Journeys to the Land of Gold Emigrant Diaries From The Bozeman Trail, 1863-1866

by Doyle, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780917298486
• ISBN10: 0917298489
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-08-01
• Publisher: Montana Historical Society Press

Summary

Collected here for the first time ever are the surviving eyewitness accounts of the Bozeman's Trail's civilian emigrants: twenty-four diaries written during the journey and nine reminiscences prepared afterward. These accounts describe life on the West's last great emigrant trail, the shortcut from the Platte River Road to the Montana goldfields, from 1863 until 1866, when the route was closed by "Red Cloud's War." Ample introductions, extensive annotation, historical illustrations, and detailed maps enrich this oversized, two-volume compendium.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations	ix
Foreword	xi
Charles E. Rankin
Acknowledgments	xv
Note on Editorial Procedure	xviii
Introduction	1	(39)
Getting to the Bozeman Trail	40	(5)
1863
The Unsuccessful Attempt to Open the Bozeman Trail	45	(19)
About the Route, 1863	64	(3)
Samuel Word Diary	67	(36)
Robert Kirkpatrick Reminiscence	103	(19)
James Kirkpatrick Reminiscence	122	(8)
Cicero Card Diary	130	(7)
1864
The Gold Rush Trail	137	(21)
About the Route, 1864	158	(4)
Abram H. Voorhees Diary	162	(39)
John T. Smith Reminiscence	201	(5)
T. J. Brundage Diary	206	(6)
Benjamin Williams Ryan Diary	212	(21)
C. Adelia French Reminiscence	233	(11)
Frank E. Wager Reminiscence	244	(6)
Washington Nyhart Reminiscence	250	(3)
Ward Dalrymple Reminiscence	253	(4)
David B. Weaver Reminiscence	257	(8)
John J. and Margaret H. Tomlinson Diary	265	(13)
Richard Owens Diary	278	(21)
John S. Hackney Diary	299	(17)
Abraham Polk Flory Diary	316	(15)
Mary Foreman Kelley Reminiscence	331	(8)
1865
The Sawyers Wagon Road Expedition	339	(14)
About the Route, 1865	353	(2)
James A. Sawyers Diary	355	(16)
Lewis H. Smith Diary	371	(12)
C. M. Lee Diary	383	(40)
1866
The Second Rush	423	(17)
About the Route, 1866	440	(1)
Thomas O. Miles Diary	441	(7)
Richard Lockey Diary	448	(19)
Theodore A. Bailey Diary	467	(19)
Ellen Gordon Fletcher Diary	486	(36)
James A. Sawyers Diary	522	(11)
William K. Thomas Diary	533	(14)
Perry A. Burgess Diary	547	(24)
Davis Willson Diary	571	(49)
Samuel Finley Blythe Diary	620	(25)
George W. Fox Diary	645	(32)
Benjamin Dailey Diary	677	(11)
Thomas Alfred Creigh Diary	688	(26)
Epilogue	714	(2)
Afterword: American Pathways, Elliott West	716	(22)
Appendix A: Glossary	738	(31)
Appendix B: Itineraries	769	(26)
Appendix C: Calendars, 1863--66	795	(4)
Bibliography	799	(13)
Index	812