Iowa to Oregon, 1864
Elizabeth Lee Porter
INTRODUCTION
I was engaged in conversation with a friend a few blocks from our home in Monmouth, Oregon, when he blurted out, “Do you see that little wooden house over there on Stadium Street? Well, Mrs. Hamar, the lady who lives there, has her grandmother’s diary of her trip across the plains in 1864.”
The natural thing to do was to follow up on that conversation, which I did, and so met the most delightful Mrs. Ivy Hamar who, sure enough, had such a diary. It is in the form of a typescript. Mrs. Hamar told us that the hand-written original had disappeared but that she felt that the typewritten copy was an accurate one. We have since seen a second copy made on a different typewriter by another descendant and feel that Mrs. Hamar was justified in assuring us of the accuracy of her copy. The same approach to spelling and punctuation characterized both of the copies.
Mrs. Hamar has since died, on August 30, 1982, at age 93. Since her death we have gotten to know several other descendants of the Porters and have found them very helpful in editing this diary.
The diary was kept by Mrs. Elizabeth Lee Porter as she and her husband, Andrew Jackson Porter, and their five children began their overland journey in Lacelle, Clarke County, Iowa, on April 16, 1864.
They reached Linn County, Oregon, near the city of Albany, on September 20th. Their destination was the claim of “Uncle” Hugh Lee, a relative on Elizabeth’s side of the family. The Lees claimed descent from Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. Uncle Hugh Lee had arranged for the Porter family to move into a house belonging to Samuel and Walter Mcllree, a short distance from the Lee claim. A year later the Porter family moved to a densely forested claim in the Coast Range of mountains, some twenty miles west of Corvallis, near the tiny cross road of Nortons.
Today, on the Eddyville Road near Nortons is to be found a marker which reads as follows:
NEAR THIS POINT
WAS TAUGHT THE FIRST SCHOOL
IN LINCOLN COUNTY
A.D. 1866
ELIZABETH LEE PORTER — TEACHER
Some hundred feet distant from the above is the following burial marker:
ANDREW J. PORTER
1827 — 1881
ELIZABETH LEE HIS WIFE
1831 — 1898
AT REST
The descendants of the Porters have kept careful genealogical records of the family. The vital statistics of the parents and children at the time they crossed the plains in 1864 were as follows:
PARENTS: Andrew Jackson Porter, father, b. Oct. 26, 1827, Delaware County, Ohio; m. Nov. 8, 1853, Crawford County, Ohio; d. Benton County, Oregon, Jan. 14, 1881.
Elizabeth Lee Porter, b. Nov. 4, 1831, Harrison County, Ohio; d. July 20, 1898, Lincoln County, Oregon.
CHILDREN: James Taylor Porter, age 16 years, b. Ohio.
Mary Jane Porter, age 9 years, b. Michigan.
Ruth Florence, age 6, b. Illinois.
Elizabeth Ann, age 4, b. Illinois.
Lucinda Rosetta, age 2, b. Iowa.
There would be four more children, all born in Oregon.
Elizabeth Lee Porter had been a school teacher since her Ohio days. Above is the hand-written teaching certificate, written in Cadiz, Ohio, Harrison County, on July 24, 1850. She was nineteen years old at the time of its issuance.
The 1870 Federal Census lists Andrew Jackson Porter as a “farmer.” That would have had to be in the broadest of terms, for the land upon which the Porters settled was (and is) so densely forested that it would have been hard to imagine what land they farmed. Undoubtedly they were mainly stock raisers of cattle and sheep, utilizing mountain meadows and fire burns scattered through the growth of timber. In reality, the clue to the work of the father is to be found in the last two entries of Elizabeth’s diary early in November of 1864:
“Wednesday — 2. Made first rails in Oregon. Made only eighty.”
“Thursday — 3. Made rails for Hugh Lee.”
Andrew Porter was a rail splitter. The land upon which the family settled was forested heavily with Douglas fir, but more important, the Coast Range contains heavy stands of cedar, from which fence posts and rails were made. Cedar does not rot easily in a moist environment as do other woods. The formal name in the Pacific Northwest is “Western Redcedar.” The rail splitter was as common as the blacksmith and the harness maker in pre-automobile town life. The descendants of the Porters agree that the men were loggers, working “in the woods” as was said then. Near the marker for Elizabeth’s first school in Lincoln County is a giant cedar tree of robust proportions. Their land was richly dotted with such trees. The family also has a tradition that Andrew Jackson Porter was a surveyor.
