Father de Smet's writings on missionary subjects ended only with his death, and were increasingly voluminous and detailed. The _Letters and Sketches_ were his first published work, with the exception of a portion of a compilation that appeared in 1841, on the Jesuit missions of Missouri. We find therefore, in the present reprint, the vitality and enthusiasm of the young traveller relating new scenes, and the abounding joy of the successful missionary uplifting a barbaric race. The book was written with the avowed purpose of creating interest in his newly-organized work, and securing contributions therefor. The freshness of description, the wholesome simplicity of the narrative, the frank presentation of wilderness life, charm the reader, and make this book a classic of early Western exploration. Cast in the form of letters, wherein there is more or less repetition of statement, it is nevertheless evident that these have been subjected to a certain editorial revision, and that literary quality has been considered. Aside from the interest evoked by the personality of the writer, and the events of his narrative, the work throws much light upon wilderness travel, the topography and scenery of the Rocky Mountain region, and above all upon the habits and customs, modes of thought, social standards, and religious conceptions of the important tribes of the interior. After the present series of reprints had been planned for, and announced in a detailed prospectus, there was issued from the press of Francis P. Harper of New York the important volumes edited by Major H. M. Chittenden and Alfred Talbot Richardson, entitled _Life, Letters, and Travels of Father Pierre Jean de Smet, S. J., 1801-73_. This publication contains much new material, derived from manuscript sources, which has been interwoven in chronological order with the missionary's several books; and to it all have been added an adequate biography and bibliography of De Smet. This scholarly work has been of great service to us in preparing for accurate reprint the original editions of the only two of Father de Smet's publications that fall within the chronological field of our series. In the preparation for the press of Flagg's _The Far West_, the Editor has had the assistance of Clarence Cory Crawford, A. M.; in editing Father de Smet's _Letters and Sketches_, his assistant has been Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D. R. G. T. MADISON, WIS., April, 1906. PART I OF FLAGG'S THE FAR WEST, 1836-1837 Reprint of Volume I, and chapters xxiii-xxxii of Volume II, of original edition: New York, 1838 [Illustration: MAP OF OREGON.] THE FAR WEST: OR, A TOUR BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS. EMBRACING OUTLINES OF WESTERN LIFE AND SCENERY; SKETCHES OF THE PRAIRIES, RIVERS, ANCIENT MOUNDS, EARLY SETTLEMENTS OF THE FRENCH, ETC., ETC.