FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS.

THE

PRAIRIE TRAVELER.

A HAND-BOOK FOR
OVERLAND EXPEDITIONS.

WITH MAPS, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND ITINERARIES OF
THE PRINCIPAL ROUTES BETWEEN THE
MISSISSIPPI AND THE PACIFIC.

By

RANDOLPH B. MARCY,
CAPTAIN U. S. ARMY.

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1859.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, by

HARPER & BROTHERS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of
the Southern District of New York.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Page 15

The different Routes to California and Oregon. Their respective Advantages. Organization of Companies. Elections of Captains. Wagons and Teams. Relative Merits of Mules and Oxen. Stores and Provisions. How packed. Desiccated and canned Vegetables. Pemmican. Antiscorbutics. Cold Flour. Substitutes in case of Necessity. Amount of Supplies. Clothing. Camp Equipage. Arms.

CHAPTER II.
Page 44

Marching. Treatment of Animals. Water. Different methods of finding and purifying it. Journadas. Methods of crossing them. Advance and Rear Guards. Selection of Camp. Sanitary Considerations. Dr. Jackson's Report. Picket Guards. Stampedes. How to prevent them. Corraling Wagons.

CHAPTER III.
Page 71

Repairing broken Wagons. Fording Rivers. Quicksand. Wagon Boats. Bull Boats. Crossing Packs. Swimming Animals. Marching with loose Horses. Herding Mules. Best Methods of Marching. Herding and guarding Animals. Descending Mountains. Storms. Northers.

CHAPTER IV.
Page 98

Packing. Saddles. Mexican Method. Madrina, or Bell-mare. Attachment of the Mule illustrated. Best Method of Packing. Hoppling Animals. Selecting Horses and Mules. Grama and bunch Grass. European Saddles. California Saddle. Saddle Wounds. Alkali. Flies. Colic. Rattlesnake Bites. Cures for the Bite.

CHAPTER V.
Page 132

Bivouacs. Tente d'Abri. Gutta-percha Knapsack Tent. Comanche Lodge. Sibley Tent. Camp Furniture. Litters. Rapid Traveling. Fuel. Making Fires. Fires on the Prairies. Jerking Meat. Making Lariats. Making Caches. Disposition of Fire-arms. Colt's Revolvers. Gun Accidents. Trailing. Indian Sagacity.

CHAPTER VI.
Page 183

Guides and Hunters. Delawares and Shawnees. Khebirs. Black Beaver. Anecdotes. Domestic Troubles. Lodges. Similarity of Prairie Tribes to the Arabs. Method of making War. Tracking and pursuing Indians. Method of attacking them. Telegraphing by Smokes.

CHAPTER VII.
Page 230

Hunting. Its Benefits to the Soldier. Buffalo. Deer. Antelope. Bear. Big-horn, or Mountain Sheep. Their Habits, and Hints upon the best Methods of hunting them.

Itineraries.
Page 253

Appendix.
Page 335

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

• Page
•  
• Map of Overland routesat end of volume.
• Fort Smith, ArkansasFrontispiece.
• Swimming a Horse78
• Diagram for Measurements81
• Crossing a Stream87
• Grimsley's Pack-saddle99
• California Saddle119
• Half-faced Camp134
• Conical Bivouac135
• Tent Knapsack137
• Comanche Lodge140
• Sibley Tent143
• Camp Chairs145
• Camp Table—Field Cot