Oregon-California Trails Association | McCoy, Samuel F.

McCoy, Samuel F. – 1849, Ohio to California

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

Printed pages from a book

Pioneering on the Plains, Journey to Mexico 1848, The Overland Trip to California

Preparation for the Overland Journey to California in 1849

The Diary of Samuel F. McCoy of Chillicothe, Ohio, Outlining the Overland Journey to California by the Death Route in 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.