ELIZABETH LEE PORTER’S DIARY:
CROSSING THE PLAINS, 1864
Tuesday April 26, 1864. Started for Oregon.1 Came as far as Mr. Morrow’s, staid all night, had a good visit, started next morning about eight o’clock.
Wednesday—27. Came to the old Boham Station, very cold, some rain, rheumatism pains very bad in left knee, sore toe, Turk tramped it this morning.
Thursday—28. Only traveled 15 miles, camped west of Afton [Union Co., Iowa], very hilly road all day, nothing happened worth nameing.
Friday—29. Bad traveling, rained last night, traveled 15 miles, cold and disagreeable.
Saturday—30. Came to Nodaway [Page Co., Iowa], camped over Sunday.
Sunday—May 1, 1864. The pleasantest day of the season, quite warm. High wind in the evening.
Monday—2. Quite a wind storm and cold. Came about eight miles and camped on the Middle Nodaway. Saw the city of Quincy [Adams Co., Iowa].
Tuesday—3. Ice this morning the thickness of a knife blade. Came about 10 miles and camped on West Nodaway, cold wind, evening pleasant.
Wednesday—4. Windy. On our way today, Camped on the Nishimattamy [Nishnabotna] for tonight, pretty stream, expect to lay over tomorrow and buy flour.
Thursday—5. Washed and churned, had a fine shower of rain, still continues to rain.
Friday—6. At the same place, Cloudy and lowrie all day but warm, Grass is growing fine. I hope there will soon be plenty. This is a pretty place to camp.
Saturday—7. Quite a hard rain last night, lowrie to day, Just fixing to start to next campground. Wrote to Mr. Morrow, churned and sold 1½ lb. of butter for 35¢. Traveled eight miles, still raining.
Sunday—8. Laying still to-day, had quite a scrape, old Gentle2 got mired and took two yoke of cattle and ten men to get her out. More pleasant, rained this morning.
Monday—9. Traveled about 16 miles, camped on West Nishimabottamy, good camping ground.
Tuesday—10. Dreadful storm last night, blowed hard. Traveled about three miles, very cold, good camp ground on Silver Creek, 10 miles east of Glenwood [Mills Co., Iowa].
Wednesday—11. Camped for the night on the bottom, five miles from Plattinworth [Plattsmouth, Nebraska]. Bought 400 weight of flour a $2.65, coffee 55 cents, candles 30 cents.
Thursday—12. Got to Missouri River, had to wait about five hours to cross. Got across, came about 2 miles and camped for the night. Splendid springs.
Friday—13. Traveled 10 miles, quite warm, camped by a good well of water.
Saturday—14. All prairie today, drove some distance off the road to camp. got a good place, plenty of good water, grass pretty short, expect to travel some tomorrow. Killed a coon this evening.
Sunday—15. Came to Salt Creek [Nebraska] and camped, quite pleasant, beautiful crossing Stone Bottom.
Monday—16. Staying at Salt Creek today, very fine weather. Baked and churned.
Tuesday—17. Traveled 10 miles, uncommonly warm and dusty. Cattle very tired.
Wednesday—18. Traveled 14 miles, quite warm, camped at ranch, folkes planting corn. Quite dusty.
Thursday—19. Came about 19 miles, still warm but good breeze. Tomorrow will reach the Platte.
Friday—20. Got to the Platte bottom and came three miles, camped by a good spring and ranch.
Saturday—21. Camped again. See the first Indians today, of the Pawnee tribe. Weather very fine. Washed and cleaned up on the bank of the Platte. Very tired.
Sunday—22. Laying still today. First rate grass, good cedar wood by crossing the river. Passed the day looking around. Some indians about, of the Pawnee tribe.
Monday—23. Started this morning again. Had a stampeed this morning and a run off, cool day for traveling. Came about 24 miles.
Tuesday—24. Traveled about 18 miles and camped on the Platte bluff. Good grass, no water.
Wednesday—25. Traveled about 21 miles. Camped on bank of Platte. Lots of good water and best of grass. Wood by going across on the island. Cattle doing first rate.
Thursday—26. Traveled about 20 miles. Considerable talk about Indians. Thirty miles to Kearney.
