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California National Historic Trail

 Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings

Found in 7 Collections and/or Records:

Stillman Churchill diary

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 663
Scope and Contents Handwritten diaries describing the overland journey from Lowell, Massachusetts to Deer Creek, Wyoming in 1849. Volume 2 concludes Churchill's journey to California. Churchill traveled with the Sagamore and California Mining and Trading Company. After its dissolution in late June, it is likely that the author joined the Oskaloosa Company. Churchill wrote detailed entries about company politics and disagreements, and also described other companies and emigrants he met on the trail. Diary...
Dates: 1849

Gordon C. Cone diary

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 661
Scope and Contents Handwritten diary of Cone's overland journey by ox team from Waukesha, Wisconsin to California in 1849. Cone is a descriptive writer and proud to record "only facts." Diary describes traveling conditions, encounters with Indians, cholera outbreaks, fellow travelers, and government assistance at the end of the trail. Cone also spent time in Salt Lake City and wrote about his unfavorable impressions. After arriving at California, Cone made several trips to Sacramento. Life in California was...
Dates: 1849-1850

Crossing the plains with ox teams in 1862

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230320464]
Identifier: MSS SC 2203
Scope and Contents Typescript with handwritten corrections and photocopies of the item. Boquist writes of her journey from Mt. Sterling, Van Buren Co., Iowa to California in 1862. She travelled on the Oregon and California trails staying three days in Salt Lake City, Utah, "a beautiful little city." The local inhabitants came to buy what they had to sell at higher cost than the items were worth, and they were warned by a Mormon widow against the tyrannical rule of Brigham Young saying many "were kept there...
Dates: approximately 1900

William D. Grantham diary

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 666
Scope and Contents Handwritten diary (64 pages) of Grantham's overland journey from Missouri to Goose Creek, Utah, in 1850 by ox and horse team. Grantham mainly writes about the geography of the trail and daily camp locations. A member of the company died near the Bear River, and Grantham notes the graves he passed. His company also traded with a group of Indians. The diary describes crossing the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers and details the daily routine of overland travel. Includes transcript. Diary is dated...
Dates: 1850

Edward Jackson diary

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 2493
Scope and Contents Handwritten diary and typewritten transcript. The diary was transcribed by Jackson's sister, Marion Jackson Gilbert, in 1855. Jackson made the overland journey with mules from Independence, Missouri to Sacramento, California in 1849. Long and descriptive daily entries focus on the nature of the California trail, encounters with Indians, and the condition of forts along the way. Several outbreaks of cholera also occurred. Jackson stopped at Salt Lake City and attended Pioneer Day festivities....
Dates: 1849

Joseph A. Kuhn letters

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230323260]
Identifier: MSS SC 2394
Scope and Contents

Handwritten letters dated 1866 and addressed to Kuhn's parents and to other friends and family members. The items were written in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah. Kuhn tells about his experiences on the Oregon and the California trails. He writes about meeting Mormons in Salt Lake City and elsewhere in Utah and gives his impressions of them.

Dates: 1866

Elijah Allen Spooner letters and diary

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Vault MSS 662
Scope and Contents Overland diary and fifteen handwritten letters. Most of the letters are addressed to Spooner's wife and were written while on the overland journey by ox team from Adrian, Michigan to Sacramento, California in 1849. Spooner writes of encounters with Indians, buffalo hunting, distaste for Sunday travel, a handful of deaths within his company, and travelling conditions. Spooner also mentions his religious faith in most of the letters. Spooner stopped in Salt Lake City and gives a brief...
Dates: 1849-1850