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The Prairie Traveler: The Classic Handbook for America's Pioneers
In 1859, at the request of the U.S. War Department, Army Captain Randolph B. March published a guide for settlers traveling across the American frontier. Because of Marcy's encyclopedic knowledge of the territory and his gift for writing., "The Prairie Traveler" quickly became the essential handbook for westward-bound pioneers, outlining exactly how to prepare for the trip and what to expect in the open country. Marcy's work encompasses the wealth of invaluable information he has accumulated over a quarter-century of frontier life.
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1859
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 17, 2016
This was good old book. It was interesting to realize that it was probably the only book available to help new pioneers cross the plains. They would have to rely on it and read it and follow it to get across rivers, deal with Indians and know what to do in emergencies in the middle of the unknown world of the West.
Now a lot of the information is out dated because of science and knowledge about how the world works, like the whole malaria thing...they really didn't know why evenyone kept getting so sick and dieing. Who knew it was a little bug called the mosquito?
It was fun to read right before going out west to experience the Oregon Trail on Trek with my family. It made it more real and a bit easier to relate to the pioneers.
Now a lot of the information is out dated because of science and knowledge about how the world works, like the whole malaria thing...they really didn't know why evenyone kept getting so sick and dieing. Who knew it was a little bug called the mosquito?
It was fun to read right before going out west to experience the Oregon Trail on Trek with my family. It made it more real and a bit easier to relate to the pioneers.
July 7, 2011
As an army officer Randolph Marcy mapped much of the land west of the Mississippi River before it was settled. This is a guidebook that he wrote for settlers traveling the Oregon Trail.
Read
August 8, 2023im gonna be real i didn’t actually read it i just skimmed. it’s not a real book whatever who cares
January 13, 2020
It was fun just to flip through and read this and that in this book and see what kind of advise was given to people back then for traveling
July 24, 2020
NF, DIY, How To, Guide, Handbook, Manuel, Travel Advice, Military Advisor, Pioneers, Western Migration, Anglo-American Imperialism, US Expansionism, Cross-Country Treks, Overland Journeys, Routes, Supplies, First Aid, Disaster Prep, Provisions, Clothing, Wagon, Horses, Indians, Period Racism, Not PC, Primary Source, Illustrated, 1859, USA Lit, Public Domain, Free E-Book, Gutenberg.org
June 20, 2017
National Best Seller!!!!....in 1859.
The Prairie Traveler was written by Randolph B. Marcy, Captain US Army for the use of settlers as they crossed the Great Plains in the middle of the 19th century.
252+ pages (not including the list of itineraries, worth the book alone!) of facts for the intrepid pioneer to include such things as recommended clothing, shelter, wagon maintenance, selection and care of horses and information concerning the habits of Indians...and much more.
Captain Marcy had led many a patrol, escort and mission from the Mississippi to the Pacific, was a good writer and so was secured by the then 'War Department' to write a guide based on his knowledge and experience.
It was roundly applauded at the time as a very useful collection of information...and is today seen as a unique, detailed, common sense guide, and quite entertaining look, into what a settler had to prepare for, and endure, to successfully navigate the American west.
So which is better and for what purpose - mules or oxen?
Organizing your group or 'company' so as to select the best leader, type of wagons and what to take - and what not to take.
Treatment of diseases that are likely to befall you on the journey. Fording rivers, bivouacs and tents, starting a fire, making a lariat, jerking beef & buffalo meat and keeping Indians from stealing or stampeding your horses, cattle and mules at night are but a few of the things you just don't think about as you hop in your trusty automobile and motor off happily and carefree for hundreds and hundreds of miles at a time.
The best part of this book is that almost all of it is based on the good Captain's own experiences - both good and bad - and he is not shy about letting you know about some of the disasters that have been part of his life & Army career in the west and how you can now benefit from his observations and learn from them.
It's one of those 'read a chapter in bed before you turn out the light' type of little books, and is quite enjoyable for what it is.
An easy read that lets you go back in time to a place most people today would not survive in.....and therefor which gives you an appreciation for those who made that journey westward...nearly 160 years ago....
