Parkman
FRANCIS, an American historian; born in Boston, Mass., Sept. 16, 1823; was graduated at Harvard in 1844; studied law for two years; then traveled in Europe; and returned to explore the Rocky Mountains. The hardships he endured among the Dakota Indians seriously injured his health, yet in spite of this and defective sight Parkman worked his way to recognition as a historical writer on the period of rise and fall of the French dominion in America.
He paid many visits to France to examine archives. His books are "The California and Oregon Trail" (1849); "The Conspiracy of Pontiac" (1851); "Pioneers of France in the New World" (1865); "The Book of Roses" (1866); "Jesuits in North America" (1867); "Discovery of the Great West" (1869); "The Old Régime in Canada" (1874); "Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV." (1877); and "Montcalm and Wolfe" (1884). He died in Boston, Mass., Nov. 8, 1893.