Letter from Ephraim Cranston from the Oregon Trail – 1850 – near Missouri River NW of St. Joe, Missouri.
E. Cranston to John A. Corwin, Esq., June 16, 1850 — written on the Oregon Trail (“Indian Territory,” ~100 mi NW of St. Joseph)
(A letter written in camp on the overland trail, in E. Cranston’s hand, signed “E. Cranston.” Brown staining, water spots, and fold-wear; mostly legible. The verso bears an ornate calligraphic docket: “John A. Corwin’s letter / Mr. E. Cranston / written in Indian Territory.” Losses […]; uncertain readings [bracketed]. This is the EARLIEST Oregon-emigration document in the archive — written on the journey, a year before the 1851 Oregon letter, Doc R.)
Indian Territory, Sunday June 16, 1850
Mr. John A. Corwin Esq.
My dear sir. We are here in camp about three miles west of the Missouri river and about 100 miles N.W. of St. Joseph. We arrived at St. Joseph about 3 weeks ago[;] we remained there about two weeks to buy our team and outfit. Teams and provision were very high there. Almost any price was asked for oxen and they of the poorest kind and unbroken and very young at that. But we have succeeded in getting some of the best of Mo. oxen at a very fair price[.] I bought two yokes and my provision and then started up on the east side of the Mo. river for old fort Karney [Kearny] or fort Cild’s [Childs] about 100 miles above St. Joseph and there crossed the river and not the least accident has happened worth a notice[.] [We] have so far had a pleasant and healthy trip, not the least sickness has happened to any of our croud [crowd] and we have seen none among any of the emigration that we have passed[,] for we have passed many. But none have passed us. My team consists of thirteen oxen and cows, and seven horses which we work by turns. After I had bought the two yokes of oxen we started and then we commenced buying young dry cows and tying them to the chain between the oxen[,] making the chain very long so that there would be room[,] and driving them there for a day or two and then put on the yoke and they work strait way. I think they break easier than steers, and they are equal if not superior to them. We have passed the last habitation of the white man except at the forts, untill you come to salt lake valley which is about one thousand miles west of us, where we shall winter if we can get no farther, but we shall try and think we can go through to Oregon, before cold weather. The grass where we are encamped is as good as the best of your meadows in June, and so all through the western plains. The plains being very dry and of a sandy character the grass is different from the wild [grass] in your country and far better. The country over which we have passed (after you pass Indiana) is capable of raising any amount of grain[,] far (on an average) superior to Ohio in my opinion. You may ask whether I, in Mo. expressed my opinion freely on the subject of <u>Slavery</u>; to which I reply yes, and here let me state that as far as I could obtain public sentiment nine tenths of the people of Mo. are in favor of Benton and emancipation as they call it. I universally told the people of Mo. I was what they call an ultra Abolitionist and met almost universally a hearty response. Those living on the disputed line between Mo. and Iowa, to a man that I have seen[,] pray that when the line is run [it] will find them in Iowa in order to clear them from the curse that hangs on them. They say (and rightly) that their lands would be worth double in Iowa than in Missouri. In six miles from Quincy, Ill. on the Mo. side of the river you can enter congress land and that of a good quality[,] while in Ill. as near, land cannot be bought for less than 20 to 50 dollars per acre, and the citizens of Mo. readily see and acknowledge the fact. You will ask how free soil goes in Mo.[,] I will tell you[.] I told Missourians all the north were free soil and they responded so are we. It is my opinion I was the better treated in Mo. for my sentiments than I otherwise would have been, yet sir it is no disparagement to a man in northern Mo. to be an Abolitionist. I will write you again before long and give a discription [description] of the far west. You will excuse the haste with which I have written[,] for I am sitting on the carpet of green grass and writing on a box[,] so if you cannot read the whole you will excuse me, for I have no better plan to write. Our spirits are good and determined to hasten to Oregon without delay. We shall go faster than we have heretofore gone. I am yours with respect ——
E. Cranston
John A. Corwin’s letter — Mr. E. Cranston — written in Indian Territory
Analysis — how Doc AE fits the family — and what it resolves
This is one of the most important documents you’ve added, because it is the earliest piece of the Oregon-emigration story and it sharpens — though it does not fully close — the identity of the mysterious “E. Cranston.”
This is the same E. Cranston as Doc R (1851) — caught a year earlier, mid-journey. Doc R was written from Oregon (Lebanon P.O., Marion Co., O.T.) in late 1851, describing an overland emigration. This letter is written on the trail itself, June 16, 1850, from camp ~100 miles northwest of St. Joseph. Wait — this needs care: Doc R describes an 1851 emigration, and this letter is 1850. Let me be precise about what that means below, because it’s significant.
