Oregon-California Trails Association | Richards, Silas

Richards, Silas – Pioneer 1849

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

November 3 “Sent one wagon and two yoke of oxen loaded
with corn and hay in charge of C. Nowlan and George Dunn
for the relief of our teams on the plains. Nine teams returned to
Salt Lake City with 400 persons of the handcart immigration
having been gone two weeks and traveled 280 miles in snow storms and hard winter; the immigrants having suffered much with cold and hunger; 67 persons died.” ~ Silas Richards, November 3, 1849

5 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.