Rev. Samuel Parker's Journal of an Exploring Tour
takes the reader on a journey through the Oregon Territory (what is now
Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah) and finally to the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii). In short, Parker goes wherever there are heathen souls to be
saved. Parker's attitude towards the natives was considerably kinder than
that of many of his white contemporaries:
While we charge the Indians with inveterate
ferociousness and inhuman brutality, we forget the too numerous wrongs and
outrages committed upon them, which incite them to revenge...When Indian
offenses are proclaimed, we hear only one side of the story, and the other
will not be heard until the last great day.
Parker felt that most of the tribes he encountered were
receptive to his religious ideas, but he was suspicious of native
traditions:
In the buffalo dance, a large number of young men,
dressed with the skins of the neck and head of buffalos with their horns
on, moved round in a dancing march. They shook their heads, imitated the
low bellowing of the buffalo, wheeled and jumped. At the same time men and
women sung a song, accompanied with the beating of a sort of drum. I
cannot say I was much amused to see how well they could imitate brute
beasts, while ignorant of God and salvation.
The main aim of the book is to relate facts about the area
he explores, and it is chock-full of geology, geography, ethnology,
religion, meteorology, and the history of the West and its economic
development. While he is often preoccupied with preaching, Rev. Parker is
always noticing the natural beauty of his surroundings as well as the
possibilities they might afford for future development:
The entire absence of forests in the large space of
country around, is a deficiency which cannot easily be remedied; but
probably forest trees might be cultivated to advantage. Is it not highly
probable that mineral coal will be found here as well as upon the prairies
in the western states?
The animals of the prairie and mountains also come alive in
the pages of Parker's narrative - buffaloes, antelope, rattlesnakes,
badgers, horseflies and birds abound. While the language and attitude are
sometimes stiff, Journal of an Exploring Tour is full of really
useful and interesting knowledge. Parker even records in detail the
"amusing provincialisms" of the area, and in the Appendices gives
a vocabulary list of various Indian languages including Chenook, Nez Perce,
Klicatat and more. This book is truly a wealth of information, interspersed
with real adventure.
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