When doing research one inevitably comes across an ancestor who braved the trek westward to settle in unsettled territory.
There are a few websites to aid the researcher with these ancestors and the London FamilySearch Centre has put together a nice write up with multiple links to some of those websites.
It starts off with the statement, "By 1870, hundreds of thousands had traveled west on the Oregon-California trails. Was your ancestor one of them?"
This article goes on to describe and tell about the 2000 miles stretching from the Missouri river through to both Oregon and California. There are wiki articles in the FamilySearch Wiki to help learn about the actual trails themselves.
The conditions that existed during their travels made it difficult for record keeping, however, there are some helps available and the article outlines a large amount of them. Some of their recommendations are:
Censuses from 1820-1880
California 1852 State Census
California Great Registers
George Edward Anderson Photo Collection
Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah Collection
Paper Trails Website
Roster of California Pioneers Index
The Oregon Territory and Its Pioneers
One must not forget the Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel database put together by many volunteers.
There are additional resources, journals, newspaper articles and biographies of those pioneers.
Take advantage of these resources if you find a westward bound pioneer in your ancestral lines.
If you know of additional sites feel free to share them in the comments area.
Comments Are Always Welcome!
Building Bridges for All Generations!
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Claire,
ReplyDeleteI want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2016/03/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-march-25.html
Have a wonderful weekend!