Parkman is an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as historical sources and as literature. He was also a leading horticulturist, briefly a Professor of Horticulture at Harvard University and the first leader of the Arnold Arboretum, and author of several books.

olume 1. Preface ; Chronological table ; I. 1841 journal : White mountains & Maine ; II. 1842 journal : lake George & lake Champlain, Green mountains, eastern townships, White mountains, & Maine ; III. 1843 notebook : lake George, Montreal, Quebec, White mountains, & Maine ; IV. European journal, 1843-1844 ; V. Boston & Berkshire journal, 1844 ; VI. Old northwest journal & Pontiac notes, 1844-1845 -- volume 2. VII. The Oregon trail journal, 1846 ; VIII. French colonization notebook, 1856 & 1866 ; IX. First Paris notebook, 1869 ; X. Mt. Desert notebook, 1870 ; XI. Acadian notebook, 1871 & 1873 ; XII. Second Paris notebook, 1872 ; XIII. 1878 notebook : lake George, Ticonderoga, & Quebec ; XIV. 1879 & 1885 notebook : Quebec & Acadia, Carolina & Florida ; XV. 1889-1892 notebook ; Notes ; Index.