Reuben Gold Thwaites
Education

Early western (US) travels, 1748-1846

If you are attempting to better understand what the United States may have looked like when your early European ancestors were moving westward, this set of texts can help you visualize and better understand those by-gone days. This collection is deemed to be among the best genealogical and historical works available.

Title

  • Early western travels, 1748-1846 : a series of annotated reprints of some of the best and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive of the aborigines and social and economic conditions in the middle and far West, during the period of early American settlement

Contributor Names

  • Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913, ed.

Created / Published

  • Cleveland, Ohio : The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1904-1907.

So far as we are aware, ManyRoads offers the only complete set of these texts, available for free download. All 32 of the set’s texts are here and insofar as we are able to determine “out of copyright”.

Contents

  • v. 1. Journals of Conrad Weiser (1748), George Croghan (1750-1765), Christian Frederick Post (1758), and Thomas Morris (1764)
  • v. 2. John Long’s journal, 1768-1782
  • v. 3. André Michaux’s Travels into Kentucky, 1793-96 ; François André Michaux’s Travels west of Alleghany Mountains, 1802 ; Thaddeus Mason Harris’s Journal of a tour northwest of Alleghany Mountains, 1803
  • v. 4. Cuming’s tour to the western country (1807-1809)
  • v. 5. Bradbury’s Travels in the interior of America, 1809-1811
  • v. 6. Brackenridge’s Journal up the Missouri, 1811 ; FrancheÌ€re’s Voyage to Northwest coast, 1811-1814
  • v. 7. Ross’s Adventures of the first settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River, 1810-1813
  • v. 8. Buttrick’s Voyages, 1812-1819 ; Evan’s Pedestrious tour, 1818
  • v. 9. Flint’s Letters from America, 1818-1820
  • v. 10. Hulme’s Journal, 1818-19 ; Flower’s Letters from the Illinois, 1820-21 ; and Wood’s Two years’ residence, 1820-21
  • v. 11. Part I (1819) of Faux’s Memorable days in America, 1819-1820
  • v. 12. Part II (1820) of Faux’s Memorable days in America, 1819-1820 ; and Welby’s Visit to North America, 1819-20
  • v. 13. Nuttall’s travels into the Arkansas territory, 1819
  • v. 14-17. Part I-IV of James’s Account of S.H. Long’s expedition, 1819-1820
  • v. 18. Pattie’s Personal narrative, 1824-1830 ; Willard’s Inland trade with New Mexico, 1825 ; and Downfall of the Fredonian republic ; and Malte-Brun’s account of Mexico
  • v. 19. Ogden’s Letters from the West, 1821-1823 ; Bullock’s Journey from New Orleans to New York, 1827 ; and Part I of Gregg’s Commerce of the prairies, 1831-1839
  • v. 20. Part II of Gregg’s Commerce of the prairies, 1831-1839
  • v. 21. Wyeth’s Oregon, or a short history of a long journey, 1832 ; and Townsend’s Narrative of a journey across the Rocky Mountains, 1834
  • v. 22. Part I of Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s travels in the interior of North America, 1832-1834
  • v. 23. Part II of Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the interior of North America, 1832-1834
  • v. 24. Part III of Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s, Travels in the interior of North America, 1832-1834
  • v. 25. Comprising the series of original paintings by Charles Bodmer, to illustrate Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the interior of North America, 1832-34
  • v. 26. Part I of Flagg’s The far West, 1836-1837
  • v. 27. Part II of Flagg’s The far West, 1836-1837 ; and De Smet’s Letters and sketches, 1841-1842
  • v. 28. Part I of Farnham’s Travels in the great western prairies, etc., May 21-October 16,1839
  • v. 29. Part II of Farnham’s Travels in the great western prairies, etc., October 21-December 4, 1839 ; and De Smet’s Oregon missions and travels over the Rocky Mountains, 1845-1846
  • v. 30. Palmer’s Journal of travels over the Rocky Mountains, 1845-1846
  • v. 31-32. Analytical index to the series.

As always, if you are happy researching your own materials from ManyRoads, you are welcome to do so. However, because our libraries are immense and growing, and because, due to costs, only about half of our libraries are able to be available online, you may prefer a quicker and more exhaustive search “of all of our holdings” conducted on your behalf, by the experts (us).

Early Western Travels 1748-1846- click to Access the Texts

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