Newberry Library - Henry A. Ballentine to Edwin Sherman, Francis Trowbridge Sherman papers, 1849, June 30

Henry A. Ballentine to Edwin Sherman, Francis Trowbridge Sherman papers, 1849, June 30

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Open book Henry A. Ballentine to Edwin Sherman, Francis Trowbridge Sherman papers, 1849, June 30

Title Henry A. Ballentine to Edwin Sherman, Francis Trowbridge Sherman papers, 1849, June 30

Date 1849, June 30

Place Wyoming--Fort Bridger

Language English

Description Correspondence of Francis Trowbridge Sherman of Chicago, and his traveling companion, Henry A. Ballentine, documenting their travel overland to the California gold fields and experiences there, 1849-1850. Also photocopies of a few of Sherman's (colonel 88th Illinois Infantry) letters regarding the Civil War and his Chicago business, business and family correspondence of father F.C. Sherman, Family records, and newspaper clippings.

Format Correspondence

User-Contributed Transcription [[10?]] June 30/49
Ft Bridger June 30th 1849
Dear Friend Ed
We are going to lay over at this point to day, and I thought it impossible to spend it more pleasantly than in dropping you a few lines. We have had my dear fellow with a very little bad luck, been enabled to reach this point on our journey at this date. We are now distant from Council Bluffs 997 miles and only 111 miles from the Grt Salt Lake, the new Jerusalem of the Mormons. I am not going to give you a detailed account of days drives and camp grounds for if I should you would not be much the wiser, as a person, to become acquainted with the country and journey must perform the trip I have seen no works of any kind, that the information derived from them is reliable and to use the expression of the country-fied captain of the Knoxville Co Ills - who by the way is a very eccentric genius, a person that makes this trip is bound to "see sights and smell thunder" —
After leaving the Missouri River at old Ft Kearney you have one of the best natural roads in the world, take the prairie roads of old Illinois in their dryest state and it cannot equal the roads we have had - Along the Platte River bottoms, is the worst part of the journey for animals of all kinds, cattle or mules, as their is so much "alkali water" that it burns the hoof and makes the foot very tender, indeed these mineral waters are so strong that it eats shoe leather all up. The feed for our animals was very good along the Platte bottoms, it was fast drying up and teams two weeks later than we were, must experience much inconvenience if not starvation along this stream. Our road along this stream lay to the extent of 500 miles a perfect level plain. Timber along the banks of this stream very sparce and of poor growth. The Bluffs on either side of the Platte varied in distance sometimes within in half a mile of it, & then as far as two miles. Our road generally speaking within a quarter of a mile of the Platte.

Transcription Status Needs review

Transcription Note This document was transcribed by volunteers as part of the Newberry Transcribe crowdsourcing initiative.

Archival Collection Title Francis Trowbridge Sherman papers

Link to Catalog View finding aid | View catalog record

Call Number VAULT Case MS 5282 Folder 2

BibID 991818418805867

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

IIIF Resource Type Canvas

Size 3637px × 5436px 113.17 MB

Filename 991818418805867_case_ms_5282_fl_00002_000001.tif

Unique Identifier NL12XDRO

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