The Prairie Traveler was written by Randolph B. Marcy, Captain US Army for the use of settlers as they crossed the Great Plains in the middle of the 19th century.
252+ pages (not including the list of itineraries, worth the book alone!) of facts for the intrepid pioneer to include such things as recommended clothing, shelter, wagon maintenance, selection and care of horses and information concerning the habits of Indians...and much more.
Captain Marcy had led many a patrol, escort and mission from the Mississippi to the Pacific, was a good writer and so was secured by the then 'War Department' to write a guide based on his knowledge and experience.
It was roundly applauded at the time as a very useful collection of information...and is today seen as a unique, detailed, common sense guide, and quite entertaining look, into what a settler had to prepare for, and endure, to successfully navigate the American west.
So which is better and for what purpose - mules or oxen?
Organizing your group or 'company' so as to select the best leader, type of wagons and what to take - and what not to take.
Treatment of diseases that are likely to befall you on the journey. Fording rivers, bivouacs and tents, starting a fire, making a lariat, jerking beef & buffalo meat and keeping Indians from stealing or stampeding your horses, cattle and mules at night are but a few of the things you just don't think about as you hop in your trusty automobile and motor off happily and carefree for hundreds and hundreds of miles at a time.
The best part of this book is that almost all of it is based on the good Captain's own experiences - both good and bad - and he is not shy about letting you know about some of the disasters that have been part of his life & Army career in the west and how you can now benefit from his observations and learn from them.
It's one of those 'read a chapter in bed before you turn out the light' type of little books, and is quite enjoyable for what it is.
An easy read that lets you go back in time to a place most people today would not survive in.....and therefor which gives you an appreciation for those who made that journey westward...nearly 160 years ago....
July 29, 2017
The bravery of the pioneers who set off westward in a Conestoga wagon during the second half of the 19th century is greater than I have known. I greatly admire their courage and fortitude, even more so since having read The Prairie Traveler by U.S. Army Captain Randolph B. Marcy.
This book fascinates the armchair traveler with its tales of fording hundreds of horses across treacherous rivers, and advice for avoiding Indian attack and packing for the trip.
This book fascinates the armchair traveler with its tales of fording hundreds of horses across treacherous rivers, and advice for avoiding Indian attack and packing for the trip.
June 7, 2019
This is an old book written at the time of the Western migration. It is a practical book therefore in today's world it has nothing practical. However, from a historical view it is fascinating. I enjoyed the book.
December 3, 2019
Fascinating look into the logistics and mindset of the anglo westward expansion. But be prepared to repeatedly encounter presumption that the European settlers have the unquestioned right to dominion over the land and lives of Native Americans.
August 25, 2020
This book was fascinating and had a lot of invaluable information in it. I'll definitely be keeping this - you never know if life would change drastically enough that some of this info would be useful again.
January 26, 2018
If you are wondering if whiskey will cure anything--the answer is yes. Fun book to read
dnf-2
December 31, 2020The Prairie Traveler is dull, plodding, and lacks inspired observations.
January 4, 2024
Fascinating book. Marcy must have been an interesting person to know. This really puts a perspective on what people encountered when moving across the country at the time.
February 28, 2024
This is a very informative book for anyone who writes period stories or wants to learn more about history and what it what like to be a pioneer on a wagon train.
September 19, 2025
A really old 1859 field guide written for the US military instructing survival in the west, Marcy's "Prairie Traveler" was referenced in a L'Amour book and I got it at the Gateway Arch museum in St. Louis when we visited there last year. It was widely available to folks interested in traveling west back in 1859 and the wagon train years after. I'm going to write a lot here below, so I apologize for the lengthy review but I am trying to explain how fun this book is.
It actually is an amusing nonfiction read. Marcy has a lot of tips and anecdotes about do's and don'ts if you are attempting a journey on the good old Oregon Trail, written right after the swell of the California Gold Rush and before the Civil War. He's got information about what kind of gear you'd need in the west, how to treat animals under your care, how to measure distances across waterways, how to prepare and store food, how to deal with Indians, differing opinions on how to manage a wagon train and where his opinion lies, how to treat injuries and illnesses, how to hunt specific western animals, what routes to travel; interesting info that isn't written dry or textbooky.
