ACROSS THE PLAINS
TO CALIFORNIA IN 1852
JOURNAL OF
MRS. LODISA FRIZZELL
EDITED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT
IN THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
By VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS
KEEPER OF MANUSCRIPTS
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
1915
Reprinted May 1915
from the
Bulletin of The New York Public Library
of
April 1915
FROM A WATER-COLOR BY MRS. FRIZZELL, AUTHOR OF
THE ACCOMPANYING NARRATIVE
ACROSS THE PLAINS TO CALIFORNIA IN 1852
FROM THE LITTLE WABASH RIVER IN ILLINOIS TO
THE PACIFIC SPRINGS OF WYOMING
Journal of Mrs. Lodisa Frizzell
Edited from the Original Manuscript in The New York Public Library
By Victor Hugo Paltsits, Keeper of Manuscripts
EDITOR'S NOTE
This simple narrative journal was written at Cañon Creek in the SierraNevada Mountains of California, in the middle of December, 1852, by Mrs.Lodisa Frizzell, who, with her husband, Lloyd Frizzell, and their foursons, set out on April 14th, of that year, from their unnamed home, notfar from Ewington, Effingham County, Illinois, on the upper reaches ofthe Little Wabash River, on an overland journey to California. Thejournal records her observations and experiences from the Little Wabash,across Illinois and Missouri, to St. Louis and St. Joseph, and over theSt. Joseph and Oregon Trails to the Pacific Springs, in Fremont County,Wyoming. Here, at the continental divide and at the halfway point of herjourney, the journal ends, on June 26th, or the seventy-fourth day out.It was nearly seven months later, in her snowbound quarters of theSierra Nevadas, that she busied herself with its composition from notesshe had kept by the way, enlivened by her memory.
Mrs. Frizzell's journal was secured by The New York Public Library withthe manuscripts of the Ford Collection, presented by the late J.Pierpont Morgan. It has a quaint manuscript title-page, as follows:Narative of a Journal [sic] across the "Plains" in 1852 by Mrs. LodisaFrizzell. Illustrated by several original drawings. And to my relatives,and friends, respectfully subscribed. A later hand has written over thetitle the words, "The Overland Route to California." Among the numerousamateurish illustrations drawn by lead pencil and tinted with colors,three are reproduced here; also her three route maps. The otherillustrations include the following: "The home I left behind me" (Herhome in Illinois); "Crossing the Nimehaw"; "Killing a buffalo";"Independence Rock"; "A view of Devil's Gate"; "Distant view ofCourthouse & Chimney rocks"; "Chimney Rock 5 miles distant"; "Distantview of Laramie Peak"; "A view of Sweetwater mountains. 5 miles west ofthe Devil's Gate"; "Buffalo skeletons"; "View of the Wind range ofmountains"; "View of South Pass"; "A Horned Frog."
Written on inner covers or flyleaves are several names, which may be ofvalue for future identification. They are: John G. Harness, 1852; NancyVarnyan; G. W. Catron; Wm