Scope and Contents

This collection includes letters written by David Woodman to his wife Jane while he was in California in 1852-1853. His early letters describe the trip from Paw Paw, Michigan to the Sacramento area by riverboat and wagon train. Later letters tell of living conditions, social life and gold mining. Woodman became very disillusioned with California and especially with the prospects of becoming rich through gold mining. The collection also includes home remedies for diphtheria and catarrh.

Scope and Contents This collection contains scattered correspondence from members of the Wickim, Briggs, Sanford, and Mudgett families. A letter from H. G. Wickim to his family (1854) describes preparations for an overland trip to California. Two letters from H. F. Briggs (1857, 1860) discuss land prices and agriculture in Illinois. In two letters to his father (1860, 1861), E. P. Sanford describes life in the California mines. Another California pioneer, C. N. Mudgett, writing to her sister, declares that she...

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of Gordon Johnson's diary, which recorded his journey from Missouri to California in 1850. The journal includes descriptions of the country he passed through, the difficulties of travel and his expenses after reaching his destination. Johnson's route took him through Fort Leavenworth, Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, and the Sierra Nevadas. A handwritten transcription of the diary is included in the collection.