Fine Americana Travel & Exploration With Ephemera & Manuscript ...

112. Davis, Jefferson. Report of the Secretary of War, Communicating...Information Respecting thePurchase of Camels for the Purposes of Military Transportation. 238pp. Folding plate at rear; woodcutsin text. (8vo) original blindstamped cloth, spine lettered in gilt. First Edition.Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1857Unusual document on the use of camels as beasts of burden in military settings. In 1855Congress approved the expenditure of $30,000 for the importation of 75 camels and for factfindingin the Levant. In 1856 funds were set aside for the procurement of another 20. Somewear and spotting to cloth, lacking front free endpaper; light foxing; very good.(200/300)FATHER DE SMET IN OREGON113. De Smet, P. J. Oregon Missions and Travels over the Rocky Mountains, in 1845-46. 408, [4]pp. With 14 duotone lithographed plates (including frontispiece & added pictorial title, which areincluded in the pagination); folding lithographed map. (12mo) 17.5x11 cm. (6¾x4¼”), originalcloth, spine decorated and lettered in gilt. First Edition.New York: Edward Dunigan, 1847Father De Smet, a Jesuit Missionary from Belgium, ventured across the Missouri in 1840 with aparty of fur traders to assess the prospects of a mission to the Flathead Indians. He returned thefollowing year to found St. Mary’s Mission in the Bitterroot Valley, and moved on to Oregonthe next spring. Wagner-Camp notes that the present work contains “Father Smet’s descriptionsof his travels through and about the central Columbia River plateau as well as a trip up thatriver to its source, during which he continued on the Athabaska River, the country of theAssiniboines, and arrived at Fort Augusta about January 1, 1846. He returned to Fort Vancouverby way of Fort Colville. In July he departed for the Upper Mission and in August stopped atSt. Mary’s on his way down the Missouri River. He arrived at Westport on October 28.” Thecaptivating lithographed plates are from drawings by Father Nicolas Point, S.J. Field 1424; Graff3829; Howes D286; Sabin 82268; Smith 9556; Streeter 2099; Wagner-Camp 141:1; WheatTransmississippi 535. Spine faded, a little rubbing at ends and corners; foxing within, map with3” tear from stub, some ill-creasing and a few short edge tears; very good, a fairly tight, squarecopy.(3000/5000)Lot 113Page 34