I highly recommend this two-volume historical book to anyone who is interested in factual narrative adventure, Indian Nations as they were or first-person American History, especially during the Westward movement.

For those whose tastes run to this kind of historical narrative, another Library of America selection, William Bartram's "Travels and other writings" is in a similar vein, a fabulous accounting of the eastern half of the U.S., when it too was young, and includes fascinating narrative regarding the Cherokees, Crees, Creeks, and other Native Nations. Allan Eckert's "The Frontiersmen" is another excellent example of historical narration regarding the pioneers and woodsmen.

AHistory of the American Indian from an Eyewitness
David McCullough and Theodore Roosevelt both say that they consider Francis Parkman to be their favorite historian and the author who had the greatest impact on their own writing.If you read the Oregon Trail you will understand why.

Parkman made his journey in 1846.It was before the Civil War, and 15 or more years before the West portrayed in most westerns. The outposts of the American Fur Company were 700 miles west of the farthest reaches of the U.S. Cavalry,and Parkman was truly on the cutting edge of frontier.This is a very different view of the West than we get from the movies.

What is most interesting here is the portrayal of the American Indian.Traders, merchants, immigrants, trappers,and frontiersmen live side by side with the Sioux Indians.The Sioux are are war with the Crows,and the six nations are gathering to finally wipe the Crows from the face of the earth.

The West resembles a multi-racial society,where the settlers and traders try to get along with everyone, but where the Indians seem to have a little more trouble than the settlers living in peace.The Sioux look upon the trading posts as a source of protection and manufactured goods.They leave the bodies of their dead chiefs on scaffolds nearby Fort Laramie for protection,to keep the Crow from desecrating the bodies of the dead.

There is a great deal of mixture between whites and Indians.Traders and merchants have squaws as mistresses or even wives,and the families,the in-laws, live inside the fort with them.During one pare of the journey,Parkman leaves the Oregon trail to go with a friend and find his dying wife,a Sioux squaw who is with the tribe.

This book is a classic.It is the type that should be read by every educated American.On top of that,it's well written,and as timeless as any modern American history.

The "Original" American West - in Two Volumes
This volume is a reader's delight, for it presents not one but two of Francis Parkman's classic works: The Oregon Trail and The Conspiracy of Pontiac.Rightly hailed as America's greatest historian, in The Oregon Trail Francis Parkman relates a journey to the 1840's American West - undertaken for the express purpose of living among "real"American Indian tribes of the Great Plains before their way of life passedforever.By this experience Parkman hoped to better understand and relate what eastern tribes had so tragically fought for and lost in the precedingcentury's struggle for the continent.The Oregon Trail is a great book inits own right, and has been reviewed by this reader previously (see more in"About Me/Other Reviews"), but the primary focus of this review is Parkman's study of a crucial chapter in the development of North Americaas we know it today: the disastrous consequences France's defeat in Canada would bring to the remaining eastern tribes.For this event would inexorably lead to the explosion of the English colonies across lands heretofore held by them under French "dominion".

While the Iroquois Nations had long maintained an uneasy alliance with the English as they pushed their way into the western reaches of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, those further west knew what the defeat of the French would bring: utter destruction.The Ottawa, Ojibwa, Pottawattami, Delaware,Shawnee, Illinois, Sauk and Foxes had long fought the intrusion of the arrogant and land-grabbing English from Quebec to the Mississippi.Pontiac himself had fought beside the Marquis de Montcalm as he tried in vain to save New France from ruin during the French & Indian War.But at last, in the mid-1700s France finally capitulated to her English rivals, her hold on the North American continent broken forever.The only task left to the conquerors was to make their way across the Great Lakes, into the valleys of the Ohio, and down the Mississippi into the Illinois country to make their claim upon the former French forts and trading houses.For a brief time a singular leader and a dozen nations blocked their way: Pontiac and his assembled allies.

Parkman sets the stage by briefly relating the history of France and England in America from the early 1600s-1760s, then meticulously details thesource of the tribes' many grievances - grievances which would directly lead to Pontiac's bold attempt to decisively halt the English advance.

Though doomed to ultimate defeat against the onslaught of English guns and armies, traders and pioneers, for a short time Pontiac's initiative was remarkably successful.He brought war to nearly all of western America at the same time - from the siege atDetroit to the forests outside the gates of Niagara, from upper Michigan and Wisconsin to the Ohio valley, into western Pennsylvania, Virginia andNew York, down the many rivers and tributaries leading into the Mississipi.A dozen forts fell before him and hundreds of miles of frontiersettlements emptied in terror.

