{"product_id":"2940012798909","title":"Scenes \u0026 Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri \u0026 Arkansas","description":"These early adventures in the Ozarks comprehend my first exploratory\u003cbr\u003eeffort in the great area of the West. To traverse the plains and\u003cbr\u003emountain elevations west of the Mississippi, which had once echoed the\u003cbr\u003etramp of the squadrons of De Soto--to range over hills, and through\u003cbr\u003erugged defiles, which he had once searched in the hope of finding mines\u003cbr\u003eof gold and silver rivalling those of Mexico and Peru; and this, too,\u003cbr\u003ecoming as a climax to the panorama of a long, long journey from the\u003cbr\u003eEast--constituted an attainment of youthful exultation and\u003cbr\u003eself-felicitation, which might have been forgotten with its termination.\u003cbr\u003eBut the incidents are perceived to have had a value of a different kind.\u003cbr\u003eThey supply the first attempt to trace the track of the Spanish\u003cbr\u003ecavaliers west of the Mississippi. The name of De Soto is inseparably\u003cbr\u003econnected with the territorial area of Missouri and Arkansas, which he\u003cbr\u003ewas the first European to penetrate, and in the latter of which he died.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFour-and-thirty years have passed away, since the travels here brought\u003cbr\u003eto view, were terminated. They comprise a period of exciting and\u003cbr\u003estartling events in our history, social and political. With the\u003cbr\u003eoccupancy of Oregon, the annexation of Texas, the discoveries in\u003cbr\u003eCalifornia, and the acquisition of New Mexico, the very ends of the\u003cbr\u003eUnion appear to have been turned about. And the lone scenes and\u003cbr\u003eadventures of a man on a then remote frontier, may be thought to have\u003cbr\u003elost their interest. But they are believed to possess a more permanent\u003cbr\u003echaracter. It is the first and _only_ attempt to identify De Soto's\u003cbr\u003emarch west of the Mississippi; and it recalls reminiscences of scenes\u003cbr\u003eand observations which belong to the history of the discovery and\u003cbr\u003esettlement of the country.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLittle, it is conceived, need be said, to enable the reader to determine\u003cbr\u003ethe author's position on the frontiers of Missouri and Arkansas in 1818.\u003cbr\u003eHe had passed the summer and fall of that year in investigating the\u003cbr\u003egeological structure and mineral resources of the lead-mine district of\u003cbr\u003eMissouri. He had discovered the isolated primitive tract on the sources\u003cbr\u003eof the St. Francis and Grand rivers--the \"Coligoa\" of the Spanish\u003cbr\u003eadventurer--and he felt a strong impulse to explore the regions west of\u003cbr\u003eit, to determine the extent of this formation, and fix its geological\u003cbr\u003erelations between the primitive ranges of the Alleghany and Rocky\u003cbr\u003emountains.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReports represented it as an alpine tract, abounding in picturesque\u003cbr\u003evalleys and caves, and replete with varied mineral resources, but\u003cbr\u003edifficult to penetrate on account of the hostile character of the Osage\u003cbr\u003eand Pawnee Indians. He recrossed the Mississippi to the American bottom\u003cbr\u003eof Illinois, to lay his plan before a friend and fellow-traveller in an\u003cbr\u003eearlier part of his explorations, Mr. Ebenezer Brigham, of\u003cbr\u003eMassachusetts, who agreed to unite in the enterprise. He then proceeded\u003cbr\u003eto St. Louis, where Mr. Pettibone, a Connecticut man, and a\u003cbr\u003efellow-voyager on the Alleghany river, determined also to unite in this\u003cbr\u003einterior journey. The place of rendezvous was appointed at Potosi,\u003cbr\u003eabout forty miles west of the Mississippi. Each one was to share in the\u003cbr\u003epreparations, and some experienced hunters and frontiersmen were to join\u003cbr\u003ein the expedition. But it turned out, when the day of starting arrived,\u003cbr\u003ethat each one of the latter persons found some easy and good excuse for\u003cbr\u003edeclining to go, principally on the ground that they were poor men, and\u003cbr\u003ecould not leave supplies for their families during so long a period of\u003cbr\u003eabsence. Both the other gentlemen came promptly to the point, though one\u003cbr\u003eof them was compelled by sickness to return; and my remaining companion\u003cbr\u003eand myself plunged into the wilderness with a gust of adventure and\u003cbr\u003edetermination, which made amends for whatever else we lacked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is only necessary to add, that the following journal narrates the\u003cbr\u003eincidents of the tour. The narrative is drawn up from the original\u003cbr\u003emanuscript journal in my possession. Outlines of parts of it, were\u003cbr\u003einserted in the pages of the Belles-lettres Repository, by Mr. Van\u003cbr\u003eWinkle, soon after my return to New York, in 1819; from whence they were\u003cbr\u003etransferred by Sir Richard Phillips to his collection of Voyages and\u003cbr\u003eTravels, London, 1821. This latter work has never been republished in\u003cbr\u003ethe United States.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn preparing the present volume, after so considerable a lapse of time,\u003cbr\u003eit has been thought proper to omit all such topics as are not deemed of\u003cbr\u003epermanent or historical value. The scientific facts embraced in the\u003cbr\u003eappendix, on the mines and mineralogy of Missouri, are taken from my\u003cbr\u003epublication on these subjects.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145418195184,"sku":"2940012798909","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012798909_p0.jpg?v=1763572889","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012798909","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}