Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains, to the Mouth of the Columbia River; Made During the Years 1845 and 1846: Containing Minute Descriptions of the Valleys of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Clamet; A General Description of Oregon Territory...

Cincinnati, J. A. & U. P. James, 1847. First Edition, First Issue. 8vo. 189pp. Hardcover. Good. Rebound in full leather with gilt lettering on spine and housed in custom clamshell box (modern); original wrappers are not present; no errata sheet. First issue; no textual changes to page 31 and 121 and “Publisher’s Advertisement” as single preliminary leaf. Previous owner’s signatures on front endpaper (contemporary). Modern boards and clamshell box in fine condition; text block is heavily rubbed around edges and has moderate foxing and light soiling throughout; page iii has a 2 ½” tear, affecting content, first leaf has archival repairs where bound in, and last leaf was torn in half and detached from binding but has been repaired. Overall good. A well-used, unsophisticated copy of the “most reliable of early guides to Oregon; in addition the best narrative by a participant in the overland migration of 1845, which more than doubled the population of Oregon” (Howes). In Ruben Gold Thwaites reprint of the 1847 edition he states: “Palmer makes no pretense of literary finish. He gives us a simple narrative of each day’s happenings during his own first journey in 1845, taking special care to indicate the route, each night’s camping places, and all possible cut-offs, springs, grassy oases, and whatever might conduce to the well-being of the emigrant and his beasts. The great care taken by the author, with this very practical end in view, results in his volume being the most complete description of the Oregon Trail that we now possess” (Wagner-Camp). Joel Palmer (1810-1881) spent three decades participating in central events in Oregon’s political history after first traveling to Oregon Territory in 1845. Once returning home to Laurel, Indiana in 1846, Palmer wrote the account of his journey, which was published in 1847. That same year Palmer gathered up his family, made the overland journey again, and settled in the Yamhill Valley. Howes P-47. Graff 3172. Wagner-Camp 136:1. .