Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910 edition. Excerpt: ... NOTES 21, Trail. This word signifies the track followed by the hunter, but here it is applied to the whole route taken by Parkman from Westport to the Black Hills. This is a proper use of the word, since one of the objects of the trip was hunting game. 1. 1846. It was in this year, during the presidency of James K. Polk, that the Mexican War began; it lasted a year and a half. Notice the abrupt beginning, thoroughly in the manner of Csesar, Xenophon, and other commentators. St. Louis was the center of the trade along the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers, although in 1846 no railroad had yet reached it. It was the starting point for expeditions along the Oregon Trail. 2. California. This country was first visited by the Spaniards and it belonged to them until 1822, when Mexico gained her independence. In 1847 the United States bought it of Mexico for $15,000,000. When gold was found so many people settled there that in 1850 California was made a state of the Union. Santa Fe was not on the Oregon Trail but was reached by another well-worn route running southwest from Independence, Missouri. In 1846, there were nearly 480 men engaged in trade with Santa Fe 22, 1. Wagons. These wagons were not the same kind as those used by the emigrants. They were closed in by black tops and the traders traveled and slept in them. 2. Mountain-men. Men who supported themselves by use of the rifle and who were skilled in Indian warfare. 3. Kansas Indians. The tribe was a member of the family of the Dacotahs (Dakotas), to whom Parkman refers frequently. The state of Kansas gets its name from this tribe. Like all the Dacotahs, the Kansas was a wandering tribe. 23, 1. Abatis. A row of the large branches of trees, sharpened and laid with the points outward, in...