Journal of Travels Over the Oregon Trail in 1845 [Paperback]

Joel Palmer (Author), Reuben Gold Thwaites (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 311 pages
• Publisher: Oregon Historical Society Press (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875952534
• ISBN-13: 978-0875952536
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,488,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An account written by an actual pioneer, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Journal of Travels Over the Oregon Trail in 1845 (Paperback)

This book in the form of a diary was foremostly a handbook by and for an emigrant on the Oregon Trail. Palmer took the Trail in 1845, within 5 years of the first practical wagon crossing of it and had published his book within 2 years. It contained practical advice on the composition of the train,the ill-defined route, chosing nightly camp sites and the daily problems facing the pioneers. With wonderful practical advice on the choice of wagons, animals, supplies and proposed progress. His observations of the land crossed, native people encountered and perilous problems facing the pioneers, particularly of the desperate forcing of a road around Mount Hood in appalling conditions, are made with the eye of a seasoned traveler. Although the prose retains the flavour of having been written contemporaneously, it is easily assimilated by the modern reader. However, armchair pioneers will benefit greatly from access to a topographical map of the route which will supplement the somewhat limited sketches from the original documents.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute of early western travels, September 10, 2003

By 

William J Higgins III (Laramie, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Journal of Travels Over the Oregon Trail in 1845 (Paperback)

Thanks to Joel Palmer's artistic writing abilities and keen observations, we have a sweeping visual perception of what it was like to travel along the Oregon Trail in 1845-46. Palmer is very descriptive of landforms, climate, people he met, and all the other happenstances not only along the Oregon Trail itself, but also of Oregon. He was one of few to blaze a new wagon road from the Dalles, around Mt. Hood to the Williamette Valley, which was later referred to as the Barlow Cutoff. Also included are excellent descriptions of the disastrous Stephen Meek wagon party; Oregon City in its infancy; advice to future emigrants; economic and agricultural possibilities in Oregon; etc. There is also a somewhat lengthy but insightful and prophetic letter from Reverend Spalding to Palmer with his thoughts and descriptions of Oregon.
I did find it somewhat peculiar though that Palmer's advice to emigrants mirrors the same advice of Overton Johnson's "Route Across the Rocky Mountains" published a year earlier. A map would be handy for those unfamiliar with the geography as the one included is quite vague. Still, a great book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wealth of Information, May 11, 2011

By 

Frank A. Rogers "Frank Allan Rogers, Storyteller" (Villa Rica, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journal Of Travels - Over The Oregon Trail In 1845 (Paperback)

I went through many books, articles, diaries, and journals about the Oregon Trail before I found Joel Palmer's Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains. This book beats them all. It covers much more than the famous landmarks. With its detail about the landscape, climate, campsites, rivers, mountains, prairie, plants, people, and animals, it is simpy the best resource I found. Palmer even measured the distances with a chain as he traveled, and left us a mileage chart. Thank you, Captain Palmer. Frank Allan Rogers, Author of Upon a Crazy Horse.