Randolph Barnes Marcy (1812-1887) served as an officer for the Army of the United States. He wrote his book The Prairie Traveler in 1859 especially for the Department of State and its publication was financed by the United States government. This work is considered valuable as it was devoted to the overland migration in the country in the first decades of the 19th century. Marcy researched the routes and the preparation of the immigrants who were moving to California including the wagons, horses, food, packing, the journey itself with many obstacles including rivers, drinkable water on the routes, creating a fire, avoiding animals, first aid and many other aspects of the traveling from the Eastern Coast to the Western. His book contains citations from Turkish and French immigrants who had immigrated to the North Africa and Sahara as well as Marcy's personal impressions from colonization of the American West.