His comments about dealing with various Indian tribes are respectful and wary and kind of funny. He specifically recommends you not give a visiting Indian ANYTHING for free. If you let one into your camp on a pretense of trade and treat him like a guest (which was the custom for folks back then by default), he would then simply take whatever he wanted out of your camp and leave, and then his comrades would all come to you with their hands out and follow your wagon train until things got ugly. He also relates once questioning an Indian Army scout about tracking techniques. I won't copy it word for word but the Indian comes out of the interaction like the smartest man alive. An eye-opening illustration of the Native American connection to the American west.
Marcy had another notable fun aside that I'd like to share and that is how bears behave. Despite our current thought of a "Mama Bear" being a mom who will fight and defend her children from any and all threats with no regard for her own personal safety or decorum, a grizzly bear that Marcy encountered in the wild ran away when he fired his gun and left her two cubs in his vicinity. The cubs chased after the mama bear, and finally caught up, but when she saw Marcy coming, she took off running again, leaving her cubs behind. "Her sole purpose seemed to be to make her escape, leaving her cubs in the most cowardly manner." Reading that was kind of like when I learned that bunnies don't actually eat carrots, despite decades of Looney Tunes cartoons teaching me otherwise.
Verdict: An interesting and fun read from a historical perspective, anthropological nature, and environmental description, especially for westerns fans like me. Its prose and language are so easy to read it is hard to believe it was written so long ago.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: G
It actually is an amusing nonfiction read. Marcy has a lot of tips and anecdotes about do's and don'ts if you are attempting a journey on the good old Oregon Trail, written right after the swell of the California Gold Rush and before the Civil War. He's got information about what kind of gear you'd need in the west, how to treat animals under your care, how to measure distances across waterways, how to prepare and store food, how to deal with Indians, differing opinions on how to manage a wagon train and where his opinion lies, how to treat injuries and illnesses, how to hunt specific western animals, what routes to travel; interesting info that isn't written dry or textbooky.
His comments about dealing with various Indian tribes are respectful and wary and kind of funny. He specifically recommends you not give a visiting Indian ANYTHING for free. If you let one into your camp on a pretense of trade and treat him like a guest (which was the custom for folks back then by default), he would then simply take whatever he wanted out of your camp and leave, and then his comrades would all come to you with their hands out and follow your wagon train until things got ugly. He also relates once questioning an Indian Army scout about tracking techniques. I won't copy it word for word but the Indian comes out of the interaction like the smartest man alive. An eye-opening illustration of the Native American connection to the American west.
Marcy had another notable fun aside that I'd like to share and that is how bears behave. Despite our current thought of a "Mama Bear" being a mom who will fight and defend her children from any and all threats with no regard for her own personal safety or decorum, a grizzly bear that Marcy encountered in the wild ran away when he fired his gun and left her two cubs in his vicinity. The cubs chased after the mama bear, and finally caught up, but when she saw Marcy coming, she took off running again, leaving her cubs behind. "Her sole purpose seemed to be to make her escape, leaving her cubs in the most cowardly manner." Reading that was kind of like when I learned that bunnies don't actually eat carrots, despite decades of Looney Tunes cartoons teaching me otherwise.
Verdict: An interesting and fun read from a historical perspective, anthropological nature, and environmental description, especially for westerns fans like me. Its prose and language are so easy to read it is hard to believe it was written so long ago.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: G
February 23, 2017
This had a good amount of technical advice, some of it dubious, especially when it came to snake bites and disease prevention. The itineraries for the trails are fairly well detailed, it would be very great to bring this book along for a roadtrip out west.
This also had some interesting and humorous perspectives on plains Indians during the 1850s. He describes them mostly as cowardly thieves to white emigrants traversing the land, but then he goes on to describe many individual Indians who he has met and worked with who seem to contradict his assertions.
