Oregon-California Trails Association | Pettijohn, Isaac

Pettijohn, Isaac – Diary 1847-1848

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

I have been four weeks on the road. have been favored with pleasant weather
which made it pleasant traveling through the State of Mo which is almost a desert through the
center of the State. The grass is rather short owing to the dry season but the emigrants are
beginning to cross and we wish to be amongst the foremost.

The diary excerpt begins on April 30, 1847, at Caples Landing on the Missouri River, just North of St. Joseph, MO., to Oregon City, OR
This diary also contains the entries of the 1848 Eastbound trip ending in Missouri
29 Pages

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.