Guide to the Oregon Pioneer Records: typed transcripts, [ca. 1847-1864]

Processed by The Bancroft Library staff

The Bancroft Library.

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu

URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu

Note

History --History, United States (excluding California) --History, Oregon Geographical (By Place) --United States (excluding California) --Oregon

Guide to the Oregon Pioneer Records: typed transcripts, [ca. 1847-1864]

Collection number: BANC MSS P-A 337

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu

Processed by:: The Bancroft Library staff
Encoded by:: Brooke Dykman Dockter

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Oregon Pioneer Records: typed transcripts,

Date (inclusive): [ca. 1847-1864]

Collection Number: BANC MSS P-A 337

Origination: Lane County Historical Society (Or.)

Extent: Number of containers: 3 boxes

Repository: The Bancroft Library.

Berkeley, California 94720-6000

Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Abstract: Includes typescript copies of diaries, letters and narratives, with biographical and genealogical notes and photographs added. Originals of some items in private possession as noted thereon.

Included are accounts of overland journeys to Oregon; organizational journal, 1845, for train captained by Solomon Tetherow (1800-1879); diary, April 23 - November 5, 1847, of Lester Hulin (1823-1897); autobiography of Solomon Zumwalt (1807-1888); autobiography of James Addison Bushnell (1826-1912), concerning journey to Oregon, 1852, gold-hunting experiences in southern Oregon and California, and life at Grand Prairie and Junction; diary, April 6 - June 25, 1852, of John Joseph Callison (1830-1852); diary, March 15, 1853 - January 22, 1854, of Basil Nelson Longworth; diary, March 23 - September 27, 1853, of George Belshaw (1816-1893); diaries and narratives of emigrants who attempted the "Elliott Cutoff" of 1853 across southern Oregon: John Corydon Bushnell (1833-1912), Andrew S. McClure (1829-1898). Benjamin Franklin Owen, Charlotte Emily (Stearns) Pengra (1827- ), and Agnes (Stewart) Warner (1832-1905); letters of Elijah Bristow (1788-1872) and his son Elijah Lafayette Bristow (1832-1887) covering an overland journey to Oregon, 1845, and life in Oregon and the Idaho mines, 1857-1864; diary of Henry Clay Huston (1828-1899) in Rogue River War, 1856; in Willamette Valley, 1857-1858; visit east and return (including remarks on Nauvoo, Illinois), 1859-1860, traveling via Panama.

Languages Represented: English

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Oregon pioneer records: typed transcripts, BANC MSS P-A 337, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Scope and Content

Reproduced from typescripts. Copies of diaries and narratives, with biographical and genealogical notes and photographs added. Some items in private possession as noted thereon.

item 1.

Diary of Lester Hulin: He crossed the plains in 1847 arriving in Oregon over the Applegate Trail. Mr. Hulin was an educated man and illustrated his diary with pencil sketches which are reproduced. There is a 4x5 mat print of Mr. Hulin. (Reprinted)

item 2.

Autobiography of James Addison Bushnell

item 3.

Narrative of John Corydon Bushnell

item 4.

Diary of John J. Callison: The Callison family came from Scotland to America, living in Virginia, Kentucky and Hancock County, Illinois. This diary contains 10 pages, with a large print of the first page of the diary. John Callison died of cholera Aug. 23, 1852 and his family continued on to the Willamette Valley. Included is a geneaology of the Callison family.

item 5.

Narrative of Basil N. Longsworth

item 6.

Journal of Andrew S. McClure (2 versions)

item 7.

Narrative of Benjamin Franklin Owen

item 8.

Diary of Charlotte Emily Stearns: She was the wife of Bynon J. Pengra. Came to Oregon in 1853. Descended from Isaac Stearns who came to New England with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630. Fine 4x5 print of Mrs. Pengra as a young woman. Geneaology of her family. (Reprinted)

item 9.

Diary of Agnes Stewart and Elizabeth Stewart

item 10.

"Biographa" of Adam Zumwalt

item 11.

Organizational Journal of an Emigrant Train of 1845 Captained by Solomon Tetherow: It also contains an account of the trail trip and family genealogy. A picture of Solomon Tetherow and family genealogy is included. (Reprinted)

item 12.

Journal of George Belshaw: This journal describes the wagon train trip from Indiana to Oregon during the months of March thru September. Contains a picture and short family history. 56 pages. (Reprinted)

item 13.

Diaries of Henry Clay Huston: Rare 1856 Rogue River Indian War Journal; also a diary kept on Huston's trip back to Indiana via the Isthmus and return to Oregon 1859-60. Author was an exceptionally well educated observer and writer. Huston's family history and author's picture included.

item 14.

Civil War Period in Oregon - Elijah Lafayette Bristow Letters: Reproduction of a most unusual set of letters from Mr. Bristow's copy book, discussing with relatives and friends such things as politics, business in early Oregon and freighting to the Idaho mines.

item 15.

Helen Stewart Diary: A recently discovered account by a young girl of travel from Pennsylvania to Oregon in 1853. Includes a genealogy of the Stewart family. This is a companion diary to the stories by her sisters, Agnes and Elizabeth Stewart, published as No. 9 by this Society.

item 16.

Letters of Joseph and Esther Brakeman Lyman: Rare description of 1853 experiences on trip to Oregon in the Lost Wagon Train. Pictures of writers and genealogy of Brakeman and Wadsworth families.

item 17.

Reuben Ellmaker (Oelmacher) Letters, 1854-1860: Written from Iowa to his brother Enos Ellmaker, who emigrated to Oregon Territory in 1853. Bound therewith is a genealogy of the Oelmachers beginning in 1652 and a short one of the Fisher family of Kentucky and Missouri. In addition is a most interesting "Autobiography" of Enos Ellmaker, edited by his son, Amos. Pictures of Reuben Ellmaker, writer of the Letters and of Enos and wife Elizabeth Fisher Ellmaker are included.

item 18.

Samuel Handsaker: Autobiography, Diary, Reminiscences, 1853. Includes autobiographical sketch published in Pioneer Life, 1908; diary, 1853, from the Alton (Ill.) Telegraph; Reminiscences of Rogue River War; Pioneers of Umpqua ... An anecdote.

item 19.

McClure, John Hamilton: How We Came To Oregon - Narrative Poem. (Includes History of the Bruce Family, written by Major William Bruce.)

item 20.

Journal of Catherine Amanda Stansbury Washburn - Iowa to Oregon in 1853.

item 21.

Eakin, Stewart Bates, Jr. A Short Sketch of a Trip Across the Plains by S. B. Eakin and Family 1866.

item 22.

Goltra, Elizabeth J. Journal of Her Travels Across the Plains in the Year 1853.

item 23.

Woodworth, James. Across the Plains to California in 1853.