Posted in Bibliography

Oregon Trail II Bibliography

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More than two hundred primary and secondary sources were consulted in the extensive research that went into creating Oregon Trail® II and ensuring its historical and geographical accuracy. It would be impractical to try to list all of these sources here, but the following selected bibliography cites the books that proved most consistently useful and provided the greatest amount of information actually incorporated into the program.

If you’re interested in learning more about the western trails, you may be able to find many of these books at your local library.

Primary (First-hand) Sources

  • Barton, Lois, ed. One Woman’s West: Recollections of the Oregon Trail and Settling the Northwest Country by Martha Gay Masterson, 1838-1916. Spencer Butte Press, 1986.
  • Brown, William Richard. An Authentic Wagon Train Journal of 1853 from Indiana to California. Barbara Wills, ed. Horseshoe Printing, 1985.
  • Clayton, William. The Latter-Day Saints’ Emigrants’ Guide. Edited by Stanley B. Kimball. Reprint (originally published 1847). The Patrice Press, 1983.
  • Dawson, Charles. Pioneer Tales of the Oregon Trail and of Jefferson County. Crane & Company, 1912.
  • Gordon, Mary, ed. Overland to California with the Pioneer Line: The Gold Rush Diary of Bernard J. Reid. The Patrice Press.
  • Holmes, Kenneth L., ed. Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1840-1890. Volume 1: 1840-1849. The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1983.
  • Jefferson, T.H. Accompaniment to the Map of the Emigrant Road from Independence, Mo., to San Francisco, California. 1849; no other publication data.
  • Marcy, Randolph B. The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Explorations. Reprint (originally published 1859). Applewood Books, no date.
  • Meeker, Ezra. Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail. World Book Company, 1924.
  • Parde, Charles Ross. Dreams to Dust: A Diary of the California Gold Rush, 1849-1850. James E. Davis, ed. University of Nebraska Press, 1989.
  • Parkman, Francis. The Oregon Trail. Reprint (originally published 1849). The New American Library, 1950.
  • Preuss, Charles. Topgraphical Map of the Road from Missouri to Oregon . . . in Seven Sections. E. Weber and Company, 1846.
  • Webber, Bert, ed. The Oregon and Applegate Trail Diary of Welborn Beeson in 1853. Webb Research Group, 1987.
  • Webber, Bert, ed. The Oregon and California Trail Diary of Jane Gould in 1862. Webb Research Group, 1987.
  • Webber, Bert, ed. The Oregon and Overland Trail Diary of Mary Louisa Black in 1865. Webb Research Group, 1989.
  • Webber, Bert, ed. The Oregon Trail Diary of James Akin, Jr., in 1852. Webb Research Group, 1989.
  • Webber, Bert, ed. The Oregon Trail Diary of Rev. Edward Evans Parrish in 1844. Webb Research Group, 1988.
  • Webber, Bert, ed. The Oregon Trail Diary of Twin Sisters, Cecelia Adams and Parthenia Blank in 1852. Webb Research Group, 1992.

