Oregon-California Trails Association | Kilgore, William H.

Kilgore, William H. – Journal, 1850 to California

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

Printed pages from a book

The Kilgore Journal of an Overland Journey to California in the Year 1850. Edited by Joyce Woodrock Muench. New York: Hastings House, 1949

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.