The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 271
546 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
ment of the soldiers, most of whom were armed with Indian
weapons.
Both for its inclusiveness and its crisp English translation
this volume is likely to become the standard source henceforth
for the Coronado explorations. It would be more usable with
even a sketch map, but where so much is given one feels
unappreciative to ask for more.
EUGENE C. BARKER.
The University of Texas.
Life in the Rocky Mountains. A Diary of Wanderings on the
Sources of the Rivers Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado
from February, 1830, to November, 1835. By W. A.
Ferris. Edited by Paul C. Phillips.
Denver: The Old West Publishing Company, 194. Pp. xcv, 348.
Maps and illustrations. $5.00.
In this single volume Paul Phillips has not only edited the
writings of Warren Angus Ferris, an employee of the American
Fur Company from 1830 to 1835, but also has synthesized the
available historical information concerning him. Ferris, born
in 1810 in Glens Falls, New York, traveled west as a lad of
eighteen and joined the first American Fur Company expedition
to the Rocky Mountains organized in 1830 in St. Louis by Pierre
Chouteau, Jr. Although Ferris worked as a trader and trapper
for two years, he was appointed company clerk in 1832, a posi-
tion which he held until he left the mountains three years later.
His diary for this period was first published in 1842 in the
Western Literary Messenger (Buffalo, New York) under the
title "Life in the Rocky Mountains." It is one of the important
sources of information relative to the western fur trade. After
an active career in the Rocky Mountains, Ferris moved to Texas,
where he surveyed much of the land in the northeastern part
of the state, including the site of the present city of Dallas.
During the years just prior to his death in 1873, he wrote
poetry and description for publication in the Dallas Herald.
The Ferris narrative may be considered descriptive literature
as well as history. It tells the story of the entry of the American
Fur Company into the Rocky Mountains and of that company's
efforts to monopolize the fur trade of the Northwest. Ferris
related the day by day activities of the trappers and traders,
characterized the Indians of the Rockies, and described many271
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941, periodical, 1941; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/294/?rotate=90: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.