I thought it extraordinary to hear the author talking about ignorant white people out west, endangered species, and things happening in India, Algeria and Arabia at the time. I was not expecting a frontiersman from 1859 to be so up to date with world news.
This also had some interesting and humorous perspectives on plains Indians during the 1850s. He describes them mostly as cowardly thieves to white emigrants traversing the land, but then he goes on to describe many individual Indians who he has met and worked with who seem to contradict his assertions.
I thought it extraordinary to hear the author talking about ignorant white people out west, endangered species, and things happening in India, Algeria and Arabia at the time. I was not expecting a frontiersman from 1859 to be so up to date with world news.
August 19, 2020
Oregon Trail: The Missing Manual.
But actually, simultaneously information-dense and entertaining. A quick read; I don't regret it. Available free on Gutenberg, with illustrations - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23066/...
Featuring:
* State-of-the-art vintage camping equipment, like compressed vegetables, portable boats, and innovations in tent-making.
* Good old fashioned medicine, like not camping on damp ground to avoid the vapors, and treating rattlesnake bites by getting right wasted on whiskey and arsenic.
* Practical applications for high-school geometry.
* The section on organizing a company plays into a larger theme I've been seeing in the last couple of years, where as a culture we used to have lots of temporary civil societies with charters and chairmen but now we don't just create things like that anymore except literal corporations.
* An early formulation of the firearm safety rules we now all know and love, plus how to start a fire using a pistol.
* Extensive advice on how to cross rivers and care for pack animals.
* If I knew more about the wars for Arab independence from the Turks, it would be interesting to see how his advice on fighting highly-mobile irregular mounted troops holds up.
* The section on various types of saddles was mostly Greek to me, except for the note that the belly strap on a Mexican-style pack saddle is basically a lifting belt, but for mules. For mules who lift, not for lifting mules. Pardon me, rattlesnake bite.
* The Ballad of Billy the Mule: still a better love story than Twilight.
* I was surprised how much they worried about wood shrinkage (hur hur) due to atmospheric conditions. Turns out it's pretty bad if your wagon wheel or your water keg shrinks.
* About a hundred uses for raw ox-hide.
* Unflattering portrayals of Native Americans. But honestly, sounded like he had a lot of respect for their wilderness skills and mostly shat on their (nonwestern) ethics. And he seemed to like the Shawnee and Delaware.
* Notes on how to hunt various animals and how they taste. I was disappointed that he did not comment on the flavor of grizzly bear.
* Reconstructing the routes he describes at the end could be a fun project. A lot of the place-names seem to have changed.
But actually, simultaneously information-dense and entertaining. A quick read; I don't regret it. Available free on Gutenberg, with illustrations - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23066/...
Featuring:
* State-of-the-art vintage camping equipment, like compressed vegetables, portable boats, and innovations in tent-making.
* Good old fashioned medicine, like not camping on damp ground to avoid the vapors, and treating rattlesnake bites by getting right wasted on whiskey and arsenic.
* Practical applications for high-school geometry.
* The section on organizing a company plays into a larger theme I've been seeing in the last couple of years, where as a culture we used to have lots of temporary civil societies with charters and chairmen but now we don't just create things like that anymore except literal corporations.
* An early formulation of the firearm safety rules we now all know and love, plus how to start a fire using a pistol.
* Extensive advice on how to cross rivers and care for pack animals.
* If I knew more about the wars for Arab independence from the Turks, it would be interesting to see how his advice on fighting highly-mobile irregular mounted troops holds up.
* The section on various types of saddles was mostly Greek to me, except for the note that the belly strap on a Mexican-style pack saddle is basically a lifting belt, but for mules. For mules who lift, not for lifting mules. Pardon me, rattlesnake bite.
* The Ballad of Billy the Mule: still a better love story than Twilight.
* I was surprised how much they worried about wood shrinkage (hur hur) due to atmospheric conditions. Turns out it's pretty bad if your wagon wheel or your water keg shrinks.
* About a hundred uses for raw ox-hide.