Parkman's work is perhaps the best chronicle of many of these tribes' last desperate fight for their lives and land.Those interested in the history of the struggles destined to come shortly to the tribes west of the Mississippi will derive muchinsight from Parkman's treatment of Pontiac's war.For his "conspiracy" was the original "last great battle" forthe "American West" - 100 years before the battle for the further western Plains would come to an ignominious close.To understand Pontiac's war, the motives of both his people and the English and French, as well as the burgeoning force who would soon thereafter cast off their identity as "colonists" is to understand much of what would follow as American history. ... Read more

Product Description
Presents information on the history, people, geography, economy, government, culture, and more of the state of Oregon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fascinating
I disagree with the previous review. I think the charm of this is the verbatim, not heavily edited, interviews. We don't often get stories like this in history books.

I'll admit part of the interest for me is that living in Oregon, the names of people and places are so familiar.

Learning how Grizzly Peak (at that time called Grizzly Butte) got it's name, how Bandon was named for a town in Ireland, firsthand eyewitness accounts of Indian massacres. A trip over the Siskiyous from Ashland to Yreka for a dance. These are delightful stories. Plenty of action too.

I want my own copy to read again and lend.

A good resource, but in need of editing
At the early part of the 20th century, Oregon Journal writer Fred Lockley had a column titled, "Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man" in which he published recollections and oral histories of the early pioneers of Oregon._Converstaions with Pioneer Women_ is drawn from these interviews.

The collection is fascinating reading, as many of the interviewees were the daughters, wives, or sisters of the founding families in Portland and elsewhere in Oregon.Many experices - the difficulty of crossing the continent, the challenges of carving a community out of the wilderness, the prodigous amount of work required to maintain a home and raise a family - are similar.Unfortunatley, too few of the interviews provide much of an insight into the character of these pioneers.

The collection also would benefit from stronger editing. For example, organizing the recollections by topic and content.Far too many of these accounts seemed to ramble or complain or brag about family history, which is of little use to those unfamiliar with the history of the area and was frankly of little interest to me.A strength of the collection is the scope of its sample, as women from a variety of social classes and from around the state were interviewed.In the final analysis, there are better resources on the oral history of pioneer women. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good read, sparse on Portland area information
Oregon's Ghosts and Monsters is full of interesting details of the paranormal in Oregon.Readers who are interested in ghost lore involving the state's largest population center--Portland--would be advised to look elsewhere.There is no mention of any ghosts or monsters who dwell in the City of Roses or surrounding areas, which seems like a major omission.I'm sure such a city has it's fair share of ghosts; one only has to think of the many unsuspecting drunks who were sometimes killed in the process of being taken captive in the Shanghai Tunnels beneath Old Town.In sum: a good sumation of those spectres that haunt more rural locales, but urban ghosts are ignored.

Good Collection, Good Reference
If you enjoy supernatural legends, and particularly local legends, this is a book you need to add to your library. I used this book for a resource for my "Flix, the Creature in Conser Lake" monograph.It is a nice little collection of Oregon legends, with black and white photos and some graphics. I'd like Mike Helms, the author, to do an updated edition of this book!

Good Research book
I used this book for a research project, it has very good information, and fun to read. Even better if you live in Oregon. I found myself reading it late at night and being very spooked! Good book I recomend it to anyone wholikes a good ghost story! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I actually read this trash
This guy is an imposter, he is trying to be William L. Sullivan who is an incredible author and has a book called Listening For Coyote where he actually completes a 1300 mile hike inside Oregon rather than bail out of a short hike across Eastern Oregon to finish it in his Jeep as this author did.

He complains about land being closed to hiking and his Jeep and then closes his book with a chapter on vandalism.

He also imitates Mr. Sullivan by including the references to coyote and the legends about him which I know were in the fantastic book Hiking Oregons History, one of my very favorite books.

I am not a friend of Mr. Sullivan, I have never met him, I only know that his books are loved by me and many of my friends and that this guy has tried to rip him off.

Besides William L.Sullivan also check out anything by Ralph Friedman, his books are becoming historical already but they are wonderful and very much worth reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

No Book
Seller did not have the book that they had listed. My order was canceled and I was given a refund. ... Read more

Product Description
Explores the great westward migration on the Oregon Trail in the nineteenth century and the experiences of those who traveled that way. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In English. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the geography, plants, animals, history, economy, language, religions, culture, sports, arts, and people of Oregon. ... Read more

Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Basic State Books
Each book in this series is a good basic review of a state.The pictures are nice and they are not too indepth for Kindergarten and first grade. ... Read more