Library of Fur Trade Historical Source Documents (original) (raw)
These documents are accounts of the Rocky Mountain fur trade during the first half of the 19th century. Most of these are either primary or secondary historical sources; that is, either written by, or as told by those who were actually there.
These documents have been transcribed from printed or manuscript form. The resulting text files have been manually checked and edited to conform to the original source. In most cases, any spelling or grammatical errors from the original have been retained.
- Ashley, William H. 1825 Rocky Mountain Papers
- Ball, John. Across the Plains to Oregon, 1832.
- Beall, Thomas J. Recollections of Wm. Craig.
- Becknell, William. Selected letters.
- Beckwourth, James P. The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, written from his own dictation by T. D. Bonner
- Biddle, Nicholas, "The Missouri Trapper", The New York Spectator June 14,1825. [Hugh Glass' story]
- Brackenridge, Henry Marie, Journal of a Voyage up the Missouri River, in 1811.
- Bradbury, John. Travels in the Interior of America.
- Campbell, Robert. Rocky Mountain Letters.
- Catlin, George. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of North American Indians.
- Clyman, James. A Short Detail of Life and Incidents of my trip in & through the Rockey Mountains.
- Dudgeon, Anthony. Ramsey Crooks' letter regarding Who Discovered South Pass?
- Fayel, William. A Narrative of Colonel Robert Campbell's Experiences in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade from 1825 to 1835.
- Ferris, Warren Angus. Life in the Rocky Mountains.
- Franchère, Gabriel. Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America.
- Hunt, Wilson Price. Account of the Journey of the Overland Party.
- Irving, Washington.Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains.
- Irving, Washington. The Adventures of Captain Bonneville.
- James, Thomas. Three Years Among the Indians and the Mexicans.
- Larocque, Francois Antoine. Journal of a Voyage to the Rocky Mountains 1805.
- Larpenteur, Charles. Forty Years a Fur Trader.
- Leonard, Zenas. Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, fur trader and trapper, 1831-1835.
- Luttig, John C.Journal of a fur-trading expedition on the Upper Missouri, 1812-1813.
- Meek, Stephen Hall. The Autobiography of Stephen Hall Meek.
- Menard, Pierre. Reports of Missouri Fur Co. activities at Three Forks of the Missouri, 1810.
- Newell, Robert. Travels in the Teritory of Missourie.
- Ogden, Peter Skene. Snake Country Journals.
- Pattie, James O. The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie, of Kentucky.
- Potts, Daniel T. Rocky Mountain Letters.
- Rogers, Harrison G. Journals of Harrison G. Rogers, member of the company of J. S. Smith.
- Ross, Alexander. Journal of Snake Country Expedition, 1824.
- Ross, Alexander. Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River.
- Russell, Osborne. Journal of a Trapper.
- Ruxton, George Frederick. Wild Life in the Rocky Mountains.
- Sage, Rufus. Rocky Mountain Life.
- Spalding, Eliza.Diary, June 15 - July 6, 1836
- Spalding, Henry H.Letter From The Rocky Mountains, 1836.
- Smith, E. Willard. Journal while with the Fur Traders in the Rocky Mountain Region, 1839-1840
- Smith, Jedediah S.Journals of California Expeditions
- Stuart, Robert. Voyage from the mouth of the Columbia to Saint Louis, on the Mississipi
- Thomas, William H. Journal of a Voyage from St. Louis, LA. to the Mandan Village
- Townsend, John Kirk. Across the Rockies to the Columbia.
- Victor, Frances Fuller. The River of the West: Joe Meek's Years in the Rocky Mountains.
- Whitman, Narcissa Prentiss. 1836 Letters and Journal.
- Wislizenus, F. A., A Journey to the Rocky Mountains in 1839
- Work, John. Journals while in the service of Hudson's Bay Co.
- Workman, W. Letter dated Feb. 13, 1826
- Wyeth, John B. Oregon, or a Short History of a Long Journey.
- Wyeth, Nathaniel. The Journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth's Expeditions to the Oregon Country and Selected Letters.
Related On-line Books Elsewhere on the Web
Several other web sites have on-line historical sources related to the mountain men in the early 19th century west:
- Gregg, Josiah. Commerce of the Prairies. (link to Kansas Collection, U Kansas)
- Lewis, Clark, Floyd, Gass, Ordway, and Whitehouse. Excerpts from the Journals of the Corps of Discovery (link to PBS)
- Lewis and Clark Journals (link to UNL)
- Marcy, Randoph Barnes. The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions (link to Kansas Collection, U Kansas)
- Parkman, Francis Jr. The Oregon Trail (Link to U Va )
- Lewis, M. and Clark, W. Journals of Lewis and Clark (link to U Va).