1880-82 Handwritten Journal Joseph Lee Of Dallas Or Pioneer Family Oregon Trail For Sale

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I have no problem at all with anyone purchasing my item and reselling it, however my description that I’ve worked hours on is not allowed to be copied by anyone for the above purposes. The main reason I write this is because I was contacted about a listing where someone had copied my exact sale and tried to sell a diary that they didn’t even have. It ended up being a fraudulent sale and I’m thankful they caught it in time. Thank you so much for your understanding.

“fully equipped with a good team, 2 cows and necessary household goods, but raids by Indians upon the cattle of the wagon train and losses in stampedes, left them practically without a team. They threw away much of the household goods and fortunately purchased a yoke of oxen from another wagon train enabling them to complete the long and wearisome journey. The Captain of the company for at least a portion of the way was Rev. Wm. Jolly who after some years of residence in Oregon joined with Dr. J. W. Watts of Yamhill County Oregon in the formation of a new church which was a short duration. …….” (the article goes on to talk about their troubles along the Oregon trail including Indians, stampedes, buffalo, and then arriving at Fort Hall where the wagon train divided up.)… “The Lees and quite a number of others took the Southern route via Klamath Lake and Cow Creek Canyon. James Frederick was captain. Of the wagon train coming down the Columbia, several stopped at Dr. Marcus Whitman’s station and were ruthlessly murdered or captured in the Indian massacre of Nov. 29 and 30, 1847….” (More then about the family staying awhile in Cow Creek and staking claims and building cabins, not far from what is now known as Eugene Oregon. Then in the spring of 1848 the Lee’s came, with their families, to Polk County seeking work and supplies. And here is where J. D. Lee’s, owner of this journal, story starts)… “Their intention was to return (to Cow Creek) but hearing that the Indians had burned their cabins they decided to remain. They lived in a two-roomed cabin on what is known as the Whitaker place, then belonging probably to J. W. Nesmith. Here on the 27th of July, 1848, Joseph Daniel Lee, their fifth child, was born, Dr. J. W. Boyle, a pioneer physician, attending Mrs. Lee. She had borne four children east of the Rockies and all had died in infancy or very early childhood……”(the article goes on to tell much more about early life for the Lee’s in Dallas Oregon and then says)… “In 1867 Joseph D., the oldest son whose time had been divided between going to school, caring for the farm, helping in the store and teaming to Portland, took a business course at a business college in Portland and in 1870 was appointed postmaster at Dallas and became a partner in the store, the style of the firm being N. & J. D. Lee.” In 1878 J. D. bought out his father and continued the business for nearly 18 years.”

“Joseph Daniel Lee spent his early life on his father’s donation claim of six hundred and forty acres, to which another one hundred acres was added by purchases. It was situated two and one half miles south of Dallas. The country was then sparsely settled and he had a genuine taste of frontier life. In speaking of those early times he said, “I was not greatly impressed with the newness of the country for I had never seen an older one. It was my Norman environment. Now as I look back more than half a century and recall how little of the country was fenced, the Indian villages on the streams, the few scattering cabins and prevalence of ox teams and draw contrast with present condition, I can realize the great change. The country was a veritable Eden. I was practically grown before I saw a train of cars in motion….My first trip east of the Rockies was in 1883. Mrs. Lee and I with one of our babies went on the pioneer 3excursion over the Northern Pacific...””

As far as this journal is concerned, it has 80 handwritten pages and consists of mostly expense and work type entries having to do with the store. There are also many names mentioned. I’ve scanned several pages to give you a better idea of the contents. It’s getting rarer and rarer to find Northwest pieces such as this. The journal measures about 3 ¼” x 5 ¼” and the cover is torn in the back where the pocket is and the spine is torn. The pages and binding look good though.

CONDITION OF ITEMS:

Handwritten items such as diaries and letters are never usually in mint condition. I try and describe my items the best way I can and post as many photos as I can. If a diary is tough to read for me I always say so in the description. If it is in bad condition I also say so and I usually describe the condition at the end of my descriptions. I have never, or I should say rarely, had a handwritten piece be in mint condition and there is a very good reason for that; they are made of paper, they’ve been carried around sometimes for 100’s of years and have been opened and shut hundreds if not thousands of times. So, please keep all of this in mind when purchasing diaries and letters from me.

MY BLOG: I’ve decided, finally, to start a blog site using the diaries in my personal collection. Over the years I’ve got so many amazing people emailing me asking me to share from my own personal collection of antique diaries. I’ve been trying to develop a web site but that is taking time so I thought I’d do this first and also facebook. There is also a page on the blog where I’ve written about why I collect. You can search for the blog by putting into one of the search engines (such as Google) the name; sallysdiaries (no apostrophe and all one word).

This item has been shown times. 1880-82 Handwritten Journal Joseph Lee Of Dallas Or Pioneer Family Oregon Trail : $56