Register of the Small Overland Trail Collections,
1849-1859
Processed by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by
Don Walker
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University Library, University of the
Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
Fax: (209) 946-2810
URL:
http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
© 1998
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Register of the Small Overland Trail Collections,
1849-1859
Collection number: Mss2
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University
Library
University of the Pacific
Contact Information
- Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
- University Library, University of the Pacific
- Stockton, CA 95211
- Phone: (209) 946-2404
- Fax: (209) 946-2810
- URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
- Processed by:
- Don Walker
- Date Completed:
- July 1998
- Encoded by:
- Don Walker
© 1998 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Small Overland Trail Collections,
Date (inclusive): 1849-1859
Collection number: Mss2
Creator:
Extent: 0.3 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Small Overland Trail Collections, Mss2,
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific
Library
Biography
Holt Atherton Special Collections holds eight overland trail narratives
not associated with larger collections. They represent crossings between 1849
and 1859 and include two narratives of the New Mexico/Arizona route and one by
a female emigrant. Of these trail narratives, five are copies, the originals of
which are still in private collections. For those interested in overland trail
narratives, Holt Atherton also holds six other examples: the Lyman Burrell
correspondence (1849) [in Mss132]; the Thomas S. Wylly memoir (1849) [in
Mss124]; the Calvin B. West diary (1853) [in Mss2: Small Oregon Collections];
the Alexander Horn memoir (1855) [in Mss2: Small California Collections]; the
Elvira Dodge diary (1860) [in Mss271]; and, the William S. Moss correspondence
(1861) [in Mss2: Small California Collections]. Also of interest is the Jess
Machado Collection [Mss256], a compilation of narratives and research on the
Carson Pass leg of the Overland Trail.
Prince Allen Athearn (b. 1811) [Mss2.A866] and D. Lambert Fouts
[Mss2.F782] came overland to California in 1849. Athearn came from Switzerland
County, Indiana via Ft. Hall to northeastern San Joaquin County. There he
farmed wheat and later served as a Justice of the Peace. The original of
Athearn's diary is in the Nebraska State Historical Society Library. D. Lambert
Fouts came to California via New Mexico and Arizona. His diary is incomplete
and it is possible that Fouts died before reaching California, since final
entries record that he has fallen ill.
Robert Shellenberger recounts an event that occurred on the Trail near
Ragtown, Nevada (1850) [Mss2.S544]. The story, involving some missing oxen and
a woman's [Mrs. McClellan's] courage, was recounted by William McClellan, son
of Duncan McClellan, who had brought his family overland from Missouri via Salt
Lake City and Hastings' Cutoff. The anecdote came to Shellenberger through
Hazel Rider Kuhl, who had made a typescript copy of the original in 1930.
Dr. William Wallace Wixom (1824-1888) [Mss2.W835] came overland to
California in 1851. He is best known as the father of internationally-famous
soprano, Emma Nevada (1859-1940). After graduation from the University of
Michigan medical college, Wixom led a party across the plains to Nevada County,
Calif. via Soda Springs, Hudspeth's Cutoff and Rock City. In 1864 Wixom took
his family to Austin, Nev., site of a new gold strike. Here, Dr. Wixom devoted
the remainder of his life to ranching and medical practice. He was
well-respected by the Shoshone Indians and is usually credited with being
instrumental in keeping peace between the Indians and settlers in Lander
County.
Lewis Beers [Mss2.B415] and Alpheus Richardson [Mss2.R521] came overland
to California in 1852. Beers traveled from Ohio via to the Jackson, Amador
County, goldfields. Alpheus Richardson traveled from Caledonia, Ohio via Soda
Springs, Hudspeth's Cutoff and Rock City to Marysville, Calif. with the W.W.
Holister [sic] Co.
Joel Hedgpeth [Mss2.H453] came overland to California in 1858. Hegpeth,
a preacher, came from Nodaway County, Mo. via New Mexico and Arizona with the
family of Judge Gillum Baley. En route the party was attacked by Mohave Indians
and met General Benjamin Bonneville.
Lovina Weeks [Mss2.W395] came overland from Athens, Michigan to Alameda
County, California in 1859. She and her husband, Alfred, and their two
daughters, traveled in company with her brother, Jared T. Walker, who had come
to California in 1852. The Weeks' trip via Salt Lake City was easy and
uneventful. The format of Lovina Weeks' diary is unusual in that her account is
interlarded with the reminiscences (1929) of her younger daughter, Florence,
who had been eight years old at the time of the crossing.
-Mss2.A866: ATHEARN COLLECTION
1) Prince A. Athearn overland diary (1849) [27 pp.
typescript copy; 55 p. ms. copy]
2) "Stockton man's great grandsire laid keel of "Old
Ironsides" Stockton Record (n.d.)
3) Donal W. Athearn, NYC to Prince A. Athearn, 12-17-40
[re genealogy of PAA]
4) Photograph of Prince Athearn School in Clements,
Calif. (1936)
-Mss2.B415: BEERS (LEWIS) DIARY (1852) [46 pp. typescript
copy]
-Mss2.F782: FOUTS (D. LAMBERT) DIARY (1849)
1) D. Lambert Fouts overland diary (1849) [83 pp.; also
photocopy of same; incl. later business records kept by Fouts' sons Hiram &
C.S. Ricks (1861-63)]
2) John W. Winkley notes on Fouts (n.d.) [25 pg.
typescript]
3) Patricia A. Etter to Daryl Morrison, 4-8-95 [re diary
& Fouts' fate; 2 pp. typescript]
-Mss2.H453: HEDGPETH (JOEL). "SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF A TRIP
ACROSS THE PLAINS IN 1858-59"
1) Joel Hedgpeth memoir [14 pp. ms.]
2) Do. [14 pp. typescript copy]
3) 4 photographs of Joel Hedgpeth [copies]
4) 1 photograph of Mrs. Hedgpeth [copy]
5) 1 photograph of Joel & Mrs. Hedgpeth
[copy]
6) 1 photograph of Joel Hedgpeth's name on "El Morro"
-MS 2 M 211: MCDANNALD, JOHN M.C., MCDANNALD, DAVID. This
collection is a copy of a typescript entitled "A Story of Crossing the Plains
in 1865," written by John T. McDannald III, using the diary of his father,
David W. McDannald.
-Mss2.R521: ALPHEUS RICHARDSON DIARY (1852) [28 pp.
typescript copy; 2nd copy]
-Mss2.S544: SHELLENBERGER (ROBERT). "MISSUS MCCLELLAN &
THE RAGTOWN RUSTLERS...(1850)"
1) Shellenberger typescript (1978) [38 pp.; 2 drafts
]
2) Published version in The Far-Westerner 20:2 (April
1979)
3) Two notes from RS to James Shebl, Editor of The
Far-Westerner (1978)
-Mss2.W395: WEEKS (LOVINA) DIARY (1859) [36 pp. typescript
copy]
-Mss2.W835: WIXOM (DR. WILLIAM W.) DIARY (1851) [incl. 38
pp. typescript copy and photocopy of same]
