Journal Of A Trapper, Or Nine Years In The Rocky Mountains, 1834 - 1843. Being A General Description Of The Country, Climate, Rivers, Lakes, Mountains, Etc., And A View Of The Life Led By A Hunter In Those Regions

OSBORNE RUSSELL

Publication: Published by SYMS-YORK CO, Inc, 1914, Boise, Idaho

The rare first edition privately printed for the author. 8vo. Printing limited to 100 copies for distribution to relatives, personal friends, historical societies, etc .Original Blue Cloth, titles stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine, 105 pp. plus 4 pp., Preface, Publisher's Note, Index to chapters. Born in 1814, Osborne Russell went West with Nathaniel Wyeth's second expedition to the Rocky Mountains and Columbus River regions in 1834. Russell helped garrison Ft. Hall for Wyeth, later joining Jim Bridger's brigade of Rocky Mountain Fur Company men. Eventually Russell became a free trapper for several years, operating out of Ft. Hall when it was owned by the Hudson Bay Company. Russell joined Elijah White's emigrant train to the Williamette River Valley in Oregon in 1843, where Russell helped organize the first provisional government in Oregon in 1843. He completed his journal of a trapper in 1847 or 1848, before going to California. Russell spent the remainder of his life in Oregon and California, where he died in 1892. "The fur trade in its most colorful period."---Wright Howes.---"Russell kept a journal and, an avid reader, his was literate, accurate, observant, perhaps the finest record of mountain man life and adventures extant."---Dan L. Thrapp. "A classic account of the heyday of the fur trade in the Rockies. The first edition was limited to one hundred copies, according to Howes."--Bill Reese, The Best Of The West, 238. Some very light wear to corners and spine ends. Near fine copy. Letter from publisher tipped-in on front pastedown endpaper discussing Osborne Russell's family and the original manuscript in Yale University library. Bookplate on rear pastedown endpaper states: "Yale University Library, From the Collection Made by Charles Sheldon B.A. 1890 of Books on Natural History, Exploration, Hunting & Fishing, Gift of Francis P. Garvan B.A. 1897." (Charles Sheldon was the recipient of the letter from the publisher tipped-in on front pastedown.) Protected in custom slipcase.