Name/Title
Waters, Nimrod Leslies Journal, California Gold Seekers, 1850Entry/Object ID
L2011.1.35Description
Waters, Nimrod Leslies Journal, California Gold Seekrs, 1850. Journal of 23 yr old Waters, who left Ralls County, Missouri (on the Mississippi), March 25, 1850 bound for California, reaching there Aug. 7, 1859. He prospected for seven months and then started for home from Forks of Salmon, California on Nov. 5, 1851, boarding the bark "Arthur" at San Francisco to Nicaragua, crossed overland between San Juan del Sur and San Juan del Norte, reboarding the "Rachel T. Brown" on Jan. 17, 1852 at Mobile Bay. Arriving in New Orleans, on Feb. 6, he boarded the "Cataract" 10 days up the Mississippi to St. Louis, arriving at his former home, Feb. 18, 1852 .
Waters traveled with a company of men from Ralls County, They arrived in St. Joe on April 13 and camped in an old house belonging to Brown. They moved on to the third fork of the Platte River in Dekalb County, finally crossing the Missouri River 10 miles above St. Joseph at Elizabeth Town on April 28, then taking the St. Joe Road
He prospects some at Georgetown then heads for Reddings Diggings. He mines on Olney's Creek and Salmon River, Feather River, sometimes for wages such as Long Bar Water Co., before deciding to return home in Nov. 1851.
It is not known if Nimrod was successful in California, but his 1885 profile in Portraits and Biographical Record of Ralls County, indicates he was reasonably successful. A marble watch fob lined with gold survives as a token of his trip and is in the possession of his great-grandson, Gene T. Waters.
Included in this volume:
A typed transcript of the Journal where he records a brief statement each day.
Index of names mentioned in the journal.
Letter from Nimrod home,
Map of the route he took enroute in 1850 and the overland route across Nicaraga on his return.
Photocopy of photograph of Nimrod L. Waters, his wife, and three sons.
Waters Family Tree
This copy of the journal was provided to Sheridan Logan by Gene Taylor Waters, Kansas City, Missouri, the great-grandson of Nimrod L. Waters, who was in possession of the original journal in 1994. Gene Waters transcribed the journal in 1986.
Gene Waters describes his g-grandfather's trip thus:
"leaves home at ten o'clock in the morning of March 25, 1850, treks across the great Missouri to a point north of St. Joe, crossing into Kansas to join the Oregon Trail, then into Nebraska, Fort Kearney, to Ash Hollow, Chimney Rock, Scotts Bluff, and on into Wyoming. He passes Fort Laramie and Independence Rock for his first view of the Rockies while crossing the Sweetwater, Green, and Bear Rivers into Idaho. Then on across to the Snake River's American Falls leaving the Oregon Trail turning down to Thousand Springs Valley in Nevada. He followed the Humboldt River over 300 miles then to cross a "desperate" part of the world before reaching the Carson River Valley. He arrived at California's Sacrament Valley some 135 days later on August 7, 1850. He worked prospecting for gold until leaving San Francisco on November 15, 1851, aboard the bark "Arthur" headed for Central America. Landing at San Juan de Sur, Nicaragua and crossed over to San Juan del Norte to board the "Rachel T. Brown" for Mobile Bay then over to New Orleans where passage was taken up the Mississippi on the "Cataract" to St. Louis, Missouri and back home at four o'clock in the afternoon of February 18, 1852 some 95 days after leaving California."
40/Report Cover with computer-typed pages/Geneaology Family Tree/Map/PhotographLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
TranscriptNomenclature Sub-Class
Literary WorksNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsSearch Terms
Emigrants Crossing at St. Joesph, 1850, Gold Rush Journal, 1850, Overland Crossing through Nicaragua, 1850, Diary, Trails, Oregon Trail, St. Joe Road, California Trail, Gold Rush, St. Joe Crossing, Journal, Gold Rush JournalPublication Details
Author
Waters, Nimrod LeslieDate Published
1850Call No.
Diary WANotes
Copy No.: 1Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Waters, Nimrod LesliePerson or Organization
Gene Taylor Waters