"Strong mental faculties and a vigorous constitution" were among the attributes of Zenas Leonard, according to the publisher of the 1839 edition of this book, which the Bison Books edition reproduces. In the spring of 1830, Leonard, a native of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, "ventured to embark in an expedition across the Rocky Mountains, in the capacity of clerk to the company. The last letter received by his parents, left him at the extreme white settlement Independence, Missouri, where they were busily occupied in making preparations for the expedition to the mountains--from whence he promised to write at short intervals; but one misfortune after another happening to the company, he was deprived of all sources of communication--so that no tidings were received of him until he unexpectedly returned to the scenes of his childhood, to the house of his father, in the fall of 1835--after an absence of 5 years and 6 months " Written "in response to popular demand," so to speak, Leonard's account of these years, based in large part on "a minute journal of every incident that occurred," is recognized as one of the fundamental sources on the exploration of the American West. A free trapper until the summer of 1833, when he entered the employ of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville, Leonard was part of the group sent under command of Captain Joseph Walker to explore the Great Salt Lake region--an expedition that resulted in Walker's finding the overland route to California. The Narrative ends in August 1835, with Leonard's return to Independence.

Although the American Fur Company dominated the Upper Missouri fur trade during the middle decades of the nineteenth century, a number of small, independent firms (known as the "Opposition") flourished briefly at this time.

From 1858 until 1862, a young Philadelphian, Henry A. Boller, was one of the Opposition traders, serving first as clerk in Clark, Primeau and Company and then as a partner in Larpenteur, Smith and Company. His account of these years, based on his journals, presents a remarkably realistic picture of the daily life of the Indian as he existed more than a century ago and is recognized as the "most authoritative narrative of fur-trading among the plains Indians of the Upper Missouri, for the period" (U.S.iana).

When it appeared in 1868, Boller's book was subtitled ""Eight Years in the Far West, 1858-1866, Embracing Sketches of Montana and Salt Lake,"" and included descriptions of a return visit to Fort Berthold, the newly discovered Montana gold fields, and the Mormon capital. These concluding chapters are omitted in the present volume.

On a frosty day in November 1831, Rebecca Burlend and her husband, John, and their five children debarked at New Orleans after a long voyage from England. They took a steamboat up the Mississippi to St. Louis and from there went to the wilds of western Illinois. It was a whole new world for a family that had never been more than fifty miles from home in rural Yorkshire.

Rebecca's narrative, written with the help of her son, was first published in 1848 as a pamphlet for people of her own class in England who might be considering migration to America. It records the daily struggle and also the satisfactions of homesteading in the Old Northwest: life in a log cabin; food, clothes, and furniture of the period; early churches and schools; the unspoiled countryside and its denizens. With courage and self-reliance Rebecca Burlend accepted the privations and difficulties of this pioneering venture.

When James B. Gillett joined the newly created Texas Rangers in 1875, its duties were as varied and its members as unorthodox as its methods were irregular.

First published in 1921, Gillett's now classic account of his six years of service depicts with freshness and authenticity how the Rangers maintained law and order on the frontier--and occasionally dispensed summary justice. From the Mason County War to the Horrell-Higgins feud, the capture of Sam Bass, and the pursuit of Victorio's rebellious Apaches, Gillett saw the kind of action that established the Rangers' enduring reputation for effectiveness.

'In the narrative of "Yellowstone Kelly" we have a rare story of adventure and service. General Miles, who knew him long and intimately, fitly compares him with such heroes of the American wilderness as Daniel Boone and David Crocket...His story is at once an important contribution to the history of the western frontier in the decades to which it pertains and a thrilling tale of sustained adventure' - M. M. Quaife. 'What old 'Yellowstone' has to say is extremely interesting, and he tells it in simple, straightforward fashion, with a wealth of absorbing detail' - "New York Times". 'Mr. Kelly writes not as a novelist, but as a historian, and his work is rich in the best qualities of both' - "Outlook". 'His memoirs [are] written with a rare skill in narration...It is a part of the story of the West and particularly of the Yellowstone region that we could ill afford to lose' - "Review of Reviews". 'Here is history in a most entertaining form' - "Boston Transcript".

""Britton Davis's account of the controversial "Geronimo Campaign" of 1885-86 offers an important firsthand picture of the famous Chiricahua warrior and the men who finally forced his surrender. Davis knew most of the people involved in the campaign and was himself in charge of Indian scouts, some of whom helped hunt down the small band of fugitives Robert M. Utley's foreword reevaluates the account for the modern reader and establishes its his torical background.