A NOTE ON SOURCES
Example: "A.L. Lovejoy (Lang)" means to look for writings by A.L. Lovejoy in the Bibliography under the name "Lang". In the
Bibliography you'll find: " Lang, H.O., editor, Personal Reminiscences of the Early Pioneers: 1885, George Himes Publisher, Portland." Lovejoy's journal is one of the many collected in this book.Abbreviations: These are explained more fully on the Bibliography page. Some common ones:
OHQ=Oregon Historical Quarterly, a periodical magazine. OHS=Oregon Historical Society Library. TOPA=Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association, an early periodical. MSS=manuscript; this work has not been published but has been collected (usually in this case, a particular library and archive number will also be listed).
Further explanation:
In the "Sources" section for each year, you'll find an author's name for a journal, diary, letter, or whatever. This is followed by another-- sometimes different name and/or title-- in parentheses. The word in parentheses is the name this source is listed under in the Bibliography.
For example, Narcissa Whitman wrote many letters and kept a journal about her experiences as a missionary in the Northwest. The historian Clifford Drury collected some of these into two different books, First White Women over the Rockies and Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and the Opening of Oregon. More of Narcissa Whitman's writings were edited into The Journals and Letters of Narcissa Whitman with her own name as the author. In the "Sources" section Narcissa Whitman's entries appear as "Narcissa Whitman (Drury, First White Women...)", or as "Narcissa Whitman (Drury, Marcus and Narcissa...)", or as "Narcissa Whitman (Whitman)".
With a few exceptions, the sources listed are primary sources--materials written by the people who actually experienced life on the Oregon Trail. If you have suggestions for more, I'd be delighted to add to this list.