Trip to Montana by wagon train
Scope and Contents
Handwritten journal of Cauthorn's overland journey by wagon train from St. Joseph, Missouri to Virginia City, Montana and Oregon in 1865. Detailed diary entries describe much of the daily routine, weather, and labor involved in the journey. Cauthorn mentions company politics, trouble with Indians, his feelings about leaving his wife and child in Missouri, and a group of Mormons apparently leaving Utah. Upon arriving in Virginia City, Montana, he found the towns almost abandoned, but observed that a fortune could be made in ranching and farming. Cauthorn traveled with his parents and adult siblings. After falling ill in Montana, he accompanied the rest of his family to Oregon. Cauthorn sailed from Oregon to San Francisco, then traveled by steamer to Panama. He crossed the Isthmus of Panama by rail, and the diary ends with Cauthorn one day's travel from New York.
Dates
- 1865
Creator
- Cauthorn, Benjamin Ross, 1840- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Open for public research.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Trip to Montana by wagon train must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Biographical History
Missouri merchant and farmer.
Extent
1 v. ((161 p.) + typescript)
Language of Materials
English
Custodial History
Donated in 1974.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated; 1974.
Appraisal
19th Century Mormon and Western Manuscripts.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcription available in Folder 2.
- Blue Mountains (Or. and Wash.)
- Boise (Idaho) -- Description and travel
- Cauthorn, Benjamin Ross, b. 1840 -- Diaries
- Diaries
- Fort Bridger (Wyo.) -- Description and travel
- Fort Halleck (Wyo.) -- Description and travel
- Fort Kearny (Neb.) -- Description and travel
- Helena (Mont.) -- Description and travel
- Immigration and American Expansion
- Indians of North America
- La Grande (Or.) -- Description and travel
- Montana -- Description and travel
- Montpelier (Idaho) -- Description and travel
- Nevada City (Mont.) -- Description and travel
- Overland Journeys to the Western United States
- Overland journeys to the Pacific
- Panama -- Description and travel
- San Francisco (Calif.) -- Description and travel
- Virginia City (Mont.) -- Description and travel
- West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
- Title
- Register of Trip to Montana by wagon train
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Elisa Visick
- Date
- 2010 June 11
- Description rules
- Appm
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English in Latin script.
Repository Details
Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States