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Manuscripts 1862 Oregon Trail Correspondenc

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Manuscripts   1862 Oregon Trail Correspondenc
COLLECTIBLES Manuscripts 1862 Oregon Trail Correspondence consisting of two letters, both pencil written, by one Silvanus Jeffers, a member of a wagon train. The first, three pages long, is written from Fort Larima, Nebraska Territory which Jeffers indicates is four or five miles from Ft. Kearney. Jeffers mentions that he has seen many "indians" but they have been no trouble. He tells his correspondent that they are heading to Fort Hall about 600 to 700 miles away and that it will take them about six weeks to get there. A striking description of storms encountered since reaching the Platte River, some with hail so powerful that it ripped right through the wagon covers bruising the men. A bigger train camped below them fared much worse as they were pelted with hail 4" across. The letter contains much detail on other aspects of the trip as well.<BR><BR>The second letter, four pages long, is actually the next letter written. It was done in Portland, Oregon on September 16. Jeffers apologizes for not writing sooner but there was simply no way to mail it because the "indians" had stole all the stock from the stage stations along the way. Much description is given to building a new life including battles with "indians", finding timber, food, fording dangerous rivers with the wagons, talk of the Powder River mine and other mines and more.<BR><BR>An incredible look at an era we can only imagine and here it is brought to life before our eyes. Oregon Trail correspondence is not only incredibly romantic but extremely rare. The first letter is tape repaired and the second letter is creased, but this should not be surprising considering what they had been through from their creation to their mail delivery to the recipient. Fine. Estimate US$1000-2000