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Parkman, Fran., Oregon Trail, 2 Novels, 1991, The Library of America - Like New tendanceISBN：Does not apply Parkman, Francis, 2 Novels: The Oregon Trail, The Conspiracy of Pontiac, 1991, The Library of America - Like New.From the Publisher: "From boyhood," wrote Francis Parkman, "I had a taste for the woods and the Indians." His lifelong fascination with these American subjects are brilliantly recorded in "The Oregon Trail" and "The Conspiracy of Pontiac," his two earliest works. Parkman began his travels to the northern wilderness during his student years at Harvard in the 1840s, then went west after graduation. His first and most famous book, "The Oregon Trail," is a vivid account of his adventures on the open frontier and his encounters with Plains Indians in their last era of free, nomadic life. "The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada," Parkmans first historical work, portrays the fierce conflict that erupted along the Great Lakes in the aftermath of the Seven Years War and chronicles the defeats in which both the eastern Indians and their forest "received their final doom."Reader Review: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 Twains 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 its 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 its 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 its 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 its rightful place alongside Mari Sandoz/s "Old Jules".For those whose tastes run to this kind of historical narrative, another Library of America selection, William Bartrams "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 Eckerts "The Frontiersmen" is another excellent example of historical narration regarding the pioneers and woodsmen.Reader Review:The Oregon Trail, as its title is usually now rendered, is readily available, but the Conspiracy of Pontiac - try to find a copy in your average megabookstore!The latter is a history of the uprising in the Old Northwest that followed the French and Indian War, lasting from 1763 to 1766. Historians today tend to avoid Parkmans name for it, partly because more than one Indian leader was involved but more so, one suspects, because of the negative connotation of "conspiracy." Yet Parkman was familiar with his subject and the reader may judge for himself.The author was an amateur historian (he was trained as an attorney), accustomed to fending for himself in the wild and conversant in French, an essential skill in his lifelong, multivolume description of the 18th century struggle between the British and French empires for control of North America. He knew the Indian mind first-hand, describing its childlike nature and its propensity for savagery (one description of an Indian village is a "motley concourse of barbarians").The uprising included the capture, often by coup de main, of several forts, the captives then usually killed - in the case of the fort at Michillimackinac, several British soldiers were kept bound and standing for a late arriving chief to proceed down the line, stabbing each one to death. In the upper Ohio river valley, settlers discovered a one room school house in which the master and the boys who were his pupils had all been slaughtered.Rarely, Parkman gives us a glimpse of humorous relief - the Quakers of Philadelphia, counselling peace until the Indians were rumored to be near, at which time the Quakers quickly turned to a manual of arms on the green.Of course the revolt was suppressed and Pontiac himself was subsequently killed by another Indian at St. Louis; this is how Parkman concludes, in his typically masterful prose: "neither mound nor tablet marked the burial place of Pontiac. For a mausoleum, a city has risen above the forest hero and the race whom he hated with such burning rancor trample with unceasing tendance footsteps over his forgotten grave."The Library of America produces highest quality books: via non-acid paper, fabric covers, binding and printing. They are comparable to other elite presses, such as Folio and Franklin, but with a uniform, typically smaller size, and higher density. The paper is thinner, as in an expensive Bible or dictionary, so each small volume can easily hold 1000 pages. The slipcases are all identical cream color, and are covered with finished paper, so will outlast an unfinished slipcase, as provided by Heritage Press.TheLibrary of Americais an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing Americas best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as "the most important book-publishing project in the nations history" (Newsweek), this acclaimed series is restoring Americas literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made" (New Republic).
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Parkman, Fran., Oregon Trail, 2 Novels, 1991, The Library of America - Like New tendance