* Unflattering portrayals of Native Americans. But honestly, sounded like he had a lot of respect for their wilderness skills and mostly shat on their (nonwestern) ethics. And he seemed to like the Shawnee and Delaware.
* Notes on how to hunt various animals and how they taste. I was disappointed that he did not comment on the flavor of grizzly bear.
* Reconstructing the routes he describes at the end could be a fun project. A lot of the place-names seem to have changed.
June 3, 2013
[NOTE: the edition I am reading is actually a free, on-line version from Project Gutenberg, at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23066/...]
I stumbled upon this gem while doing a web search for historic materials about our local area, Fort Smith, Arkansas. The search result led to the frontspiece illustration of this book, which is a drawing of the riverfront area of our town in the mid-1850s. I was surprised to find such a useful and well written "guidebook" for pioneers and woodsmen exploring the American west. I guess I fall into the assumption that explorers 150 years ago were backwards and primitive. The writings in this book show that to be very wrong!
The arrangement and text in this guidebook are very well done, quite comparable to today's publications. In fact, the vocabulary used in this, if this is really representative of common usage of that period, shows that our forbears were much better spoken that the average American today. This book would be largely incomprehensible to many of our current school children for the high level of vocabulary used.
The book is laid out in sections dealing with situations to be encountered along the trail including, setting up camp, hunting, and dealing with Indians (politically correct or not, they're called Indians in this book), among many other topics. Details are clear and complete, and occasionally the writer includes snippets of conversation with others, provided in their own peculiar phrasing. For example, recounting what a trapper had told him about dealing with Indians, he writes, "They are the most onsartainest varmints in all creation, and I reckon tha'r not mor'n half human; for you never seed a human, arter you'd fed and treated him to the best fixins in your lodge, jist turn round and steal all your horses, or ary other thing he could lay his hands on."
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, cultures, or outdoorsmanship. A real find!
I stumbled upon this gem while doing a web search for historic materials about our local area, Fort Smith, Arkansas. The search result led to the frontspiece illustration of this book, which is a drawing of the riverfront area of our town in the mid-1850s. I was surprised to find such a useful and well written "guidebook" for pioneers and woodsmen exploring the American west. I guess I fall into the assumption that explorers 150 years ago were backwards and primitive. The writings in this book show that to be very wrong!
The arrangement and text in this guidebook are very well done, quite comparable to today's publications. In fact, the vocabulary used in this, if this is really representative of common usage of that period, shows that our forbears were much better spoken that the average American today. This book would be largely incomprehensible to many of our current school children for the high level of vocabulary used.
The book is laid out in sections dealing with situations to be encountered along the trail including, setting up camp, hunting, and dealing with Indians (politically correct or not, they're called Indians in this book), among many other topics. Details are clear and complete, and occasionally the writer includes snippets of conversation with others, provided in their own peculiar phrasing. For example, recounting what a trapper had told him about dealing with Indians, he writes, "They are the most onsartainest varmints in all creation, and I reckon tha'r not mor'n half human; for you never seed a human, arter you'd fed and treated him to the best fixins in your lodge, jist turn round and steal all your horses, or ary other thing he could lay his hands on."
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, cultures, or outdoorsmanship. A real find!
August 20, 2015
This is a Dover reprint of the original publication of the handbook many pioneers swore by as they headed west across the United States in the nineteenth century.
Anyone who has an interest in the nineteenth century, whether it be literature, design, or history, should be acquainted with Dover Publications. They've been my go-to source for affordable reprint editions of novels, clip art, floor plans... all sorts of things. I can spend hours looking through their catalogs and website.
Dover is responsible for reprinting this gem-- The Prairie Traveler-- and if you ever wanted to know if pioneers had a guidebook for how to equip themselves for a transcontinental journey, the answer is yes. Veteran Randolph Marcy covers every conceivable topic westbound travelers would need to know. What type of covered wagon to buy. Oxen or mules? What to pack in the wagon and how to pack it. How to ford streams. What sorts of guns are the best. What to do in case of snake bite. How to deal with Indians. And that's just for starters.
