This is an excellent letter written from Lebanon, Oregon after the long trip.  It is from Ephraim Cranston apparently to his brother, Christopher Cranston.  It is quite descriptive of the difficulties on the trip and he provides a nice picture of the country in Oregon compared to Ohio.  It is rather sad, though, because he explains that the distance between them means that they will most likely not see one another for the rest of their lives.

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E. Cranston to “Dear friends and relatives,” Nov 23 / Dec 4, 1851 (Lebanon P.O., Marion Co., Oregon Territory) — addressed to W. B. Cranston Esq., Westville, Champaign Co., Ohio

(An overland-emigration letter on blue laid paper, folded and posted as a stampless cover. Written in two sittings — a main body dated Nov 23, 1851 and a postscript begun “Dec 4th.” Heavy staining and fold-wear; the right edge is cropped on several pages, costing line-ends. The writer’s own insertions are shown with [˄ … ]; deletions struck. Address panel and a “Rec’d Dec 11, 1851” docket on the verso.)

Lebanon P.O. Marion co. O.T. Nov. 23 1851

Dear friends and relatives, we are all here and well every one of us. It has been almost two year[s] since we have seen each other. I should be glad [to] see you all, but in all probability we shall never see each other again in this world[;] there is [˄ a] wide distance between us. After we [˄] left Larime [Laramie] we continued our march over mountains and plain[s] and changing scenery, without interrupt[ion] untill we came to the desert or Greenwood[‘s] cutoff as it is sometimes called[.] I was taken sick [˄ with] the mountain fiver [fever] occasioned mostly I think by putting on thin clothing, the weather had been very warm; but here we had hard frost in the latter part of June[.] while sick some of my oxen died of fatig[ue][.] I would not go the cutoff should I ever go the trip again[.] Roxanna had the camp fever on Snake river[;] the children had good health the entire rout[e][.] Her sickness and mine detained us some[.] In the Cascade mountains we had a cold rain storm whi[ch] turned to snow the night after we decend[ed] them[,] chilling many cattle and horses to death[.] the weather befor[e] for a long time had been very fine, the rain in the mountains was

the first we had had since leaving Larime [Laramie][.] west of the Rocky mountains we had no dew[,] even from Larime to the Cascade mountains it is one barren deser[t] plain interrupted occasionally with here and their [there] a fertile spot or ruged [rugged] mountain[s] as far as I saw. The soil in the Cascade mountains in places is extremely rich, and could you see the dence [dense] forest you would believe all that had [˄ been] said or written [˄ about the] tall Hemlock Fir Pine or Cedar timber in Oregon, Or could you see the tall Firs here it would be sights to you, I paced one old down tree in the mountains which was over 100 paces and long ones at that, the people are all well, [˄ here] but Roxanna she is hemsick [homesick] or sick of her home[.] I have seen but [˄ one] sick person here and he was about[,] had the ague. The soil in this plain is better than I expected to find, it will compare favorably with the best I ever saw any where[,] it is of a dark chockoldate [chocolate] color and very mellow and is covered with a rich coat of grass and is now green and growing[,] it resembles the blue grass. We have [˄ have] had as yet but two frosts and one of them was very light[.] the cattle are all good beef but those which have come throug[h] this season and [˄ they] are thriveing as fast us [as] yours are in June in the best of pasture. Wheat grows here almost of itself[,] the wheat we have [used] was the third crop from one sowing[,] oats and potatoes frequently grow in

the same way[,] all sorts of vegetables grow well[,] fruit trees also do well[.] I saw an appl[e] on a tree not much larger than a riding whip and 20 on one tree no larger than a chair post[.] I heve [have] seen some peach trees, but 3 years old quite full of peaches[.] I have seen Onely [only] Fry her[e] [struck] from Rodusland [Rhode Island?][.] I have the certificate of deposate [deposit] you sent[,] [˄ me] the receipt you gave Timothy Daveport [Davenport] I never got[,] he lost it[.] We are now living on our own land. I want you to close the business with the Mill creek folks as soon as possible and all money in your hands[,] should you not want it[,] put it at interes[t] when [where] it can be got at the shortes notice[,] for when the people here get their [˄ title] I shall want to buy[,] as I cant hold but one half section of land under the donation act. The land is all claimed here but very little improved[.] If I am You will please forward to D[r]. Bailey the subscription price of his paper with my P.O. addres[s] and request him to sen[d] it to me[.] It seems you have all forgot me as none of [you] have writen to me[.] write soon[,] write all the news[.] I should be glad to hear from you all often. I am your Brother, E. Cranston

Since writing the above we have had two light frosts and one light snow in the morning which disappeared very early in the day[.] the weather has been showery. We are all still well[,] have been well sin[ce] we have been here.

