Oregon-California Trails Association | Merrell J Mattes Collection and Overland Journals

Markle, John – Diary, 1849 to California & Letter to the Donner Trail Marking Expedition from Wendell Robie 1940

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

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Eight typed pages

Markle, John A. – 1849 to California

Merrill J. Mattes Collection·

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49 typed pages

John A. Markle’s Diary

April 18th, 1849 to January 5, 1850

The Travels of a Gold Digger Enroute to California

[very poor quality copy]

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.