Secondary Sources

  • Dary, David. Entrepreneurs of the Old West. University of Nebraska Press, 1986.
  • DeVoto, Bernard. Across the Wide Missouri. Reprint. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1947.
  • Dodd, Lawrence. Narcissa Whitman on the Oregon Trail. Ye Galleon Press, 1985.
  • Dunlop, Richard. Great Trails of the West. Abington, 1971.
  • Fanselow, Julie. The Traveler’s Guide to the Oregon Trail. Falcon Press, 1992.
  • Federal Writers’ Project. The Oregon Trail: The Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Reprint (originally published 1939). Hastings House, 1972.
  • Fisher, Leonard E. The Oregon Trail. Holiday House, 1990.
  • Franzwa, Gregory M. Maps of the Oregon Trail. Third edition. The Patrice Press, 1990.
  • Franzwa, Gregory M. The Oregon Trail Revisited. Fourth edition. The Patrice Press, 1988.
  • Graydon, Charles K. Trail of the First Wagons Over the Sierra Nevada. The Patrice Press, 1986.
  • Haines, Aubrey L. Historic Sites Along the Oregon Trail. The Patrice Press, 1981.
  • Harris, E.W. The Overland Emigrant Trail to California. Nevada Emigrant Trail Marking Committee/Nevada Historical Society, 1986.
  • Hill, William E. The Oregon Trail, Yesterday and Today: A Brief History and Pictorial Journey Along the Wagon Tracks of Pioneers. Caxton Printers, 1987.
  • Holliday, J.S. The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience. Simon and Schuster, 1981.
  • Horan, James D. The Great American West: A Pictorial History from Coronado to the Last Frontier. Bonanza Books, 1959.
  • Hunt, Thomas H. and Robert V.H. Adams. Ghost Trails to California. American West Publishing Company, 1974.
  • Kimball, Stanley B. Historic Sites and Markers Along the Mormon and Other Great Western Trails. University of Illinois Press, 1988.
  • Lavender, David. The Overland Migrations: Settlers to Oregon, California, and Utah. U.S. National Park Service, 1980.
  • Lavender, David. Westward Vision: The Story of the Oregon Trail. University of Nebraska Press, 1963.
  • Mattes, Merrill. The Great Platte River Road. Nebraska State Historical Society, 1969.
  • Moffit, Gwen. Hard Road West: Alone on the California Trail. Viking Press, 1981.
  • Murphy, Dan and Gary Ladd. Oregon Trail: Voyage of Discovery-The Story Behind the Scenery. KC Publications, Inc., 1992.
  • National Park Service. Comprehensive Management and Use Plan: Oregon National Historic Trail-Selected Historic Sites and Cross-Country Segments. U.S. Department of the Interior, 1981.
  • Nicholas, Jonathan and Ron Cronin. On the Oregon Trail. Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1993.
  • Paden, Irene D. Prairie Schooner Detours. The Patrice Press, 1990.
  • Paden, Irene D. The Wake of the Prairie Schooner. McMillan and Company, 1947.
  • Richmond, Robert W. and Robert W. Mardock, eds. A Nation Moving West: Readings in the History of the American Frontier. University of Nebraska Press, 1966.
  • Rounds, Glen. The Prairie Schooner. Holiday House, Inc., 1968.
  • Rumer, Thomas A. The Wagon Trains of ’44: A Comparative View of the Individual Caravans in the Emigration of 1844 to Oregon. A.H. Clark, 1989.
  • Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Almanac of American History. Perigree Books, 1983.
  • Shellenberger, Robert. Wagons West: Trail Tales 1848. Heritage West Books, 1991.
  • Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of the Oregon Trail. Childrens Press, 1984.
  • Stewart, George Rippey. The California Trail. McGraw Hill Book Company, 1962.
  • Unruh, John D., Jr. The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60. University of Illinois Press, 1979.
  • VanSteenwyk, Elizabeth. The California Gold Rush: West with the Forty-niners. F. Watts, 1991.
  • Viola, Herman J. Exploring the West. Smithsonian Books, 1987.
  • Worcester, Don, ed. Pioneer Trails West, by the Western Writers of America. Caxton Printers, 1985.
  • Wright, Frank. The Pioneering Adventure in Nevada. Nevada Historical Society, no date.

The Oregon-California Trails Association

Finally, if you’re a really big fan of Oregon Trail II (and we certainly hope you are!) and you want to learn a lot more about the old western trails, you might consider joining the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA for short). The OCTA provides its members with two regular publications filled with information about the trails: a glossy quarterly magazine titled Overland Journal and a monthly newsletter called News from the Plains. The OCTA also sponsors an annual convention. For more information, contact the OCTA at 524 South Osage St, Independence, MO 64051 or by mailing P.O. Box 1019, Independence, MO 64051-0519 or by Telephone at +1-816-252-2276

Author: meccadmin