This little volume packs a ton of information, some of which is still useful today. I've read plenty of histories, biographies, and historical fiction about the pioneers, but reading this guidebook made their journeys tactile, immediate. It brought back memories of my grandfather and I walking along the wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail near Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It brought home how difficult that journey was for the thousands of people who endured it.
I learned a great deal from reading The 1859 Handbook for Westbound Pioneers. The added bonus was that it also fired my imagination.
Anyone who has an interest in the nineteenth century, whether it be literature, design, or history, should be acquainted with Dover Publications. They've been my go-to source for affordable reprint editions of novels, clip art, floor plans... all sorts of things. I can spend hours looking through their catalogs and website.
Dover is responsible for reprinting this gem-- The Prairie Traveler-- and if you ever wanted to know if pioneers had a guidebook for how to equip themselves for a transcontinental journey, the answer is yes. Veteran Randolph Marcy covers every conceivable topic westbound travelers would need to know. What type of covered wagon to buy. Oxen or mules? What to pack in the wagon and how to pack it. How to ford streams. What sorts of guns are the best. What to do in case of snake bite. How to deal with Indians. And that's just for starters.
This little volume packs a ton of information, some of which is still useful today. I've read plenty of histories, biographies, and historical fiction about the pioneers, but reading this guidebook made their journeys tactile, immediate. It brought back memories of my grandfather and I walking along the wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail near Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It brought home how difficult that journey was for the thousands of people who endured it.
I learned a great deal from reading The 1859 Handbook for Westbound Pioneers. The added bonus was that it also fired my imagination.
August 18, 2015
A fine flavoursome trek through pioneer times. Not always entirely gripping (the list of collapsible furniture springs to mind), but it was supposed to be a practical handbook after all. That doesn't mean that there aren't bizarre anecdotes (bears 'hiding' by covering their eyes), and plenty of cultural clashes, imitated accents, and tales of daring do (and pragmatic cowardice too). Malaria may not come from boggy vapours as he thinks, but I'd trust this fella's advice on how to hunt an inquisitive antelope, or organise a company of curmudgeonly explorers lost in unmapped quarters. Not that I'm likely to do any of those things ;)
3++
3++
January 20, 2021
A great historical look at traveling about Western America circa 1850. Provisions, pemmican, dealing with Indians, storms, & animals - all covered by experience. Since I have traveled the West a lot, it is fun to contemplate how it was once done, no small feat.
Many routes are given, and it is a fun challenge to try and find the old routes now in a map. Most follow our modern Interstates, or rather, these old routes became the Interstate highways of today.
A good handbook!
Many routes are given, and it is a fun challenge to try and find the old routes now in a map. Most follow our modern Interstates, or rather, these old routes became the Interstate highways of today.
A good handbook!
June 18, 2012
I LOVED this book. It was written to help folks traveling West in covered wagons. The author helps us cross flooded rivers, keep an eye out for unfriendly Native Americans, recover from rattle-snake bites, properly pack a covered wagon, etc. It really makes you feel like you know what types of challenges they faced!!
July 10, 2014
Read this handbook during a 10-day, six-state road trip though the Great Plains, and it really helped me get a feel for the pioneer experience. It was written in a simple and direct style, with some illustrations, and I learned a lot from it.
August 27, 2015
Aside from some excerpts from the journals of Oregon Trail travelers, I don't believe I've read any other primary sources from that period in history. Loved the dry humor of the author, and found the guidebook fascinating.
November 20, 2015
As a Civil War re-enactor, I love 19th century phraseology and vocabulary. This little self-help book is chock full of it, and I now know more about mule vs. oxen teams than I could ever have imagined. Great read!
February 25, 2014
I know more about horses and improper saddling than I ever wanted to know.
November 7, 2010
It was a brave person who loaded up a few possessions and headed west across the prairie. I'm not sure if I would have found courage in this book or reasons to just stay home.
December 16, 2014
fascinating
January 26, 2016
Good research for my book
August 4, 2011
Fun to see how people prepared for heading west back then. Not a real compelling read though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews