Oregon-California Trails Association | Somers, Belle Redman and Charles J. Cummings

Somers, Belle Redman and Charles J. Cummings – Diaries, Guide by John Clark

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

Typed pages by different authors. Many pages out of numerical order.

Belle Redmond Somers, Crossing the Plains in a Covered Wagon in 1849

Charles J. Cummings Diary, Journal of the Trip Across the Plains from Iowa to Oregon in 1859

John Clark of Virginia, The California Guide, 1852-1826

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.