The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions

The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions

Randolph Marcy’s detailed guide must have seemed a godsend to nineteenth century Americans contemplating the long, hazardous journey to a new life in the west. Imagine their questions—and fears. What if we are attacked! Where will we find water? Will I run out of supplies? This volume answers it all. It describes all the needs for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and even necessities the prospective traveler might have overlooked. It includes a landmark-oriented chart with mileage between points and resources, hazards, and such at each point and in-between. Reading the details, one wonders how anyone could have survived the journey without this critical information. For the modern reader, this is not necessarily survival reading; it’s really fascinating stuff. You begin to appreciate what our ancestors endured in completing the expansion of the American nation to the Pacific shores. And for the historians and novelists among us, what an incredible resource!