Friday—27. Pleasant. Big tales of Indians ahead but it is getting further away all the time.
Saturday—28. Stopped at noon in sight of Kearney, washed some, pleasant and cool in evening. Fort Kearney is a pleasant little place. 100 soldiers here.
Sunday—29. Just ready to start. Quite a train came through Fort Kearney. Came a few miles and camped.
Monday—30. Fine day, rather dusty, storm of wind in the evening, camped on the banks of river. River very high.
Tuesday—31. Crossed Plum Creek this morning, little toll bridge there about three feet wide. Served medicine, took it in whiskey.
Wednesday, June 1. Another wind storm last night. 26 teams camped together last night. Had to stand guard. Cool this morning.
Thursday—2. Camped over today. One woman in our train had twin babies last night. Cloudy and some rain.
Friday—3. On our way today. Some cloudy. See the first Sioux Indians today. See two jack-rabbits. Traveled about 22 miles. Camped on the bluff.
Saturday—4. Some of our cattle strayed this morning. Three miles to Cottonwood3 Quite a little place. 200 soldiers here to rob the immigrants.
Sunday—5. Quite pleasant. See a boat on the Platte this morning. Going to travel some today. Camped by the bluff, cool this evening. 16 wagons here this evening, more in sight.
Monday—6. Crossed Gatens [O’Fallon’s?] bluff, lots of Indian huts. Indians in camp begging. Plenty of water, not much grass. Quite sandy.
Tuesday—7. Started before breakfast, came a piece and stopped for breakfast, cool, have to have a shawl on to cook. Drove 24 miles.
Wednesday—8. Quite warm, camped at noon at Lone Tree Ranch.4 Ford here. Seen no timber since Sabbath morning. Looks like a storm coming. Raining.
Thursday—9. Hot now, cloudy, looks like rain. Some of the cattle gone again this morning. Finished my stockings. Camped at ford, bad crossing. Lots of folks crossing.
Friday—10. Going on to some other place to cross. Some rain in evening. Some teams try to cross but had to back out, came very near drowning horses.
Saturday—11. Pleasant. Most ready to start. Will get to Jewelsburg [Julesburg, Colorado] today if no bad luck. Met Mormons. Cold enough in evening to snow. No water or wood.
Sunday—12. At Jewelsburg. Rained this morning, blowing very hard. Going to try to cross the river. High wind. Seen Mr. Carroll. Rain in the night.
Monday—13. At Jewelsburg. River still raising. Prospects of having to move to get out of the water. Raised some five or six inches this morning and still raising. Had to leave. Thursday—14. Same place. Rain storm last night. Pleasant today, waiting for river to fall. Washing etc.
Wednesday—15. Still waiting. River on the fall, warm and cloudy. Cattle all going fine, give lots of milk. Tried to cross the river with cattle and failed.
Thursday—16. Still staying here. River still falling. Immigrants coming thick and fast. Boats running all the time.
Friday—17. Jewelsburg. Not much prospect of crossing yet. Should not suspect much if we stay a week yet. Wind.
Saturday—18. Same place. Very hot. Perhaps cross some today. Seen a wind-fall in Platte this evening, a great curiosity.5
Sunday—19. Jewelsburg. Crossed part of our wagons today. Very hot. Have stayed here nine days nowand expect to stay 2 or 3 more.
Monday—20. Jewelsburg. Crossing as fast as we can. Cattle all on the other side. Got them all across safe but 8 or 10 head.
Tuesday—21. Jewelsburg. Still crossing. Got so windy in afternoon had to quit. Gentle and Pink on the other side yet, river raising. Very hot and windy. Sage roots for wood.
Wednesday—22. Opposite Jewelsburg. Noon. All over safe and ready to start. Crossed Pole Creek6 and came 7 or 8 miles and camped by a spring on the left of road. Good grass.
Thursday—23. Took census. Half past six, ready to start. Traveled about 26 miles over splendid road. Nice grass and cactus. Flowers in abundance. Warm but fine breeze.
Friday—24. Laid by until noon and traveled about 10 miles. Crossed Pole Creek again and seen timber at a distance. Started across bluffs. No water.
Saturday—25. Sage roots for wood. Noon stopped at the first ranch, house this side of the river at Mud Springs.7 Very hot and dusty. Came on to Pumpkin Creek,8 20 miles. Plenty of water above the ford.
