Here society is reduced to its original elements, the whole fabric of art and conventionality is struck rudely to pieces, and men find themselves suddenly brought back to the wants and resources of their original natures.
Francis ParkmanWe were now arrived at the close of our solitary journeyings along the St. Joseph's trail.
Francis ParkmanNot a breath of air stirred over the free and open prairie; the clouds were like light piles of cotton; and where the blue sky was visible, it wore a hazy and languid aspect.
Francis ParkmanEarly on the next morning we reached Kansas, about five hundred miles from the mouth of the Missouri.
Francis ParkmanIf any pale student, glued to his desk, here seek an apology for a way of life whose natural fruits is that pallid and emasculate scholarship of which New England has had too many examples, it will be far better that this sketch had not been written. For the student there is, in its season, no better place than the saddle, and no better companion than the rifle or the oar.
Francis Parkman