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The Oregon Trail

Questions About The Oregon Trail

by Francis Parkman

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Any comments on this book? Is it in the vein of a civilizing, sanitized narrative
Mark There is a remarkable passage in Parkman’s “The Oregon Trail.” It is the summer of 1846. Parkman and his companions have reached Richard’s Fort, about…moreThere is a remarkable passage in Parkman’s “The Oregon Trail.” It is the summer of 1846. Parkman and his companions have reached Richard’s Fort, about 300 miles west of the Missouri River in the middle of a featureless plain.

"…I entered an apartment of logs and mud, the largest in the fort; it was full of men of various races and complexions, all more or less drunk. A company of California emigrants, it seemed, had made the discovery at this late day that they had encumbered themselves with too many supplies for their journey. A part, therefore, they had thrown away or sold at great loss to the traders, but had determined to get rid of their copious stock of Missouri whisky, by drinking it on the spot. Here were maudlin squaws stretched on piles of buffalo robes; squalid Mexicans, armed with bows and arrows; Indians sedately drunk; long-haired Canadians and trappers, and American backwoodsmen in brown homespun, the well-beloved pistol and bowie knife displayed openly at their sides. In the middle of the room a tall, lank man, with a dingy broadcloth coat, was haranguing the company in the style of the stump orator. With one hand he sawed the air, and with the other clutched firmly a brown jug of whisky, which he applied every moment to his lips, forgetting that he had drained the contents long ago. Richard formally introduced me to this personage, who was no less a man than Colonel R., once the leader of the party. Instantly the colonel seizing me, in the absence of buttons by the leather fringes of my frock, began to define his position. His men, he said, had mutinied and deposed him; but still he exercised over them the influence of a superior mind; in all but the name he was yet their chief. As the colonel spoke, I looked round on the wild assemblage, and could not help thinking that he was but ill qualified to conduct such men across the desert to California…
Fearful was the fate that months after overtook some of the members of that party. General Kearny, on his late return from California, brought in the account how they were interrupted by the deep snows among the mountains, and maddened by cold and hunger fed upon each other's flesh."

By an amazing coincidence, Parkman had crossed paths with the Donner Party on their way west.(less)
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DOES IT MENTION ZEBULON PIKE?
Tim Murphy No, but it does mention his “Peak”.
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