Sunday—26. Went on to Court House and Jail Rock. Traveled on to Chimney Rock. Hot and dusty. On the Platte again. The bluffs are great curiosity. A great many people go to see them and carve their names there
Monday—27. Chimney Rock. Camp here. Passed another ranch. In sight of Scotts Bluffs. Traveled about 20 miles. A good rain in the evening. Pretty dusty today.
Tuesday—28. Traveled 8 or 10 miles to Scotts Bluffs. The road between the bluffs just wide enough for a wagon. 400 or 500 feet high. Rocks on each side.
Wednesday—29. Warm, sandy and awful dusty. Came to Cold Springs9 and camped for the night. Indians here came to camp to beg for bread and trade beads for bread.
Thursday—30. Seen about a dozen Indian families moving. Cool in the morning, hot at noon. Lots of Indians on the road. Plenty at camp tonight.
Friday—July 1, 1864. Fort Laramie. Wind storm last night. Came on and crossed river on bridge for three dollars at Fort Laramie. Cold this morning.
Saturday—2. 8 miles above the fort. Very cold this morning. Laying still today. Women washing, men setting wagon-tire. Any amount of immigrants passing by. Currants for supper.
Sunday—3. Crossing Black Hills. Road rough. Train about 2 miles long. Now. I expect there is 100 teams stopped here. A little water and no grass. Came across some of the worst roads.
Monday—4. Mr. Parker very sick this morning. Came about 10 miles, stopped for noon on the bank of HorseShoe Creek. The American flag floats to the breeze. Hot, resting again. Gooseberries here.
Tuesday—5. Very hot this morning. Came 10 or 12 miles across bluffs to Elk Horn and camped. Poor grass, plenty of water and all is well. Sewing some today.
Wednesday—6. Cool wind this morning. Just starting. Cold wind all day. We camped on the Laboute River [LaBonte]. Came down hill all afternoon. Lots of folks camped here now.
Thursday—7. Laboute River. Laid by on account of the sick man being worse. Quite warm. 50 wagons camped here and they say 100 above at the other ford.
Friday—8. Noon; crossed the Red Hills today. Warm and dusty. Traveled 21 miles. Awful dusty in afternoon, grass short. A good spring in bed of a dry creek.
Saturday—9. Cool this morning. Crossed Elder Creek and two other nice streams. Crossed Deer Creek and came on 5 miles. Camped on North Platte.
Sunday—10. Pleasant today. Mr. Parker died this evening about 4 o’clock about 15 miles above Deer Creek on the North Platte River.
Monday—11. Cool this evening. Laying still on account of the death of Mr. Parker. Expect to travel this afternoon. Come 10 miles this afternoon.
Tuesday—12. Crossed North Platte today. Had to pay five dollars a team. Came over some awful roads this afternoon.
Wednesday—13. Left Platte this morning. Turk sick.10 Lots of folks on the road today. Came to Willow Springs.
Thursday—14. Turk is dead. Died a few minutes ago (noon). He was poisoned. All grass in low places is poison here. Camped on a nice little creek, very little grass.
Friday—15. Fish Creek, 12 miles east of Sweet Water. Camped last night on a nice little stream, passed alkali lakes. Crossed Sweet Water at Independence Rock. Sold Gentle at noon today.
Saturday—16. On Sweet Water River. Camped handy to Devil Gate last night. Traveled about 10 miles. Lots of dead cattle here.
Sunday—17. Cool and windy. Quite sandy today. Cloudy looks like rain. Came about 10 or 12 miles through another gap in the mountains.
Monday—18. Stampeded last night to another camp ground. Warm this morning. Came through a big canyon and crossed the river three times.
Tuesday—19. Came about 4 miles and stopped. Bought six cows this morning for $45. A splendid shower this evening, laid the dust nicely.
Wednesday—20. Sweet Water River. Came about a mile and crossed the river again then came about 18 miles to the river again. Road splendid, raining now and prospects of plenty.
Thursday—21. Crossed Sweet Water early. Come perhaps 5 miles. Ready to cross again. A half an hour and cross again. Noon raining some, thunder. Camped on bank of Sweet Water.
Friday—22. Hilly and rough. Noon: Came to a nice little place at night on Willow Creek, pretty little stream. 5 miles east of South Pass.
