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Rating: 
Summary: Eye opener to westward emigrant survival
Review: A fascinating assemblage of facts and information for the overland emigrant of the mid-1800's to successfully complete the long, arduous journey to the west coast. Captain Marcy includes everything one can possibly imagine: from types of wagons, livestock, food, provisions and medicines to fording rivers, selection of campsites, types of saddles, packing, tracking, guides, guards, etc. and habits of Indians. The itineraries at the end of the book detail the mileages, availability of water, grass, wood, road conditions, etc. along several different routes to the Pacific. With our many modern day conveniencies traveling across the country, we tend to dismiss the hardships and sacrifices our pioneers endured while traversing the continent. This little book puts it all into focus.
Rating: 
Summary: Wordy but informative
Review: A good insight into the mind of an inhabitant of the new world in the 1800s. Very unpolitically correct to the point of being amusing (section on 'Indians'). I read this book on a long camping tour and liked in a lot. There are some sections that are more like lists, and arenot as interesting, but you can skip over them.
Rating:
Summary: Wordy but informative
Review: A good insight into the mind of an inhabitant of the new world in the 1800s. Very unpolitically correct to the point of being amusing (section on 'Indians'). I read this book on a long camping tour and liked in a lot. There are some sections that are more like lists, and arenot as interesting, but you can skip over them.
Rating:
Summary: The Prairie Traveler - a Book Review
Review: Randolph Marcy, an army cavalry officer, wrote this book (1859) when it became apparent to him that nobody better qualified was going to do the job. He intended for the book to serve as a manual for those who were going to travel westward by wagon train over rugged territory inhabited by hostile indians. A glance at his index reveals the information and actions he deemed vital: choosing a route and a group leader, selecting wagons and draft animals, buying provisions, supplies, equipments, personal clothing and weapons, march procedures, herding and guarding animals, organizing a first-aid kit, treating snakebites, selecting campsites, pitching tents, building fires, fording rivers, etc.
When Marcy explains the value of a qualified leader-guide, and the merits of having people with hunter-woodsman skills, he deviates somewhat and talks at length about indians. Eastern indians differ greatly from western indians, he explains, and all indians have natural skills of tracking and navigating uncharted territory that white men can rarely emulate. He describes indian tracking techniques, their use of smoke signals and sign language, and their battle tactics - simular in certain respects to those used by Arab guerrillas. He describes how they hunt the bigger animals - the buffalo, bears, deer, antelopes and bighorn sheep.
In brief, this little book (230 pages)- written for the 'prairie traveler' by a man who'd 'been there and done that' is entertaining, fascinating, and informative. Read it and you'll view those old western movies through new eyes.
Rating:
Summary: The Prairie Traveler - a Book Review
Review: Randolph Marcy, an army cavalry officer, wrote this book (1859) when it became apparent to him that nobody better qualified was going to do the job. He intended for the book to serve as a manual for those who were going to travel westward by wagon train over rugged territory inhabited by hostile indians. A glance at his index reveals the information and actions he deemed vital: choosing a route and a group leader, selecting wagons and draft animals, buying provisions, supplies, equipments, personal clothing and weapons, march procedures, herding and guarding animals, organizing a first-aid kit, treating snakebites, selecting campsites, pitching tents, building fires, fording rivers, etc.
When Marcy explains the value of a qualified leader-guide, and the merits of having people with hunter-woodsman skills, he deviates somewhat and talks at length about indians. Eastern indians differ greatly from western indians, he explains, and all indians have natural skills of tracking and navigating uncharted territory that white men can rarely emulate. He describes indian tracking techniques, their use of smoke signals and sign language, and their battle tactics - simular in certain respects to those used by Arab guerrillas. He describes how they hunt the bigger animals - the buffalo, bears, deer, antelopes and bighorn sheep.
In brief, this little book (230 pages)- written for the 'prairie traveler' by a man who'd 'been there and done that' is entertaining, fascinating, and informative. Read it and you'll view those old western movies through new eyes.
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