Reprint. Originally published: New York : G.P. Putnam, 1849.

"The California and Oregon Trail is Parkman's thrilling account of a summer spent journeying from St. Louis through the Great Plains and Black Hills to the Rockies. Traveling with his guide, Henry Chatillon, Parkman comes to revere the French trappers and voyageurs who had originally opened the country while mastering an essential art of frontier survival--hunting buffalo. Though plagued by a mysterious illness since childhood that left him weak and blind for long periods of time, Parkman was the picture of perseverance, eagerly covering vast stretches of the Great Plains with a roving band of Sioux for days on end. He returned home exhausted--almost entirely blind--and was forced to dictate the entire account."--Page 4 of cover.