Between 1847 and 1869, when the last rail was laid completing the intercontinental railroad, scores of men, women and children hit the trials heading west to begin a life. It was the 19th century pursuit of the American dream.
Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 is an online exhibit sponsored by the American Memory project at the Library of Congress. It features the overland diaries and letters of those that risked it all to find a new life in the west. The exhibit includes 49 diaries in their entirety, over 40 maps and over 80 photographs and illustrations. Also included are the complete texts of 7 guide books that were published for those who wandered westward.
“Stories of persistence and pain, birth and death, God and gold, trail dust and debris, learning, love, and laughter, and even trail tedium can be found in these original “on the trail” accounts.”
Here is an excerpt from the diary of Gordon C. Cone dated May 16th, 1849 :
a man was shot in a quarrel in the Street today- Accidents from the careless useing of fire arms are of frequent occurings; and it is not to be wondered at among so many drunkards, and blockheads. Selling out at private , and public sale, is all the go- Some are sick, some are discouraged, some are out of funds, and I know of some that have not perseverence enough to take them to California , and are ready to “mount” some of the hobbies, that they too may have an excuse to go back home
The Cholera is among some of the emigrants, and many of them it is reported, have died-
It is a great misfortune to many of extreem nervousness, and those that are addicted to drinking, that they are out on this journey, as the Cholera is sure to find them, and it generaly goes hard with them. The Deaths by Cholera on some of the Steam Boats that come up the river are truly alarming- On one Boat forty have died, and on an other nearly double that number- but few Boats arrive that have not lost more, or less
The next time I need a humility check or feel the urge to complain about the state of things around me I just might visit one of these diaries for a little perspective. We got it so easy.