Along Ancient Trails: The Mallet Expedition of 1739 by Donald J Blakeslee (1943- ) - 1995

xviii+291 pages with photographs, maps, appendices and index. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 6") bound in original publisher's red cloth with black lettering to spine in original pictorial jacket. First edition. In the popular mind the names Pierre and Paul Mallet carry little or no weight. Coronado, de Soto, Champlain, and Lewis and Clark occupy our imaginative space, crowding out adventurers like the Mallets. Even scholars have paid scant attention to the Mallets' epic journey from the Missouri River to Santa Fe in 1739. Donald J. Blakeslee's Along Ancient Trails sets the record straight, properly noting the Mallet role in the European exploration of the southern Great Plains. In doing so, Blakeslee not only recounts one expedition but illuminates the complex history of the entire region. Condition: Fine in like jacket.