Oregon-California Trails Association | Swain, William

Swain, William – Letter, 1849

Cave Springs Collection·

Two printed pages from an unknown book

Chapter III: “The Great California Caravan”

Letter of William Swain to his wife “Sabrina,” Sabbath May 20 [1849]

The collection was begun in 1991 by the late Merrill J. Mattes, a co-founder of the Oregon-California Trails Association. That original nucleus was a result of a generous donation from Merrill and reflected his many years as an award-winning National Park Service historian and also included works of his own authorship. The collection is housed at the national Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, Missouri. Here, you have access to many of the original trail diaries he collected in digital form.