Saturday—23. Came to Sweet Water, here is where the Landers cut-off is.11 Came about 5 miles, good spring at left of road. In sight of snow on mountains for three days.
Sunday—24. Came across the main range of mountains and came to Sweet Water again and camped. Pretty warm.
Monday—25. Very warm. Crossed river for the last time. 1 mile, crossed willow Run. Noon: Cloudy. Evening on bank of Little Sandy. Very cool.
Tuesday—26. Rough roads. Noon on bank of Big Sandy. See snow yet. Here is where the immigrants and Indians had a fight 6 days ago. One man killed, three wounded and one little girl wounded.
Wednesday—27. Noon, came 8 miles. To left of road found water and grass. Road sandy. Camped here tonight. 12 miles to Green River. Crossed the desert today. 12 miles without water. Sand not very deep.
Thursday—28. Traveled until noon, crossed middle Green River. Very swift current, water over axel-tree. Washed, cleaned wagons etc.
Friday—29. Came about 10 miles and stopped for noon on the West branch of the Green River. Laying still as usual.
Saturday—30. Came over some rough roads. Crossed one creek and came on to one at base of mountain. These are what is called the Bear River chain of mountains.
Sunday—31. Waiting awhile on acount of very sick child. Don’t think it will live long. Disease of whooping cough and teething. Come 10 or 11 miles, all the way between two big mountains. A creek runs here.
Monday, August I —1864. Lots of pine. Buried the child this morning. Ice half inch thick. Had to climb the mountains today. Some to come up and I guess it was some to come down. Came a piece up another canyon and camped. Creek here. Snow on top of the mountains.
Tuesday—2. Laying over today. Poor grass for stock. Another baby born last night. Stamper got his cow. Washed, baked and chored in general.
Wednesday—3. Noon: Got across another range of mountains. Came down canyon and now going up another. It is so narrow there is scarce room for creek and road. Evening: Came across two big ranges of mountains to Canyon Creek. Bad roads. Stamper’s hind axel broke.
Thursday—4. 8 o’clock: Axel all right and ready to start. Traveled among the mountains until noon then came to pretty valley at night. Good grass and water. Good creek.
Friday—5. Drove near 15 miles down a beautiful valley, crossed one creek to another at the mouth of a canyon. This is Salt River. Laid over on account of a sick woman.
Saturday—6. Traveled up a canyon. Past Salt Springs. Gathered some. Traveled about 25 miles today. Good camp ground here. Plenty of grass. One ox gone. Very narrow canyon today.
Sunday, August 7. Captain gone back this morning. Laying still as usual. Come about 10 miles and camped by a lake. Beautiful valley, cold spring. Little rain.
Monday—8. Came about 16 miles to Black Foot Creek. Road pretty good but hot and dusty. More Indians here. Crossed and camped on bank of creek.
Tuesday—9. Bully sick. Came about 21 or 22 miles. Pretty roads only dusty. Back on old road again. Camped beside a big mountain. A little spring.
Wednesday—10. Bully better. An awful wind storm this morning, turned off more mild at noon. On a nice stream of water within 10 miles of Snake River.
Thursday—11. Came to Black Foot against noon. Road sandy. Just got across Snake River all safe. A very large stream but low now. Up over axel-trees.
Friday—12. Came down the Snake River a few miles and laid over in the afternoon. Good grass. Cattle doing fine. Boys fishing two miles above the ferry.
Saturday—13. Morning: Mrs. Stamper very sick. Going to go as far as the ferry. Come 14 miles and camped by big spring. Laying still this afternoon.
Sunday, August 14. Laying still all day. Mrs. Stamper had a baby this morning. She is very sick. Baby dead and buried. The rest of the train pulled out. We are opposite Fort Hall.
Monday—15. Laying still today. Mrs. Stamper better in afternoon. Just pulling up to start across the desert. Traveled until midnight over rough roads and lots of sage brush. Roads very bad. Rocks all the way.
Tuesday—16. Sun about an hour high and ready to start. Got some grass for cattle and hauled water for them. Got across desert to a little spring. No water for cattle yet. Got to go 12 miles yet to get water. Resting.
Wednesday—17. One day—Lost River. Got to water last night about 10 o’clock. Going to rest cattle and sick woman today. Noon: Started and axel-tree broke again. Dreadful rock road. Lots of trains passing.
