A Tour on the PrairiesIn the Fall of 1832 Washington Irving took part in what he called "a month foray beyond the outposts of human habitation, into the wilderness of the Far West." As was his habit, Irving kept a memorandum book, which he later expanded into A Tour on the Prairies, a real-life Western adventure in the third decade of the nineteenth century. His account is fresh and clear. He saw and makes his readers see the frontiersmen, the trappers, the Indians, and the troopers as they actually were in the 1830s. |
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Page 3
... steed , shoulder his rifle , and mingle among stark hunters , backwoodsmen , and naked savages , on the track- less wilds of the far West . Another of my fellow - travellers was Mr. L. , an Eng- lishman by birth , but descended from a ...
... steed , shoulder his rifle , and mingle among stark hunters , backwoodsmen , and naked savages , on the track- less wilds of the far West . Another of my fellow - travellers was Mr. L. , an Eng- lishman by birth , but descended from a ...
Page 8
... steed he rode . The rest of the luggage was put on pack - horses . Each one had a bearskin and a couple of blankets for bed- ding , and there was a tent to shelter us , in case of sickness or bad weather . We took care to provide a ...
... steed he rode . The rest of the luggage was put on pack - horses . Each one had a bearskin and a couple of blankets for bed- ding , and there was a tent to shelter us , in case of sickness or bad weather . We took care to provide a ...
Page 9
... jargon ; but the savage , having satisfied his cu- riosity , tossed his hand in the air , turned the head of his steed , and , galloping along the shore , soon disappeared among the trees . AN INDIAN AGENCY . - CHAPTER III . RIFLEMAN .
... jargon ; but the savage , having satisfied his cu- riosity , tossed his hand in the air , turned the head of his steed , and , galloping along the shore , soon disappeared among the trees . AN INDIAN AGENCY . - CHAPTER III . RIFLEMAN .
Page 13
... , -a thoroughly trustworthy steed . I was not mounted to my mind . The grey I had bought , though strong and serviceable , was rough . At the last moment I succeeded in getting an excellent animal ; a dark bay ; powerful.
... , -a thoroughly trustworthy steed . I was not mounted to my mind . The grey I had bought , though strong and serviceable , was rough . At the last moment I succeeded in getting an excellent animal ; a dark bay ; powerful.
Page 16
... steed it was , of generous spirit , fine action , and admirable bottom . He had taken care to have his horses well shod at the Agency . He came prepared at all points for war or hunting : his rifle on his shoulder , his powder - horn ...
... steed it was , of generous spirit , fine action , and admirable bottom . He had taken care to have his horses well shod at the Agency . He came prepared at all points for war or hunting : his rifle on his shoulder , his powder - horn ...
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Common terms and phrases
a-head alarm animal Antoine Arkansas arrived banks Beatte beautiful beheld blankets borders brook brought buffalo buffalo bull buffalo prairies bugle camp Captain carcass CHAPTER chase companions comrades course cried Cross Timber dashed deep deer distance encampment fire ford forest Fort Gibson forward frontier gallop gave gazing grass grazing grove half-breed halt head herbage herd hill horseback hunting hunting-grounds Indian killed lariat length little Frenchman little Tonish looked meat miles morning mounted night o'clock old Ryan Osage Agency Osage hunters pack-horses party passed Pawnees prairie dogs prairies pursuit ravine Red Fork René Rapin rifle river roasted round saddle savage scamper scene seemed shot side sight skirts soon spirit steed straggling stream thickets took track trail trees tribe troop turkeys turned valley venison wandered wild horses wild turkeys wilderness woods wounded young Count young rangers
Popular passages
Page 42 - ... same direction, stumbling along over twisted roots and fallen trees, with their eyes turned up to the sky. In this way they traced the honey-laden bees to their hive, in the hollow trunk of a blasted oak, where, after buzzing about for a moment, they entered a hole about sixty feet from the ground.
Page 137 - ... wildfire Jack-o'-lantern little Frenchman to deal with. Instead of keeping quietly up the right side of the valley, to get above the horses, the moment he saw them move toward the river, he broke out of the covert of woods, and dashed furiously across the plain in pursuit of them, being mounted on one of the led horses belonging to the Count.
Page 136 - The ring being formed, two or three ride toward the horses, which start off in an opposite direction. Whenever they approach the bounds of the ring, however, a huntsman presents himself and turns them from their course. In this way they are checked and driven back at every point, and kept galloping round and round this magic circle, until, being completely tired down, it is easy for the hunters to ride up beside them and throw the lariat over their heads.
Page 136 - The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps of trees, so happily dispersed, that they seemed as if set out by the hand of art. As we cast our eyes over this fresh and delightful valley, we beheld a troop of wild horses, quietly grazing on a green lawn, about a mile distant to our right, while to our left, at nearly the same distance, were several buffaloes; some feeding, others reposing and ruminating among the high rich herbage, under the shade of a clump of cotton-wood trees. The whole...
Page 41 - At present the honey-bee swarms in myriads in the noble groves and forests that skirt and intersect the prairies, and extend along the alluvial bottoms of the rivers. It seems to me as if these beautiful regions answer literally to the description of the land of promise, " a land flowing with milk and honey...
Page 43 - It is difficult to describe the bewilderment and confusion of the bees of the bankrupt hive who had been absent at the time of the catastrophe, and who arrived from time to time, with full cargoes from abroad. At first they wheeled about in the air, in the place where the fallen tree had once reared its head, astonished at finding it all a vacuum.
Page 34 - In the course of my journey along the frontier, I have had repeated opportunities of noticing their excitability and boisterous merriment at their games; and have occasionally noticed a group of...
Page 40 - ... and I am told that the wild bee is seldom to be met with at any great distance from the frontier. They have been the heralds of civilization, steadfastly preceding it as it advanced from the Atlantic borders; and some of the ancient settlers of the West pretend to give the very year when the honey-bee first crossed the Mississippi.
Page 59 - It appeared to me pretty much like the embarkation of the wise men of Gotham, who went to sea in a bowl: I stepped in, however, without hesitation, though as cautiously as possible, and sat down on top of the luggage, the margin of the hide sinking to within a hand's breadth of the water's edge.
Page 42 - One of the hunters immediately ran up with a wisp of lighted hay, as a defence against the bees. The latter, however, made no attack, and sought no revenge ; they seemed stupefied by the catastrophe, and unsuspicious of its cause, and remained crawling and buzzing about the ruins, without offering us any molestation. Every one of the party now fell to, with spoon and hunting-knife, to scoop out the flakes of honeycomb with which the hollow trunk was stored.