Charles W. Baker was a schoolteacher from Polo, Illinois, who decided to emigrate to Montana Territory in 1864. Leaving Polo on April 21, Baker embarked with several others, likely including his brother Joseph T. Baker. The overland party followed the Platte River route to Fort Laramie and then north along the Bozeman Road and Bridger Cutoff. Initially settling in the Virginia City area of the new Montana Territory, Baker engaged in mining until he returned east in 1867 by way of the Missouri River. He married Lydia Windle of Polo, Illinois, in February 1868 and the couple and son Morris Jasper Baker later made their home in Missouri. Baker died January 25, 1923 in Packard Cemetery in Cameron, Missouri.
The Charles W. Baker diary records terse daily entries describing the overland journey to Montana Territory in 1864. Details include incidents along the Bozeman Road and Bridger's Cutoff; life in Virginia City, Montana Territory; mining and social activities; and the return trip east by way of Fort Benton and the Missouri River. Also included are transcriptions from financial account books kept by Baker during his years in Montana. The collection consists of a mimeographed, typed transcription of originals. A title page reads "Westward Ho! In 1864, Diary of Charles W. Baker, April 21 1864-Sept. 1867, Trip via Covered Wagon & Mules to Virginia City, Montana from Polo, Illinois."
This collection is open for research.
Mimeographed typed transcript of the Charles W. Baker diary was donated to Special Collections by Della Mae Jacobs of Cabool, Missouri, on April 25, 1975.
This collection was processed 2009 March 4
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT
Originals remained in the possession of the Marvin Jacobs family of Cabool, Missouri; the Howard Prather family of Liberty, Missouri; the John T. Baker family of Cameron, Missouri; and the Charles W. Baker family of Northridge, California. Their present location is unknown.