The OT: Parkman is an excellent guide and observer, reporting on the big wild at the beginning of the end.

Conspiracy: Compares poorly to the former. It seems when writing 'history', Parkman was at pains to be more formal, but this only makes the result more stilted.

Judged individually, I'd give the Oregon Trail four stars and Pontiac two.

I'm still trying to determine the best way to review these LOA compilations, but for now three stars overall. ( )

Great history. Parkman journeys to Oregon...he doesn't even get half-way! A faulty title but incredible scenery and personal accounts like hunting bison only for the tongue! The waste of nature that prevails among Parkman's generation can be understood by the abundance of everything. If only they knew the legacy they would leave later generations. I finished this in 2008.
The Conspiracy of Pontiac is pure objective history taken from incredible research including the British military records, French records, correspondence, etc. How different a true historian is when compared to today's claim of scholarship by reading peer-review articles. We certainly need to reevaluate current historical scholarship. ( )

Of the two books, I liked Parkman's "The Oregon Trail" best His vivid descriptions and great detail are most interesting here, as he describes the people -- from traders to homesteaders to Native Americans he met while traveling the American West in the 1840's. The book is full of adventure, buffalo hunting and narrow escapes from hostile tribes.

"The Conspiracy of Pontiac" tells the final chapter of the French and Indian War. It focuses on the 1760's, as the Great Lake tribes, who favored the French traders, attempt to toss England out by orchestrating a raid on a number of forts and homesteads. This is a period of American (and Canadian) history, I knew little about and found it interesting. However, Parkman's attention to detail made this book bog down a bit -- it was a little bit harder to read. ( )