Archives West Finding Aid
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Menefee (Leah Collins) Papers, 1852-circa 1979
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Menefee, Leah Collins
- Title
- Menefee (Leah Collins) Papers
- Dates
- 1852-circa 1979 (inclusive)
- Quantity
- .9 cubic feet (2 document cases)
- Collection Number
- Mss 2519
- Summary
- Research materials and drafts of article "Cutoff Fever, 1853" (1976-1978) by Leah Collins Menefee and Lowell Tiller, regarding the Elijah Elliott wagon train to Oregon, 1853, and the Free Emigrant Road or Elliot Cutoff. Includes copies of diaries, reminiscences, and other documents.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open to the public.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
The discovery of an old log bridge on the Menefee ranch on Big Marsh Creek led Leah Collins Menefee to research the Free Emigrant Road, sometimes referred to as the Elliot cutoff or the Greenhorn Road. The cutoff was identified in an 1853 immigrant guide but was not traveled until 20 March 1853 when Elijah Elliot led a wagon train from the Malheur River to Lane County. The trail was purported to have had ample water and grass, and was less traveled and dusty than others. The Free Emigrant Road was unique in that it had no toll gates, was built from west to east by an established western community, was managed by three road commissioners chosen at a public meeting, and was funded by monies contributed by the people of Linn, Benton, and Lane counties. This wagon train has been referred to as "The Lost Wagon Train of 1853" and has been confused with the Stephen Meek Wagon Train of 1845.
Menefee stated that her purpose in writing the book was to explain why the cutoff was desirable, to gather and publish details of the efforts to build the road, to trace movements of the pioneers and separate their stories from those of the Meek wagon train, to prove that the "lost" immigrants were never really lost, and to detail how exploration and settlement of central and eastern Oregon proceeded after the Free Emigrant Road was established.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Papers include: draft of an article entitled, "Cutoff Fever, 1853" by Leah Collins Menefee and Lowell Tiller, published serially in 6 installments in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, 1976-1978 (vols. 77-79); and notes, correspondence, diaries, narratives, reminiscences, and other source data collected by Menefee and Tiller and relating to the locating and construction of the Free Emigrant Road, as well as to the first wagon train crossing in 1853.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any publication use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Preferred Citation
Leah Collins Menefee Papers, Mss2519, Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
- Series A: Drafts of "Cutoff Fever," circa 1976-1978
- Series B: Research materials (formerly Mss2519.1), 1852-circa 1979.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series A: Drafts of "Cutoff Fever", circa 1976-1978Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | Part One
|
circa 1976-1978 |
1/2 | Part Two
|
circa 1976-1978 |
1/3 | Part Three
|
circa 1976-1978 |
1/4 | Part Four
|
circa 1976-1978 |
1/5 | Part Five
|
|
1/6 | Part six
|
circa 1976-1978 |
1/7 | Notes on
Photographs
|
circa 1976-1978 |
Series B: Research materials (formerly Mss 2519-1), 1852-circa 1979Return to Top
Includes copies from diaries, narratives, reminiscences, and other sources. Unless otherwise specified, all materials are photocopies or typed transcriptions.
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
2/1 | Diaries, narratives,
booklets, etc. |
1966 |
2/2 | Bond, George, 1853 journal
and family donation land claim records |
1962 |
2/3 | Bond, Isaac William and Hetty
(McClure): genealogy and biography, "Journey Over the Oregon Trail" |
undated |
2/4 | "Overland from Indiana to
Oregon: the Dinwiddie Journal"
Photocopy from Sources for Northwest
History, No.2. Also includes letter from Paul L. Bristow to "Friend," 14
July 1947
|
1928 |
2/5 | Noble, Orin and Eliza
(Brumley): genealogy and biography |
undated |
2/6 | "The Lost Immigrant Train,"
by Mrs. W. Wheeler |
1958 |
2/7 | "Reminiscences of southern
Oregon pioneers: Charles Mansall Hall"
Includes clipping re: Hall and Medley families.
