Westward Bound - Not Just California

Image: Bureau of Land Management

Tracing Your Ancestors Going West
We know there were wagon trains. Families packed their belongings, and carried their personal wealth overland to reach the newly opened west lands. Sometimes, families were left behind, as the pioneer travelled with a wagon train.  This westward migration wasn't just for those panning for gold.  There were the Mormon's escaping persecution, the future vintner wanting rich soil, and those who made a living in transport. 

Three Key Resources

Researchers may wish to begin their ancestors’ westward migration by perusing the following: 

1) National Frontier Trails -  Independence, MO. A partner of the Oregon - California Trails Association. This repository holds over forty-eight thousand (48,000) pioneers in their database,

2) Merrill J. Mattes Collection - The Merrill J. Mattes Research Library is believed to be the largest public research library in the nation focused on the overland trails,
3)  State Historical Society of Missouri manuscript collection holds includes personal papers, maps, and photographic records of westward expansion and local trails.
Be sure to scour the E.B. Trail Collection (C2071) for steamboat memorabilia and various diary/map collections documenting historic routes like the Santa Fe Trail and Missouri River journeys, also.

Research Tips / Hints

America Mathews Overland Diary, 1857 (SHSMO)

Not every family researcher will find Great-Grandpa's passage recorded in diaries, or even his name.  But, by narrowing his year, and month of travel, you may find his experience recorded through the eyes of his neighbors and friends:  

• Analyze diaries from his hometown.
• Follow the path and his final settlement to determine his passage.
• Track Military Forts' activities along the route. The military controlled the trails, and would detain small groups travel for safety.  This may have delayed your pioneers trip.

Remember others traveled by water. The trip from Louisiana up the Mississippi River was still arduous, but may have been your ancestor’s best option if they were not travelling with a large wagon train through hostile territories. Newspaper accounts are a great resource of those who arrived west.

9 More Resources and Database

a3Genealogy researchers proved that a religious "group," Bethel Community, occupied settlements in both Missouri and Oregon by locating the letters that leader, William Kiel, wrote to his congregation back home in Missouri from 1855-1870.  He even threatened to excommunicate ("bar them from the Bethel Community") a few Missourians for raising the Union flag, and endangering the community. Interestingly enough, he was writing from his new Bethel Community in Oregon.  The letters were filled with historical data, names of members and religious practices.[1]

1. One of our favorite websites: Oregon - California Trails Association holds over 48 thousand pioneers in their database.
2. The Oregon Genealogical Society and Idaho Genealogical Society have a listing of names in their Pioneer Certificate programs.
3. For FAQs, visit the Bureau of Land Management Website
4. For a list of Oregon Trail Historic Sites visit Legends of America http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-oregontrail.html
5. The Oregon Territory and Its Pioneers
6. Oregon Trail Histories
7. Oregon State Archives. This can be most helpful when looking for land records.
8. The ancestry.com California, Pioneer and Immigrant Files, 1790-1950 database holds 10,000 records with biographical information about pioneers who arrived in California before 1860.
9. Find A Grave, Along The Oregon Trail Cemetery Tombstone project.

African Americans Headed West

The overland journeys were before the Civil War.  Free-coloreds, as many as 3000 by 1850, found their way to California from the onset of the gold rush, but rarely settled in the unwelcoming Oregon. Review the Black Laws of Oregon 1844-1857

Even though many enslavers carried enslaved people on their westward trek. This same westward path was integral to successful escape plans. If you need to refresh your history of the role African Americans played during this westward movement, you may wish to read Blacks in Gold Rush California, by Rudolph M. Lapp.  

Another great resource is the Negro Trail Blazers of California by Delilah L. Beasley; original 1818; reprinted 1969.

 [1] Kiel, Wm., Letters 1855-1870; Bethel Community to Oregon 24 Jun 1855; microfilm, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, UMKC

Kathleen Brandt