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The Prairie Traveler

de Randolph B. Marcy

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This work by Randolph B. Marcy (1812-87), who retired from the US Army as a brigadier general in 1881, was first published in 1859. Reissued here is the 1863 edition, edited with notes by the British explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821-90). The subtitle of the original edition describes it as A Hand-Book for Overland Expeditions, with Maps, Illustrations, and Itineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and it was hugely influential, as an official US Government publication, in encouraging the great overland migrations which took European settlers to the American west. The book, based on Marcy's own experience of western travel, covers the routes to Oregon and California, the equipment needed, the treatment of animals, and the possibility of encounters with Native American tribes. This is a fascinating account of the practical steps necessary to enable emigrants to be self-reliant and to survive.… (mais)
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I read this while serving as a docent at the historical Wyoming Mormon Trail Site. Although much of the information is not useful today, some of the guidance for hunting and camping is still relevant.

I personally enjoy the verbose elocution of the 19th century, and Marcy is an entertaining writer. He quotes several times from contemporary research, as well as being a shrewd observer from personal experience.

This is an unabridged edition, other than the omission of the itineraries, of the 1859 publication "The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions with Maps, Illustrations, and Iineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific."

The itineraries are no longer of any practical use.

NOTE: The U.S. War Department asked Randolph March to write this new guidebook, and it quickly replaced "The Emigrants' Guide to Orego and Califorina" which had been disastrously relied on by the Donner Party. ( )
  librisissimo | Feb 10, 2023 |
Although rumored to be commissioned by the War Department in response to the Donner Party disaster, The Prairie Traveler has no explicit mention of the Donners. It’s certainly full of advice that would have been useful; how to pack your wagons; the relative merits of mules vs oxen (mules for short trips – under 1000 miles – oxen for the long haul); how to cross deserts; what kind of weapons to bring (writing in 1859, author Randolph Marcy is a big fan of Colt’s revolving rifles, although he allows old time mountaineers will have nothing but a “Hawkins” (sic) rifle); how to hunt buffalo; how to deal with snakebite (drink a bottle of whiskey and burn gunpowder on the wound is one suggestion, although Marcy allows he’s never tried that himself); how to ford rivers, and what to do about Indians (Marcy’s general advice is shoot first and ask questions later, although he allows the Shawnee are generally trustworthy). He has a rather disrespectful remark about visiting Salt Lake City:


”It is true that if persons choose to pass through Salt Lake City, and the Mormons happen to be in an amiable mood, supplies may sometimes be procured from them, but those who have visited them well know how little reliance is to be place on their hospitality or spirit of accommodation.


I find this calumnious, since my own experience in traveling across the prairie with Mormons (well, only one) shows they are hospitable and accommodating to the extreme. (To be entirely just, both Mormons and non-Mormons had some reason to be suspicious of each other in 1859).


The book closes with itineraries for the major western trails: Fort Smith to Santa Fe and Albuquerque; Leavenworth to Salt Lake City; Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and San Francisco (perhaps influenced by the Donners, instead of going west from Salt Lake City Marcy’s route heads southwest along the Virgin and Mojave rivers, roughly following the path of modern Interstate 15 to reach Los Angeles, then following the cost to San Francisco); Indianola to San Antonio; El Paso to Fort Yuma; Westport to the Colorado gold diggings; and St. Paul to Walla Walla. The itineraries give each day’s mileage; suggest campsites and water holes; and list prominent landmarks.


A quick read. Perhaps of some use to educate those who long for the more “natural” life style of our ancestors. Readers susceptible to outrage should be cautioned in advance that Marcy displays the political sentiments of his time. Surprisingly, only one map (of the Colorado gold diggings); perhaps Marcy assumed that travelers wouldn’t find large scale maps much use or maybe he had made enemies in the Army cartographic department. ( )
  setnahkt | Dec 28, 2017 |
Interesting, but not as good as I had hoped....too much material fom outside the prairie.... ( )
  untraveller | Sep 7, 2016 |
This is a Dover reprint of the original publication of the handbook many pioneers swore by as they headed west across the United States in the nineteenth century.

Anyone who has an interest in the nineteenth century, whether it be literature, design, or history, should be acquainted with Dover Publications. They've been my go-to source for affordable reprint editions of novels, clip art, floor plans... all sorts of things. I can spend hours looking through their catalogs and website.

Dover is responsible for reprinting this gem-- The Prairie Traveler-- and if you ever wanted to know if pioneers had a guidebook for how to equip themselves for a transcontinental journey, the answer is yes. Veteran Randolph Marcy covers every conceivable topic westbound travelers would need to know. What type of covered wagon to buy. Oxen or mules? What to pack in the wagon and how to pack it. How to ford streams. What sorts of guns are the best. What to do in case of snake bite. How to deal with Indians. And that's just for starters.

This little volume packs a ton of information, some of which is still useful today. I've read plenty of histories, biographies, and historical fiction about the pioneers, but reading this guidebook made their journeys tactile, immediate. It brought back memories of my grandfather and I walking along the wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail near Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It brought home how difficult that journey was for the thousands of people who endured it.

I learned a great deal from reading The 1859 Handbook for Westbound Pioneers. The added bonus was that it also fired my imagination. ( )
1 vote cathyskye | Aug 20, 2015 |
great book from man that had traveled the trail 4 times. good list of items to take and many other very good advice.
this book was supposed to improve on the Hastings book and its bad advice to Donner party.
All original except cover ( )
  Mikenielson | Feb 5, 2015 |
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This work by Randolph B. Marcy (1812-87), who retired from the US Army as a brigadier general in 1881, was first published in 1859. Reissued here is the 1863 edition, edited with notes by the British explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821-90). The subtitle of the original edition describes it as A Hand-Book for Overland Expeditions, with Maps, Illustrations, and Itineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific, and it was hugely influential, as an official US Government publication, in encouraging the great overland migrations which took European settlers to the American west. The book, based on Marcy's own experience of western travel, covers the routes to Oregon and California, the equipment needed, the treatment of animals, and the possibility of encounters with Native American tribes. This is a fascinating account of the practical steps necessary to enable emigrants to be self-reliant and to survive.

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