Oregon-California Trails Association |

Charles & Mary Martin:

Charles and Mary Martin of Richmond, Indiana, were long-time OCTA members. Charles (or Chuck, as he was known by his friends) grew up in Omaha, earning his Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts before graduating from Omaha Central High School in 1950. He then attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, graduating in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in geology. He went on to earn his doctorate in geology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1961. It was in Madison that he met his future wife, Mary Ellen Ellis. They were married June 20, 1959, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. In August 1960, Chuck embarked on his career as an assistant professor in the Department of Geology at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, retiring in June 1996 at the rank of professor. During 36 years at Earlham, his passion for teaching and advising, his unwavering commitment to academic rigor and high standards, his innovative instruction and careful mentoring, and his exuberant zest for life inspired several generations of students. Following graduation, many would attend some of the finest graduate programs in geology and become prominent geologists in the academic and private sectors. At Earlham, Chuck was a founding member of and guiding force for the Earlham Wilderness Program, taking students regularly to the Uinta Mountains in Utah, and a supporter of and participant in the colleges Studies in Cross Cultural Education (SICE) program in Japan. An Eli Lilly Endowment Faculty Open Fellowship in 1983-84 sparked an interest in the Oregon Trail and led to his long involvement with the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA), Chuck and Mary Ellen were active members of OCTA, with Chuck serving on the board of directors from 1987 to 1992. They attended nearly every annual convention beginning with the inaugural one in 1983 until Chuck's death in 2016.

Mary was born and raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts, graduating from Foxborough High School in June 1949. She attended the University of New Hampshire, graduating in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in home economics. She went on to complete a one-year post-graduate course in Dietetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1954. She then worked as a Clinical and Administrative Dietitian at the University Hospitals of Madison, Wisconsin, from 1954 to 1960. It was in Madison that she met her future husband. Mary remained in the home to raise their three children. During those years, she developed a passionate interest in botany, and for a time was affectionately known to her family as the “belly botanist” because of her penchant for crawling around on hands and knees outdoors on family trips looking at and often collecting plant specimens, which she pressed into her growing botany collection in the basement. While raising three children, she never lost her interest in dietetics, taking every opportunity to remind family and friends about the need to maintain a healthy diet. She became an active dietician again in the early 1980s after putting in long hours reviewing old notes and pouring over Gray’s Anatomy to prepare for her recertification. Working first as a traveling dietician in western Ohio and eastern Indiana, she finally accepted a position as a Clinical Dietician at Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond in 1981. This began a 16-year career in which she interacted with hundreds of patients, doctors, and nurses, several of whom came by to see her during her final days. Talkative with any and all, she made a lasting, positive impression on everyone whom she met during her time working at Reid Memorial Hospital.

Upon Mary's death in 2023, her children made the decision to donate their parent's extensive collection of Oregon and California Trail diaries to OCTA. We are thrilled to share that collection with you here.