The Snake Country Expedition Of 1830-1831, John Work's Field Journal.

HAINES, FRANCIS D. [EDITOR].

Publication: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971, Norman

First edition. Cloth, ix-xxvii, + 172pp. Illustrations. Map. Appendices. Bibliography. Index. The editor skillfully presents the journal kept by John Work during the Snake Country Fur Trade and Trapping Expedition in 1830 & 1831. The journal covers a trip of 2000 miles and 11 months time. This account captures the excitement of exploration, the driving concern with trapping success, observations about wildlife habits, and the severe hardships which Work's party as well as their wives and children suffered during the bitter winter of 1830-31. The Hudson's Bay Company's policy to strip the Snake River Country of beaver to make the lands less attractive to American trappers and thus eventually to American settlement, was the purpose of Work's mission. Work's trapping party of 115 men, women and children, 272 horses and mules and 337 traps departed from Fort Nez Perce for parts of Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Nevada. The result is a fascinating adventure of suffering through one of the worse winters on record, along with dodging and combating the ever persistent Blackfeet Indians. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. Original review slip laid-in.