|
1938 |
2/8 | "A Tale of Pioneer Days,"
Thomas H. Hunsaker |
undated |
2/9 | "Lost Wagon Train Story,"
Randall Stuart Jones |
1958 |
2/10 | Narrative of Elizabeth Young
(Stewart) Warner, "Lost Wagon Train, Middle Fork Route 1853" |
undated |
2/11 | Smyth, Rye Letter to Smith
family |
1964 August 4 |
2/12 | "By Ox Team to Oregon"
William Stoops |
1925 |
2/13 | Belknap, Dr. and Mrs. M.P.,
description of route from Maury Mountain |
undated |
2/14 | Matthews, Alexander and
Margaret Jane (Baughman), Short family history, including Overland Journey
1853 |
undated |
2/15 | Slater, John Lyman,
reminiscence of 1853 journey |
1931 |
2/16 | Slater, John Lyman, interview
by Fred Lockley |
1931 |
2/17 | "Hockersmiths Came to Oregon
with Famous Lost Wagon Train," by Mrs. George H. Robinson, granddaughter of
Martha Jane Gale Hockersmith |
1954 |
2/18 | Adventures on the Meek Trail
1853, George Grey of Union County |
undated |
2/19 | "Came Across in 1853 :
Experiences of the Gale boys and the Rough and Ready Train" |
1893 |
2/20 | "The Wolves Did Not Get Him,"
E.B. Watson and D.B. Thompson |
undated |
2/21 | "A Pioneer of 1853" (poem)
and Mrs. Sarah Watson Hamilton's poem |
1905 |
2/22 | Crowe, Mrs. Hardy, "Last
Survivor of the Lost Wagon Train" |
1931 |
2/23 | Blue Bucket Mines: Interview
with C.A. Sweek |
undated |
2/24 | "Crossing the Plains by Ox
Team in 1853"; Jason and Catherine Jones family records; notes on Joseph
Leonard related items in Eva Emery Dye collection (MSS 1189) |
undated |
2/25 | McClure, A.S., three
newspaper items |
1880-1898 |
2/26 | Davidson, J.M. Letter from
S.W. & E.E. Lawrence |
1854 |
2/27 | R.M. Fletcher's
Story |
1937 |
2/28 | Kincaid, Harrison R.:
Excerpts |
1915 |
2/29 | Woodcock, Wm. Cornelius,
notes and passages from a diary |
undated |
2/30 | Gray, Doke Interview re:
Robt. Gray |
undated |
2/31 | "A Trip Across the Plains in
1853" Mrs. M.A. Loney |
1907 |
2/32 | Crow, L.C. "A Short
Autobiography" |
undated |
2/33 | Murphy, Mrs. J.J.
Interview |
1922 |
2/34 | Hailey, John "Oregon Money,
1853 Gold" |
1907 |
2/35 | Hinkle, Jerry E
Interview |
undated |
2/36 | Diary of Joseph Hite family
crossing the Plains in 1853 |
undated |
2/37 | Letter re: Notes on Oregon
Trail and Elliot's cutoff |
1962 |
2/38 | "Oregon Pioneer" |
1904 |
2/39 | "Our Mountain Top,"
description of Elliott's cutoff |
1869 |
2/40 | Struggles and triumphs of Mr.
Pittock in newspaper field |
1911 |
2/41 | Williams, Perry, notes re:
Elliott's cutoff |
undated |
2/42 | Williams, Perry, "The
Pioneers of 1853" |
undated |
2/43 | Williams, Perry "The Pioneers
of 1853" |
undated |
2/44 | Hampton, Mrs. Hugh, interview
re: Thomas Williams |
1958 |
2/45 | Butler, Peter, George Miller
West, & Isaac Smith, notes taken from letters at Bancroft Library, UC
Berkeley |
undated |
2/46 | Bristow, Paul, "The Starved
Emigration of 1853" |
undated |
2/47 | Easterbrook, Adaline, letter
to her grandmother |
1855 |
2/48 | Patterson, Ida, "The Wagon
Train of 1853" |
circa 1900 |
2/49 | Harlow, Mahlon, Diary
excerpts |
1851-53 |
2/50 | Names of donation land claims
of those on 1853 Elliott Cutoff |
undated |
2/51 | McClung, J.H., "Recollection
of a Trip Up the McKenzie River in the fall of 1860," undated |
|
2/52 | Notes on Selected 1853
Pioneers (manuscript) |
undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Overland journeys to the Pacific
- Pioneers--Oregon--Correspondence
- Pioneers--Oregon--Diaries
Personal Names
- Elliot, Elijah
- Tiller, Lowell, 1925- (creator)
Geographical Names
- Oregon National Historic Trail
- Oregon--Description and travel
- Oregon--History--To 1859
Form or Genre Terms
- Diaries
- Letters
- Reminiscences