Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard
by Zenas Leonard
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Description
"Strong mental faculties and a vigorous constitution" were among the attributes of Zenas Leonard, according to the publisher of the 1839 edition of this book, which the Bison Books edition reproduces. In the spring of 1830, Leonard, a native of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, "ventured to embark in an expedition across the Rocky Mountains, in the capacity of clerk to the company. The last letter received by his parents, left him at the extreme white settlement [Independence, Missouri], where they show more were busily occupied in making preparations for the expedition to the mountains--from whence he promised to write at short intervals; but one misfortune after another happening to the company, he was deprived of all sources of communication--so that no tidings were received of him until he unexpectedly returned to the scenes of his childhood, to the house of his father, in the fall of 1835--after an absence of 5 years and 6 months!" Written "in response to popular demand," so to speak, Leonard's account of these years, based in large part on "a minute journal of every incident that occurred," is recognized as one of the fundamental sources on the exploration of the American West. A free trapper until the summer of 1833, when he entered the employ of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville, Leonard was part of the group sent under command of Captain Joseph Walker to explore the Great Salt Lake region--an expedition that resulted in Walker's finding the overland route to California. The Narrative ends in August 1835, with Leonard's return to Independence. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is the adventure of Zenas Leonard, a young man who leaves Pennsylvania to seek his fortune as a fur trapper in the early West. As is typical in these frontier quests, when things go wrong they go badly wrong. His family had given him up for dead for five years, before he finally managed to turn up one day. Despite being well supplied and starting off with a large company, the predations of Indians, weather, animals and human folly take their toll on the group. Leonard appears to be a decent and capable young man, but his attitude to the environment, shared by his traveling companions, will shock and surprise modern readers. Everything was plentiful and ripe for their taking with no thought of consequences or waste, as when they show more slew over a hundred mountain goats for sport. The idea that it could all end one day would have shocked them. It's a very revealing look at frontier life. show less
Adventures of a Mountain Man: The Narrative of Zenas Leonard by Zenas Leonard
Enjoying this read about how the party takes off in different directions and when they meet up they discuss the things that happened to them.
Most fear Blackfoot Indians and the bears as they try to get to the west coast, through the Rocky Mountains.
Reason I wanted to read this one is because we are heading there and can't wait to see from the top of the range what they must've seen for themselves.
Traditions of all the different Indian groups are fascinating. Love hearing how they would dig a huge hole in a certain location and put the pelts in them and know exactly how to tell another where they were.
Love the bartering.
For safe keeping they'd find them when it show more was convenient and would give them a higher cost to trade them in. show less
Enjoying this read about how the party takes off in different directions and when they meet up they discuss the things that happened to them.
Most fear Blackfoot Indians and the bears as they try to get to the west coast, through the Rocky Mountains.
Reason I wanted to read this one is because we are heading there and can't wait to see from the top of the range what they must've seen for themselves.
Traditions of all the different Indian groups are fascinating. Love hearing how they would dig a huge hole in a certain location and put the pelts in them and know exactly how to tell another where they were.
Love the bartering.
For safe keeping they'd find them when it show more was convenient and would give them a higher cost to trade them in. show less
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Author Information
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Lakeside Classics (book 32)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard
- Original publication date
- 1839
- People/Characters
- Joseph Redford Walker; William L. Sublette; Captain Bonneville
- Important places
- California, USA; Rocky Mountains, USA; Platte River, Nebraska, USA
- Important events
- Battle of Pierre's Hole (1832)
- First words
- (Historical Introduction) The Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, to which the present volume in the Lakeside Classics series is devoted, returns our readers to a familiar field.
(Preface) The title of the following work sufficiently explains itself; however, before presenting itself to the public, in its present form, the publisher deems it necessary to accompany it with a few remarks explanatory of ... (show all)the motives which induced the author to commit his adventures to paper . . .
The Company under the command of Capt's. Gant and Blackwell, left St. Louis on the 24th of April, 1831. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)After trading with these Indians for some corn, we left them and travelled rapidly every day until we arrived in Independence, (Mo.,) which is the extreme western white settlement, on the 29th of August, 1835 - after being absent four years, four months, and five days.
- Original language
- English US
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction, Travel
- DDC/MDS
- 978 — History & geography History of North America Western United States
- LCC
- F592 .L363 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history The West. Trans-Mississippi Region. Great Plains
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 97
- Popularity
- 331,077
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.09)
- Languages
- English, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 8