Thursday—18. Morning: 8 o’clock. We will soon be ready to start. Came over 25 or perhaps 30 miles. Got to water about nine o’clock. A big spring at right of road. Very dusty.
Friday—19. Very warm. Not very well this morning. (Disentary) Resting awhile. Going to start pretty soon and go 9 or 10 miles to more water. Stopped at middle of rock. Plenty of good water and grass and wood.
Saturday—20. Came 15 miles today over the roughest road we have had, very rocky. Got along safe and camped on Rattlesnake Creek. Plenty of water and grass. Laying over this afternoon. Very dusty.
Sunday, August 21. Came about 10 or 12 miles to Willow Creek and camped. Very windy and awful dusty. Come nine miles more and camped on Little Wood River. Indians here. Bannocks.
Monday—22. Came about 6 miles and struck Big Wood River. Came about 13 miles and camped by a big spring. Good grass, wood and water in a pretty valley. The prettiest valley we have seen.
Tuesday—23. Come 8 miles to Big Wood River again, crossed, come 4 miles and stopped for noon at a spring there, hitched up and come about 12 miles farther and camped.
Wednesday—24. Stopped at noon in a pretty valley by a spring, plenty of grass, very windy, stopped for night at splendid spring. Good Grass.
Thursday—25. Camas Valley. Come about 12 miles till noon, across a splendid valley. Come about 9 miles. Seen lots of nice hay, only 10 cents a lb. Camped this evening by a spring branch.
Friday—26. Cameabout 10 miles, another spring run. Looks like rain. Hope it will. Came about 8 miles. Lots of people stopping here putting up hay. Gold and silver mines handy. Rolling.
Saturday—27. They say we have rough roads today. Come two miles and stopped on little Camas Prairie. Here we found Carroll’s folks and we lay over. Gold mines here.
Sunday, August 28. Left Carrolls this morning, drove until noon and stopped. Quite warm but a good breese. Camped by a spring. Plenty of good wood and water.
Monday—29. Traveled about 10 miles over the hilliest road we have had on the road worse than the mountains. A good rain. All well.
Tuesday—30. Still raining. Some milking cattle gone but found at last. Noon: A terrible hail storm and cloud burst. Our wagons washed under, Log chains gone. Shoe and tool box gone.
Wednesday—31. Drying our things out this morning. Had to dig our wagons out. Don’t want to see the like again. Traveled about 9 miles. Ranches all along here. Vegetables for sale.
Thursday, September 1, 1864. Come about 20 miles today, no grass or water for cattle. Camped on Boise River about 3 miles above the city. No grass of any account here, looks like civilization.
Friday 2. Stopped at a ranch and bought some onions. Every kind of vegetables at 10 cents in gold or 20 cents in greenbacks. Crossed Boise River and came through the city.
Saturday—3. Morning: 12 head of cattle gone, found 5 head. Hunted all day for the rest but found no cattle. Beautiful valley here and lots of ranches. We are four miles below the city.
Sunday, September 4. No cattle yet. Men all out again. Found them about 10 o’clock but did not travel. Quite windy, lots of teams going along.
Monday—5. Laid over till noon then come about 8 miles to Dry Creek. Plenty of wood and water. Grass pretty scarce. A nice new house built here.
Tuesday—6. Climb to Piatte [Payette] River today. Came down a big hill. Road pretty good. Grass at the bluffs.
Wednesday—7. Came 20 miles down river to the ford and camped. There are ranches all along from 1 to 3 miles apart.
Thursday—8. Oregon. Crossed the Piatte River and came about 7 or 8 miles to Snake River again and crossed in a flat boat for $2 a team. Came 1½ miles and camped.
Friday—9. Quite warm, noon: Come about 12 miles across a sage desert to Snake River again. Dusty and rough. Lots of packers. Come about 7 miles to river and crossed slide.
Saturday—10. Quite cool. Have to climb around side of mountain. 6 miles to Farewell Bend of Snake River. Come 5 miles more to Burnt River.
Sunday, September 11. Traveled along Burnt River about 20 miles. A tolerable rough road. High mountains on each side.
Monday—12. Still on Burnt River. One bad hill this morning. Got lots of black and red haws. Some valley. Camped near the Central House. Ride and Beauty are sick.
