Book Description

This was the indispensable handbook for American pioneers traveling west in the mid 19th century. Commissioned and published by the U.S. government and written in a straightforward and helpful voice by U.S. Army officer Randolph Barnes Marcy (1812-1887), it offers all the useful and necessary advice overland travelers to the far West needed to ensure a safe journey: the different routes to California and Oregon, how to pack a wagon for the journey, finding and purifying water, repairing broken wagons, weathering storms, how to handle saddle wounds, the best way to make a fire on the prairie, interacting with Indians, hints on the best methods of hunting, and much more. Complete with all the original maps and illustrations, this replica edition is a remarkable artifact of one of the most exciting and dangerous eras in American history.