Historian. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, son of a wealthy family, Parkman suffered poor health and spent his childhood in the forests of nearby Medford, Massachusetts in hopes of toughening him up. He enrolled in Harvard University at 16. In 1843 he travelled to Europe the Grand Tour, and upon his return attended law school at his father’s request. In the summer of 1845 he traveled west. His guide was married to a Sioux woman, and the connection allowed Parkman to spend several weeks living with the Sioux. The trip exhausted him but his best known work was the result; ‘The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life’ published in 1849. Despite continued poor health, he also completed his ‘History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac’ by 1851. He served briefly a Horticulture lecturer at Harvard and authored several books on the topic including ‘The Book of Roses.’ His chronic illnesses were apparently both debilitating and neurological and were never properly diagnosed. He was often unable to walk, he suffered increasing blindness, and was unable to stand any but the slightest amount of light. Despite the problem of only being able to write for very short periods at a time, he still managed to complete ‘Pioneers of France in the New World,’ ‘The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century,’ ‘Discovery of the Great West,’ ‘Old Regime in Canada,’ ‘Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV,’ ‘Montcalm and Woolfe’ and ‘A Half-Century of Conflict’ between 1865 and 1892. He was also a founder of the Archaeological Institute of America and a president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
Historian. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, son of a wealthy family, Parkman suffered poor health and spent his childhood in the forests of nearby Medford, Massachusetts in hopes of toughening him up. He enrolled in Harvard University at 16. In 1843 he travelled to Europe the Grand Tour, and upon his return attended law school at his father’s request. In the summer of 1845 he traveled west. His guide was married to a Sioux woman, and the connection allowed Parkman to spend several weeks living with the Sioux. The trip exhausted him but his best known work was the result; ‘The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life’ published in 1849. Despite continued poor health, he also completed his ‘History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac’ by 1851. He served briefly a Horticulture lecturer at Harvard and authored several books on the topic including ‘The Book of Roses.’ His chronic illnesses were apparently both debilitating and neurological and were never properly diagnosed. He was often unable to walk, he suffered increasing blindness, and was unable to stand any but the slightest amount of light. Despite the problem of only being able to write for very short periods at a time, he still managed to complete ‘Pioneers of France in the New World,’ ‘The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century,’ ‘Discovery of the Great West,’ ‘Old Regime in Canada,’ ‘Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV,’ ‘Montcalm and Woolfe’ and ‘A Half-Century of Conflict’ between 1865 and 1892. He was also a founder of the Archaeological Institute of America and a president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
Bio by: Iola
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