Tuesday—13. Left Burnt River this morning. Traveled about 15 miles over a good road. Only a little gravel. A cool wind all day. Mrs. Wilkins still has the ague.
Wednesday—14. Ice this morning. Big frost. Got to Powder River a little after noon then came 6 or 7 miles across the valley. See Blue Mountains.
Thursday—15. Andy Stamper very sick. Quite dusty today in the valley. The Blue Mountains run along the west side of Powder River. River all muddy by the miners digging at Orbeu.12
Friday—16. Andy still worse. Started, thinking we might find a doctor but only went about three miles till he died then came 3 miles to water and stopped.
Saturday—17. We buried Andy this morning. Mulkins and Stampers went on and we staid here at the ranch. Porter is working on a new house for $2 per day.
Sunday, September 18. Laying still today. Lots of immigrants and packers going by. Feel kind of lonesome all day. Mr. Baker’s team laying over here today.
Monday—19. Still here and working on the house. Cattle doing fine. Lots of immigrants going along.
Tuesday—20. Working at the house for J. Newman. More immigrants going along. Some in sight all of the time.
Wednesday—21. Still working here. Cattle doing fine. Cold and cloudy. Threatens rain.
Thursday—22. Quite cold and cloudy this morning, more moderate this afternoon. Dr. Whitson and Fingsbury and Parkers13 drove in this morning.
Friday—23. Hitched up this morning and come about 14 miles and camped on the Grand Ronde Valley. This is a pretty looking valley.
Saturday—24. Passed through the city of La Grande. A very pretty place. Drive on to Grande Ronde River and camped. Cloudy, looks like rain.
Sunday, September 25. Rained last night. Camped by the Blue Mountains last night at a little place called Oradell [Orodell]. Crossed one range of mountains. Road wet and slippery. Only came seven miles today.
Monday, 26. Raining and some snow today. Considerable snow on top of mountains. Come about 16 miles across the summit. 15 miles yet to valley.
Tuesday—27. Big frost and lots of ice. Rose sick all night but better this morning. Came in sight of valley and camped for night. Beautiful road today.
Wednesday—28. Traveled about 16 miles in the Umatilla Valley, Indian Reservation here. Quite pleasant after we got off the mountain.
Thursday—29. Little rain last night. Crossed Birch Creek and came about 14 miles and camped by a ranch. Nobody home.
Friday—30. Cold. Traveled till noon. Stopped by a little spring. Came about 16 miles today to Butter Creek. Cold and windy.
Saturday, October 1, 1864. Quite cold this morning. Traveled about 20 miles over a heavy road to a splendid spring and a ranch house.
Sunday—2. Came some 15 miles today to a creek and a ranch. Quite pleasant today. Nothing important transpiring.
Monday—3. Pleasant this morning but cool. 65 miles to The Dalles. Came about 20 miles today and got to Rock Creek a little after dark. Cattle very tired and everybody willing to stop.
Tuesday—4. Came 11 miles to a spring over rough heavy roads. Very warm today. Crossed John Day River. Wednesday—5. Came over a nice road to Mud Springs. A nice day. A ranch house here just put up. 30 miles to The Dalles.
Thursday—6. Deschutes River. Beautiful morning. Most ready to start. Uncle Hugh14 met us here today on the Deschutes River. Awful hilly here.
Friday—7. Traveled a short distance. Very warm, dusty roads. Here is the Five Mile House15 to The Dalles. No grass.
Saturday—8. Came up to town. Baking and fixing to go down the river. Quite a city here. Have to pay $15.00 per wagon and $6.00 for persons over 12 years.
Sunday, October 9. Quite warm. Porter and Taylor gone with cattle down the trail. Uncle Hugh Lee staying with me.
Monday—10. Took boat at nine o’clock to Cascades. Then the cars for 6 miles,16 then the boat for Portland. Got to landing between sunset and dark.
Tuesday—11. Pleasant. Waiting for cattle to come. A very nice town. Uncle is still with me.
Wednesday—12. Cloudy all day. Nothing of importance transpired, only it rained this evening.
Thursday—13. Pleasant. Evening—no men yet with cattle.
Friday—14. Very pleasant. Still no men. We waited, washed etc. Evening: no cattle yet.
Saturday—15. We are camped near State Prison. See them marched out to work every day and see them shake their blankets this evening.
