| Rude Pursuits and Rugged Peaks: Schoolcraft's Ozark Journal 1818-1819 (Ozarks Collection) (Ozarks Collection) |  | Author: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 2541509
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 170
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 1557284121
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.78043
EAN: 9781557284129
ASIN: 1557284121
Publication Date: January 1, 1996
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Product Description
OUT OF STOCK - INDEFINITELY
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 Very Informative July 24, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dr. Raferty has done a wonderful job bringing together Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's journals of his adventure into the eastern and central Ozarks Region before major settlement. Schoolcraft's jouney begins at Potosi, Missouri on November 5, 1818 and proceeds southwest to the Arkansas border along the North Fork River. From there he travels northwest towards modern day Springfield and then back southeast into Arkansas along the White River to Batesville. From the Batesville area he proceeds northeast back towards Potosi arriving there on February 4, 1819.
Schoolcraft's descriptions of the unsettled land and its native plants and animals are wonderful. Prof. Raferty has added an appendix which provides a day by day account of Schoolcraft's journey and the modern reference points with amazing accuracy.
This is a great book for anyone with an interest in the history and geography of the Ozarks Region. Very well done!!
A great adventure, and Rafferty makes it a valuable tool. January 23, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Schoolcraft's journal describing his expedition into the Missouri/Arkansas border area in the dead of an Ozarks winter is an entertaining read! He describes with great dignity how he fell into the icy cold river -not just once, but twice! He talks about the wildlife that roamed the area, many species of which are long gone from here now. He also talks about how clean and clear the rivers were then - a shame its not true today. Schoolcraft used an expansive vocabulary to describe his surroundings, which is almost more entertaining than the facts he's trying to relate. A common misconception is that Schoolcraft was exploring country that had never before been seen by white settlers. Not true! There were several hunters' families in small, isolated settlements in the area long before Schoolcraft arrived, and he stayed overnight with some of them. He saw himself as a bit of a lad, which is evidenced by his writings regarding the "greasy" women in the settlements. He once made some of his imported tea for a hunter's wife, who was used to drinking only sassafras tea. She told him his tea was the most bitter thing she'd ever tasted; a mark of how uncivilized she was, in Schoolcraft's opinion. He ends his journal abruptly, with no philosophical revelations about how 90 days of stomping through the brush and ice and greasy women has changed his life, etc., which is a bit of a let down, but all in all it's a fun read. In the back of the book Rafferty has inserted a table that relates the landmarks Schoolcraft described to the way the landscape looks/is used today. There are also several excellent maps marked with the dates and locations of Schoolcraft's movements. Rafferty's research, comments, and detailed maps, coupled with Schoolcraft's descriptive tales, earn this book a well-deserved Five Stars.
 The Ozarks: An Excellent Early View October 29, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
While not as famous as Lewis and Clark, Henry Schoolcraft conducted the first of his many expenditions with similar care and attention to detail. One needs to excuse some of the poetic descriptions. The book gives an excellent insight into the very early development of the region shortly after the Voyage of Discovery.The author has considerable personal research with Schoolcraft's travels as a college professor leading field trips on portions of the expedition. The most helpful is the author's appendix which keys the days of travel to current day locations. For anyone studying the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks, this is a must-have. It provides the only contemporary vision of this part of the United States prior to the rapid development in the years prior to the Civil War.
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