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California-Oregon Trail Diary

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Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Libraries

An 1850 overland diary recording an emigrant's passage from Dubuque, Iowa to the Salt Lake Cutoff. The diary is a small volume of 11 cm., written entirely in pencil, with 54 leaves and 104 pages of manuscript. Its narrative runs to around 6000 words, with regular entries from 25 March (and the emigrants' departure from Dubuque, south of Clayton County on the Mississippi) to 19 July (when the volume concludes with the party at the northern end of the Salt Lake Cutoff, on the present-day Utah-Idaho border). No subsequent volume is present, or known. The emigrants' route took them across Iowa to Council Bluffs on the Missouri, and thence along the north side of the Platte and North Platte Rivers (the Council Bluffs Road) to Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River and South Pass in modern Wyoming (reached on 24 June). At South Pass the party followed the trail's southern fork to Salt Lake City, and the Salt Lake Cutoff. Six loosely sketched maps appended to the narrative (pp. 92-97) suggest that the party proceeded to the Humboldt River (called Mary's River, p. 92) and on to California.

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An 1850 overland diary recording an emigrant's passage from Dubuque, Iowa to the Salt Lake Cutoff. The diary is a small volume of 11 cm., written entirely in pencil, with 54 leaves and 104 pages of manuscript. Its narrative runs to around 6000 words, with regular entries from 25 March (and the emigrants' departure from Dubuque, south of Clayton County on the Mississippi) to 19 July (when the volume concludes with the party at the northern end of the Salt Lake Cutoff, on the present-day Utah-Idaho border). No subsequent volume is present, or known. The emigrants' route took them across Iowa to Council Bluffs on the Missouri, and thence along the north side of the Platte and North Platte Rivers (the Council Bluffs Road) to Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River and South Pass in modern Wyoming (reached on 24 June). At South Pass the party followed the trail's southern fork to Salt Lake City, and the Salt Lake Cutoff. Six loosely sketched maps appended to the narrative (pp. 92-97) suggest that the party proceeded to the Humboldt River (called Mary's River, p. 92) and on to California.
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Mixed Materials
MSN/EA 8014
Pioneers
Oregon National Historic Trail
Overland journeys to the Pacific
West (U.S.)
Description and travel
Travelers
West (U.S.)
History
19th century
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user
https://archivesspace.library.nd.edu/repositories/3/resources/2008This digital collection may not include all items or all of the information available about the source collection. See the finding aid for more information.
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diaries
1 volume
The diary was purchased by the Hesburgh Libraries in 2013, from Michael Brown Rare Books of Philadelphia (List 123, part 2, item 36)

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Libraries at rarebook@nd.edu.