Sunday, October 16. Cattle, men came in a little while ago (afternoon) safe tired and sore-footed. We hitched up and drove about 4 miles.
Monday—17. Traveled about 13 miles through a timbered country and crossed Willamette River in the evening. Camped at the Dutchmans.17
Tuesday—18. Traveled about 15 miles through a pretty country. Plenty of apples. Nice buildings along here. 12 miles to Salem.
Wednesday—19. Noon: today fed own stock in the city. A good road. Uncle Hugh went on home this morning. Glad we are so near home.
Thursday—20. Came to Santiam River by noon. Crossed and came to within one mile of Albany.
Friday—21. Came through the city of Albany and got to Uncle Hugh’s almost one o’clock and found them all well.
Friday—28. Went to Peoria and got some dishes. Quite a busy little place. It is on the Willamette River. Rained quite a shower.
Tuesday, November 1, 1864. Moved here to McCulley’s today.18 Took possession for one year.
Wednesday—2. Made first rails in Oregon. Made only eighty.
Thursday—3. Made rails for Hugh Lee.
1The starting point of their journey was Lacelle, Clarke Co., Iowa.
2This was their milk cow.
3The formal name of this locale was Fort McPherson, which was established in the 1860’s to protect the Platte River route. The more popular name was Fort Cottonwood. It is in Lincoln Co., Nebraska. Aubrey L. Haines, Historic Sites Along the Oregon Trail (Gerald, Missouri, 1981), p. 70.
4Frank Root describes this stopping place with apt words: “This station was on Nine-mile ridge, 208 miles west of Atchison, in southern Nebraska, between Liberty Farm and Thirty-two-mile Creek. On a lofty elevation, perhaps forty rods distant to the north of the road, there stood a solitary tree. It was a medium-sized tree and it could be seen quite a long distance from nearly every quarter. To parties engaged in freighting across the plains in the early ‘60’s it was a prominent landmark.” Frank A. Root and William E. Connelley, The Overland Stage to California (Glorieta, N.M., 1970), p. 202.
5Could she mean “whirlwind”?
6Lodgepole Creek, Nebraska.
7This was a stage station near Chimney Rock. Root, op. cit., p. 127.
8Pumpkin Creek drains the vicinity of Courthosue Rock. Haines, op. cit., p. 93. Merrill J. Mattes writes of it vividly: “This is a stream which impresses observant travelers today as it did a century ago for its pastoral charm and limpid clarity. But like the Courthouse it is plagued by a variety of names which continue to haunt modern writers and map-makers. For purposes of convenience, and to preserve the reader’s sanity, it will be referred to here as Pumpkin Creek, since that name (or its variants ‘Punkin’ or ‘Pumpkinseed’) had been used for over 100 years.” Platte River Road (Lincoln, 1969), p. 341.
9According to Root there were two stage stations named “ Cold Springs.”
10“Turk” was an ox.
11Diary of Martha Missouri Moore, Volume VII above, p. 282, fn. II. See also Volume VIII, above, fn. 4, p. 20. There is a good treatment of this cutoff in E. Douglas Branch, “Frederick West Lander, Road-Builder,” Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev., XVI (Sept., 1929), pp. 172–87.
12This was her rendition of “Ox Bow,” a common term for a U-shaped bend in a river. This descriptive term was found in a number of places in Oregon. Lewis A. Me Arthur, Oregon Geographic Names (Portland, Oregon, 1982), p. 567.
13We have so far been unable to identify these travelers from their surnames alone.
14Uncle Hugh Lee was a relative of the diarist, whose maiden name had been Elizabeth Lee. He and his family had settled in Linn County, Oregon, not far from Albany. Historical Atlas Map of Marion & Linn Counties (San Francisco, 1878), p. 7 2.
15“Fifteen Mile House.”
16What she means here by caking “the cars for 6 miles” is that there was a short portage railroad around the Cascades of the Columbia River, at present Bonneville. Frank B. Gill, “Oregon’s First Railway,” Oregon Historical Quarterly, XXV, Sept. 1924, pp. 171–235.
17This would be the town of Aurora, which was founded by German settlers.
18This name should be spelled “Mcllree.” Charles and Walter Mcllree were neighbors of Hugh Lee. Historical Atlas, op. cit., p. 72.