[lower, continued:] I got all my horses through but young bet[,] she died on Snake river with som[e] disease[.] We got 21 of our heifers and cows here and 20 oxen[,] the four mares are worth here $800,00 [.] the 41 head of cattle are worth here $40,00 per head at present[,] but cattle are expected to fall[,] they can be raised here cheaper than any place I ever saw. Good by[e] E. Cranston

[Address panel:] Mr. W. B. Cranston Esq., Westville, Champaign co., Ohio [postmark:] Lebanon P.O., O.T., Dec. [4?] [docket in another hand:] Rec’d Dec 11, 1851 — “6” [rate]

Analysis — how Doc R fits the family

This is the most dramatic single document in the collection so far, and it adds a whole branch: a Cranston family that emigrated to Oregon by wagon train in 1851, with a first-person Oregon Trail account.

The writer is “E. Cranston,” and the recipient is “W. B. Cranston” of Champaign County, Ohio. The address — W. B. Cranston Esq., Westville, Champaign Co., Ohio — places the recipient squarely in the family’s known Ohio heartland (Champaign County is the Woodstock/Westville/Urbana cluster the whole Christopher branch occupies; cf. the Doc P notary “Champaign Co.” and Woodstock throughout). So this is one Cranston brother writing home to another from the far frontier. “E. Cranston” signs “I am your Brother.” The recipient W. B. Cranston is acting as E.’s business agent back in Ohio — holding a certificate of deposit, collecting money, closing out “the business with the Mill creek folks.”

W. B. Cranston — a new, important Ohio figure. “W. B. Cranston Esq.” of Westville is addressed as a man of business (handling deposits, interest, land money). The “Esq.” suggests some standing — possibly legal or commercial. He belongs on the family map as a brother of the Oregon emigrant and a resident of Champaign Co. Worth checking whether W. B. connects to the later Woodstock Cranstons (Stephen’s or Christopher’s lines).

New family members named:

• Roxanna — E.’s wife (she had “camp fever on Snake river,” and is “homesick or sick of her home”).
• “the children” — unnamed but healthy the whole route; E.’s children.
• Timothy Davenport — a man who was given a receipt (lost it); a business contact, possibly an Ohio neighbor or fellow emigrant.
• Dr. Bailey — publisher of a newspaper E. wants forwarded to Oregon (likely an Ohio or reform paper; “Dr. Bailey” may be Gamaliel Bailey, the prominent antislavery editor, but that needs checking — could be a local Bailey).
• “young bet” — a horse (Bet) that died on Snake River; not a person.

The journey itself (datable, vivid, and historically rich):

• They emigrated in 1851, the letter written from Lebanon P.O., Marion County, Oregon Territory (the Willamette Valley). Note: Lebanon is today in Linn County, but in 1851 the county lines were different — “Marion co. O.T.” is what he wrote.
• Route markers confirm the standard Oregon Trail: Fort Laramie → Greenwood’s Cutoff (the desert/Sublette Cutoff) → Snake River → Cascade Mountains → Willamette Valley. The printed map you included (Image 5) traces exactly this corridor.
• Trail hardships are textbook and harrowing: mountain fever (E.), camp fever (Roxanna) on the Snake, oxen dying of fatigue, a June hard frost, a cold rain-to-snow storm descending the Cascades that chilled “many cattle and horses to death.” E. regrets taking the cutoff and says he’d never do it again.
• The Donation Land Claim: E. notes “I cant hold but one half section of land under the donation act” — the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, which granted 320 acres to a single settler or 640 to a married couple. This dates and motivates the whole migration: they went for free Willamette Valley farmland. He’s “now living on our own land.”
• The agricultural rhapsody (chocolate-colored soil, wheat self-seeding to a third crop, giant firs, peaches at three years) is classic Oregon booster rhetoric — the same optimism that pulled the migration.

A hard period artifact, again. Like the Louisville essay, this letter carries the era’s racial assumptions in passing — here in its economic frame (free land under a federal act that excluded non-whites). Nothing as explicit as Doc Q, but worth keeping the same editorial sensitivity when presenting it.

On the Parks thread: no direct help. No Parks reference. This is an Ohio→Oregon vector, separate from the Parks/CT line.

Where this sits in the family’s migration map: You now have Cranstons fanning out in every direction from the Champaign Co., Ohio base:

• Kansas (Charles 1858, Josephine 1889, W. Wallace 1907 — Docs H, K, L, N),
• Scotland correspondence (Docs O, I),
• Rhode Island origins (Docs M, P),
• and now Oregon (Doc R, 1851). Josephine, the archivist, kept a letter from the Oregon branch too — consistent with her role as the family’s collector of its scattered diaspora.

Reading notes: the paper is badly stained and several right-hand line-ends are cropped by the image edge, so a handful of words are reconstructed from context (bracketed). “Larime” is E.’s spelling of Laramie throughout; “Greenwood’s cutoff” is his name for what’s usually called Sublette/Greenwood Cutoff. “Rodusland” I read tentatively as Rhode Island (the “Onely Fry … from Rhode Island” passage is genuinely murky — possibly a person named Fry from Rhode Island whom he encountered; flagged uncertain). “Marion co.” for Lebanon is as written, despite the later Linn Co. designation. The recipient’s middle initials are clearly W. B.