Joel Palmer, a farmer from Indiana, was a leader among the pioneers who settled the Oregon country. In 1845, before moving his family to the new territory, he joined a caravan of about three thousand in Kansas. Once the caravan broke into smaller groups, Palmer was chosen captain of a group of thirty wagons. From Fort Laramie the group followed the trail to a newly-established supply depot at Fort Bridger and then followed the Lewis River to Fort Boise, where they bought supplies before attempting the passage of the Blue and Cascade ranges. Palmer's caravan joined Samuel K. Barlow and his company in an attempt to cross the Cascades south of Mount Hood and continue overland to the Willamette Valley. They finally reached Oregon City, the capital of the new territory and Palmer wintered there exploring the Oregon country and examining its resources before returning to his home in Laurel, Indiana. "Palmer's experience, although trying, had been sufficiently satisfactory to justify his intention to make a permanent home in Oregon." This volume details his experience, giving simple narrative of each day's happenings; taking care to indicate the route, each night's camping places, and all possible cut-offs, springs, and grassy oases. His record of climate, early prices in Oregon and the necessities required by the emigrant complete "a graphic picture of pioneering days" and the most complete description of the Oregon Trail available.
Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL.D.
(1906), 2007, CD-ROM, Graphic Images, Searchable, Adobe v6, PC or Mac, 312 pp.
ISBN: 9780788444081
101-CD4408
