author
Thomas Jefferson Farnham
1804–1848
A restless traveler and sharp-eyed chronicler of the early American West, this 19th-century writer turned difficult journeys into vivid books about Oregon and California. His firsthand accounts capture both adventure and the fierce expansionist spirit of his era.
2 Audiobooks
Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies, etc., part 2, October 21-December 4, 1839 and De Smet's Oregon Missions and Travels over the Rocky Mountains, 1845-1846
by Thomas Jefferson Farnham, Pierre-Jean de Smet
Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies, etc., part 1, May 21-October 16, 1839
by Thomas Jefferson Farnham
About the author
Best known as an explorer-author of the American West, Thomas Jefferson Farnham was born in Vermont in 1804 and trained as a lawyer before heading west. In 1839 he organized and led an overland party toward Oregon, becoming associated with some of the earliest waves of American migration along what would be known as the Oregon Trail.
His travels became the basis for a string of popular books, including Travels in the Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and in the Oregon Territory, Travels in the Californias, and Scenes in the Pacific Ocean, and Mexico: Its Geography, Its People, and Its Institutions. These works helped introduce eastern readers to western landscapes, settlements, and politics through energetic, firsthand reporting.
Farnham died in California in 1848. Today he is remembered not only for his adventure-filled narratives, but also for the way his writing reflected and encouraged the United States' growing interest in Oregon and California during a period of rapid westward expansion.