Oregon Historical Society, Davies Family Research Library
Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205
Phone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
E-mail: libreference@ohs.org
Mss
2519
Menefee, Leah
Collins
Menefee (Leah Collins)
Papers
1852-circa 1979
.9 cubic feet (2 document
cases)
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.
The collection is in
English.
Biography of Leah Collins Menefee:
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.
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.
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.
The collection is open to the public.
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.
Leah Collins Menefee Papers, Mss2519, Oregon Historical Society Research
Library
Gift of Donald and Leah Menefee, 1978 and 1991, Library Accessions
14635, 20557.
The collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings:
Elliot, Elijah
Tiller,
Lowell, 1925-
Overland journeys to the
Pacific
Pioneers--Oregon--Correspondence
Pioneers--Oregon--Diaries
Oregon--Description and
travel
Oregon--History--To
1859
Oregon National Historic
Trail
Diaries
Oregon
Overland Journeys to the Northwestern United States
Pioneers
Diaries
Letters
Reminiscences
Series A
Drafts of "Cutoff
Fever"
circa 1976-1978
1/1
Part One
circa 1976-1978
- Chapter one: "The Oregon Fever"
- Chapter two: "The Road Viewers -- To Find a
Middle Way"
1/2
Part Two
circa 1976-1978
- Chapter three: "Planning a Free Immigrant Road --
Be It Resolved"
- Chapter four:"General Palmer's Plan -- To Remove
a Nuisance"
- Chapter five: "Dr. Alexander Starts Construction
-- A Noble Beginning"
1/3
Part Three
circa 1976-1978
- Chapter six: "The Migration Forms -- Beware of
Heavy Wagons" (pages 15-18 missing)
- Chapter seven: "Taking the Cutoff -- What Man Has
Done"
1/4
Part Four
circa 1976-1978
- Chapter eight: "To Harney Valley -- Here We
Buried Mrs. Lapham"
- Chapter nine: "Leaving Meek's Tracks -- A Bad
Decision"
- Chapter ten: "To the Deschutes -- The Water Kegs
are Empty"
1/5
Part Five
- Chapter eleven: "Into the Cascades -- Visions of
Bread and Butter"
- Chapter twelve: "Down Into the Valley -- Flour,
Bread, and Helping Hands"
- Chapter thirteen: "A Final Tally -- The Cost of
Failure"
1/6
Part six
circa 1976-1978
- Chapter fourteen: "Commissioners Versus Alexander
-- A Partial Retrieve"
- Chapter fifteen: "Macy in 1854 -- Where Others
Failed"
- Chapter sixteen: "Requiem for the Middle Route --
The Gold, the Gun, and the Grass"
1/7
Notes on
Photographs
circa 1976-1978
- Pictures -- people
- Pictures of People in Menefee-Tiller 1853
story
- History of the Bruce family
- Lane County, Or. Bible Records
- Photos in album in possession of Dorothy Matthews
Lamotte
- Journal of Lt. Williams side explorations
Series B
Research materials (formerly Mss
2519-1)
1852-circa 1979
Includes copies from diaries, narratives, reminiscences, and
other sources. Unless otherwise specified, all materials are photocopies or
typed transcriptions.
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"
1928
Photocopy from Sources for Northwest
History, No.2. Also includes letter from Paul L. Bristow to "Friend," 14
July 1947
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"
1938
Includes clipping re: Hall and Medley families.
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