A Journal of Travels Into the Arkansas Territory During the Year 1819

Book excerpt: This is the famous naturalist Thomas Nuttall's only surviving complete journal of his American scientific explorations. The account follows Nuttall's route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, down the Ohio River to its mouth, then down the Mississippi River to the Arkansas Post, and up the Arkansas River with a side trip to the Red River. It is filled with valuable details on the plants, animals, and geology of the region, as well as penetrating observations of the resident Native tribes, the military establishment at Fort Smith, the arrival of the first governor of Arkansas Territory, and the beginnings of white settlement. Originally published in 1980 by the University of Oklahoma Press, this fine edited version of Nuttall's work boasts a valuable introduction, notes, maps, and bibliography by Savoie Lottinville.