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"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.
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