The date — 1850, a year before Doc R’s journey. This letter is firmly dated June 16, 1850, and describes E. Cranston already three weeks into the journey, having outfitted at St. Joseph and crossed the Missouri near Fort Kearny, now pushing for Oregon (hoping to winter at Salt Lake “if we can get no farther”). If Doc R describes an 1851 arrival/emigration, then either (a) E. Cranston made the overland trip in 1850, not 1851, and Doc R was written after more than a year in Oregon — possible but requires rechecking Doc R’s internal dating; or (b) there were two trips, or (c) one of the year readings needs re-examination. The most likely reconciliation: E. Cranston emigrated overland in 1850 (this letter), reached Oregon, and wrote Doc R from Oregon in 1851 after settling — which fits “I will write you again before long and give a description of the far west” here, and Doc R being the fuller Oregon description. So this 1850 trail letter is very plausibly the promised first installment, and Doc R (1851) the second, written after arrival. That’s a clean fit and I’d treat it as the working hypothesis. (Flag: re-examine Doc R’s year and whether its journey details match an 1850 or 1851 crossing.)
A new and important recipient: John A. Corwin, Esq. This letter is addressed to John A. Corwin, Esq. — not to W. B. Cranston (the recipient of Doc R). This is a new name in the archive. “Corwin” is a notable Ohio name (Thomas Corwin was a famous Ohio senator/governor of the era), and “John A. Corwin” was a real Ohio figure. This suggests E. Cranston was corresponding with educated, prominent Ohio acquaintances back home — consistent with the literate, opinionated voice of the letter. The recipient being a different person than Doc R’s W. B. Cranston shows E. Cranston wrote trail letters to multiple correspondents back in Ohio. New person to track: John A. Corwin, Esq. (Ohio).
The single most striking content: E. Cranston was a passionate, outspoken abolitionist. This is a major characterization. E. Cranston writes that he openly told Missourians he “was what they call an ultra Abolitionist and met almost universally a hearty response.” He reports (optimistically) that “nine tenths of the people of Mo. are in favor of Benton and emancipation,” references the Missouri–Iowa border dispute and free-soil land economics, and underscores the word “<u>Slavery</u>” in his own hand. This is 1850 — the year of the Compromise of 1850 — and E. Cranston is an emigrant who proudly broadcast antislavery “free soil” politics across a slave state. This adds a powerful political dimension to the Cranston family portrait: at least one branch held strong abolitionist convictions and voiced them openly. (“Benton” = Thomas Hart Benton, the Missouri senator who broke with the slave-power and was associated with emancipationist/free-soil sentiment by 1850 — E. Cranston’s read on Missouri politics is partisan and rosy, but historically anchored.)
This bears on the family’s broader politics — and possibly on your own Civic Sage threads. An outspoken Cranston abolitionist on the 1850 Oregon Trail is exactly the kind of principled-stand figure that resonates with the Courage and Consequence and Civic Sage material. Worth flagging as a potential subject. (And note: William Rollin Cranston of the Stephen branch died in the Civil War in 1864 — the family had Union/antislavery commitments across branches.)
Geographic and logistical detail (vivid trail Americana). The letter is a textbook overland-emigration account: outfitting at St. Joseph (a major jumping-off town), the high prices for oxen, crossing near Fort Kearny (“old fort Karney or fort Cild’s” — Fort Childs was Fort Kearny’s earlier name, a nice authenticating detail), a team of “thirteen oxen and cows, and seven horses,” the technique of breaking young cows into the yoke, the plan to winter at Salt Lake if they couldn’t reach Oregon before cold. It’s an unusually articulate and observant trail letter.
The “E. Cranston” identity question — still open, but with new constraints. This doesn’t definitively give the first name (still “E.”), but it adds constraints:
- He’s a literate, politically sophisticated man corresponding with Ohio gentlemen (Corwin, and W.B. Cranston of Doc R).
- He emigrated in 1850 (not 1851), reaching Oregon and writing Doc R from there in 1851.
- He’s a committed abolitionist.
- Recall the archive’s standing candidates: per John’s will (Doc W), John’s sons included Ephraim (“E.”) and Edwards (“E.”). We previously closed “E. = Edwards” (Edwards was in Ohio in 1858–59, Doc V, and 1835, Doc Y), and flagged Ephraim as a candidate but noted he was in Ohio in 1835 (married, Doc Y). Neither is cleanly confirmed. This letter doesn’t resolve it, but the strong abolitionism and the gentleman-correspondent network are new identifying traits to match against any “E.” Cranston. Keep the identity open; add the abolitionism and the Corwin connection as search handles.
On the Parks thread: no direct help.
Reading and damage notes: The letter is stained (especially a large ink/water blot on page 3’s left margin) and worn at the folds, but the hand is clear and the text is ~95% legible. “Fort Cild’s” = Fort Childs (early name for Fort Kearny) — a strong authenticating reading. The verso docket is ornate penmanship: “John A. Corwin’s letter / Mr. E. Cranston / written in Indian Territory.” “Benton” and the abolitionist passages are clearly legible. A few connective words at stains are bracketed.
