Trails of the Pathfinders - G. B. Grinnell



This book focuses on the stories of the earliest English Speaking explorers of the American wilderness, several of who pre-dated Lewis and Clark. Using original journals as sources, these stories tell of traders, trappers and others who traveled into Indian territory when it was still wild, and paved the way for later settlers. The expeditions recounted in this book range from those of Alexander Henry in the 1770's, to Fremont's journey to California in the 1840's.

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[Book Cover] from Trails of the Pathfinders by G. B. Grinnell
Lewis and Clark

CAPTAINS LEWIS AND CLARK WERE MUCH PUZZLED AT THIS POINT TO KNOW WHICH OF THE RIVERS BEFORE THEM WAS THE MAIN MISSOURI.


[Title Page] from Trails of the Pathfinders by G. B. Grinnell
[Copyright Page] from Trails of the Pathfinders by G. B. Grinnell




Preface

The chapters in this book appeared first as part of a series of articles under the same title contributed to Forest and Stream several years ago. At the time they aroused much interest and there was a demand that they should be put into book form.

The books from which these accounts have been drawn are good reading for all Americans. They are at once history and adventure. They deal with a time when half the continent was unknown; when the West—distant and full of romance—held for the young, the brave and the hardy, possibilities that were limitless.

The legend of the kingdom of El Dorado did not pass with the passing of the Spaniards. All through the eighteenth and a part of the nineteenth century it was recalled in another sense by the fur trader, and with the discovery of gold in California it was heard again by a great multitude—and almost with its old meaning.

Besides these old books on the West, there are many others which every American should read. They treat of that same romantic period, and describe the adventures of explorers, Indian fighters, fur hunters and fur traders. They are a part of the history of the continent.

NEW YORK, April, 1911.



[Contents, Page 1 of 2] from Trails of the Pathfinders by G. B. Grinnell
[Contents, Page 2 of 2] from Trails of the Pathfinders by G. B. Grinnell
[Illustrations] from Trails of the Pathfinders by G. B. Grinnell
Routes of explorers

ROUTES OF SOME OF THE PATHFINDERS