Notes Taken During the Expedition Commanded by Capt. R.B. Marcy through Unexplored Texas in the Summer and Fall of 1854.

Unexplored Northwest Texas in 1854

[Texas] Parker, W[illiam] B[rown]. Notes Taken During the Expedition Commanded by Capt. R.B. Marcy through Unexplored Texas in the Summer and Fall of 1854. By W.B. Parker, Attached to the Expedition. Philadelphia: Hayes & Zell. 1855. First edition. Original brown ribbed cloth with publishers' logo stamped in blind on covers, title in gilt on spine. [i-v] vi-xii, [9] 10-242 [1] 2-6 ads [4] pp. Cover with wear and bumps. Scattered stains and spots. Very good.

Jenkins, Basic Texas Books 135n. Graff 3195. Howes P91. Plains & Rockies IV:279. Raines, p. 162. Streeter Sale 397. Tate, The Indians of Texas: An Annotated Research Bibliography 2176. Vandale 129. William Brown Parker, a friend of Marcy's, was a New York City businessman and editor who wanted to see the West. Parker writes in an engaging style and provides information not found in other accounts of the important Marcy-Neighbors exploration of the Big Wichita and the headwaters of the Brazos to find sites in Northwest Texas for Native American Reservations. Parker devotes a good deal of his narrative to the tribes encountered and the Native American scouts who assisted the expedition, making it clear that the latter's assistance enabled the expedition. Parker praises the Shawnee and Delaware scouts: "Wherever they are found, they preserve the same character for truth, honesty, and intelligence, and are ever ready, at a moment's warning, to take service, as hunters, guides, or interpreters, and travel hundreds of miles from home." "A well written narrative [which] adds flavor to Marcy's report." – Jenkins. "Especially valuable for the northwest part of Texas." – Graff. "Contains interesting details of personal intercourse with the Indian tribes of the Southern prairies—the Bedouins of the American desert." – Sabin. "A valuable report by one of the civilians who accompanied Capt. Randolph B. Marcy and Robert S. Neighbors across northwestern Texas looking for a site upon which reservations could be created for Penateka Comanches and the small, displaced tribes of Texas." – Tate.