Name/Title
Travels of B. P. Sloan, 1846-1851: The Mexican War, Overland Trail to California, Digging Gold in CaliforniaEntry/Object ID
2009.3.65Description
Travels of B. P. Sloan, 1846-1851: The Mexican War, Overland Trail to California, Digging Gold in California. The reminiscences of Bracket P. Sloan of his service during the Mexican War and a diary of his trip to the California gold fields, his profits in the diggings, and his return home to New York by way of Panama and Cuba.
Inserted into this copy of the typescript are 3 photographed pages from the original. One shows the first page of his war reminiscence. Another the August, September 1851 daily cash made. The third includes a photo of the front of a postcard addressed to Sloan in Sacramento posted from Platte City, Missouri.
The original diary is owned by Leslie Lewis; Sloan was his grandmother's brother. Lewis is a St. Joseph resident.
Mexican War Reminiscence
B.P. Sloan mustered in the U.S. Army as a horseman July 23, 1846 and left for Mexico on August 9. He tells of a buffalo hunt beyond Council Grove on Cow Creek and passing Bent's Fort. Once in Mexican territory, Sloan remarks on a church at old Paquis where a fire has said to be burning for 200 years awaiting Montezuma's return.
In Santa Fe on November 12, Sloan's group meets up with Generals Alexander Doniphan and Sterling Price. He sees his first action on January 25, 1847 with a march against Moroe in the snow, telling of the rousing speech given prior by his captain Henley, the obstacle of a ditch buried in the snow into which half of their horses fell, the death of Henley that day, and their subsequent retreat by order of a panicked second officer when victory was at hand.
At the battle of Sinege on June 6, Sloan lists the names of the soldiers killed and wounded. Sloan's group returns to Ft. Leavenworth and he is discharged Sept. 23, 1847,
Trip to California: May 5, 1850--Diary Format
Sloan begins from Ft. Leavenworth, intersects the St. Joe road and gets to Johnson's Ranch on August. 15. His diary is basically a map of his route and the condition of the road. He interestingly notes a hailstorm near Ft. Kearney, a drowning on the Green River, and cricket plague at Parting of the Ways.
Sloan buys water from a wagon as he crosses the desert beyond the Humboldt sink on August 4 and meat as he lands at the river. On Aug. 11, he and his partner, Robert Tate, meet Dr. Martial from Platte, MO and borrow $15 since they are without funds or food, whereupon he decides to share it with another traveler he meets who is in the same straits, a Mr. Talkington a foot packer from Pike Co, MO.
Selling their worn out animals, they hail for Sacramento and then the gold fields looking for Lewis relatives who have gone before, finding them on the North Yuba River near Downeyville, where Sloan begins to prospect. From Sept.5, 1850 to Oct.7, 1851, Sloan records his earnings from gold digging each day.
His trip home is delayed as he cares for dying Jedidiah Lewis in San Francisco, burying him there on Oct. 15 in grave #1424. He takes the steamer Pacific to Panama, across land and via the Prometus to Havana and debarks in New York on December 1, 1851 where his diary ends.
40/Report Cover/Typewritten pages/Inserts/Photographs of original pagesCollection
Don and Maudie Reynolds CollectionLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term
DiaryNomenclature Secondary Object Term
JournalNomenclature Primary Object Term
BookNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsSearch Terms
Buffalo hunt, Santa Fe during the Mexican War, Montezuma, Battle of Sinege, Council Grove, Lewis's bar, Gold mining, Water route from California to New York, 1851, Mexican War, Military, U.S. Army, Gold Rush, Trails, California TrailPublication Details
Author
Bracken P. SloanPlace Published
City
St. JosephState/Province
MissouriDate Published
1965Call No.
Diary SLNotes
Copy No.: 1Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Alexander DoniphanPerson or Organization
Daughters of the Confederacy/Sterling Price Chapter #401Person or Organization
Bracken P. SloanPerson or Organization
Captain HenleyPerson or Organization
Jedidiah LewisPerson or Organization
James LewisPerson or Organization
Willis LewisPerson or Organization
Robert TatePerson or Organization
Martin LewisPerson or Organization
Issac LewisPerson or Organization
Chamberlain William Lewis