Information
Sheet
R Crawford, Billie.
388 Diary, 1878.
One folder,
photocopies.
This is a typescribed copy of a diary of
an overland journey from St. Clair County, Missouri, to Camp Verde, Arizona,
29 May to 17 September 1878. The
travelers included Billy Crawford, Alfred L. Gash, George Fain, their
families, and a few neighbors. Related
genealogical material is included with the diary.
The emigrant party from St. Clair County
traveled under the direction of Alfred Longmire Gash, wagon master of the
party and father‑in‑law of Billie Crawford, keeper of the diary. Crawford began keeping the diary on 29 April
1878, when the party “moved out on the prairie,” and continued daily entries
until the arrival in Arizona
four months later. Their route led them
through Kansas, Colorado,
and New Mexico, following the Santa Fe trail to Santa Fe, thence
through Fort Wingate, New
Mexico, and Navajo Springs and Stoneman’s Lake to Camp Verde,
north of Phoenix, Arizona.
The diary describes the usual tribulations of western emigrants such as
wagons which needed constant repair, sore‑footed livestock and bad
water. The young men in the party
enjoyed their first experiences of hunting antelope and buffalo, and took time
from the trail to climb the first mountains they encountered. Daily progress was not what was planned, and
there were several instances of ill humor and discontent among the members of
the party. Diarist Crawford also noted
many encounters with other parties along the trail, including drovers with
their herds headed east from Texas, garrison
soldiers at Fort Union, New Mexico, Mexican sheepherders with their
flocks, and bands of Navajo Indians. The
meetings were invariably friendly. Problems
arose only when the immigrants attempted to graze or water their livestock in
areas where settlers had already located.
Crawford’s diary is an interesting
account of overland travel to the Southwest in the last quarter of the 19th
century. Unfortunately, Crawford’s diary
does not explain the motivation or expectations of the travelers. The diary ends on 17 September 1878, with the
entry “reached the Verde River all out of
provisions.” There is no information on
the fortunes of the immigrants in their new home. The traveling parties included family groups
with women and children, but they are not described in any detail. Genealogical information supplied by descendants
will help the researcher identify the individuals mentioned in the diary. The typescript was prepared by Eva L. (Gash) Guernsey. The
location of the original diary is not known.
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