This letter was written by Ephraim. Cranston to his brother Christopher Cranston, about 310 miles west of St. Joseph, Missouri near Ft. Kearney, Nebraska.
Diplomatic transcription
New fort Kearney, May 22, 1851
Dear friends we have just ^arrived her all well without the first accident whatever all in good spirit ^after remaining all night ^in a storm without wood to make a fire to get our breakfast with so we ate a cold breakfast this morning. We are about 310 miles from St Joseph Mo We have had a great deal of rain for the last ten days, have seen but six Indians since we crossed the Mo river We expect to cross the Mountains in from four to six weeks, Our teams are improving in speed not one has g[alled] nor a hoof lost belong to our train Frank Sniffin is with us and a good fellow is h[e]
I am Dear friends
yours in great hast
as the teams are movingE. Cranston
Notes on the reading
- “^arrived,” “^after,” “^in” — three interlinear insertions with caret marks, all in the same hand and ink. He wrote fast, reread, and patched.
- “not one has g[alled]” — a hole in the paper takes out the middle of this word. Galled is the near-certain reading: standard teamster usage for an animal chafed raw by the yoke or harness. Paired with “nor a hoof lost,” he’s reporting that his stock is sound — the single most important fact for a wagon captain 310 miles out.
- “Frank Sniffin” — the surname is legible but the initial letter is ambiguous; Griffin is a defensible alternative reading. Worth a footnote rather than a silent choice.
- “and a good fellow is h” — the sentence breaks off mid-word. He meant is he.
- “hast” — his spelling of haste, not an abbreviation.
- “New fort Kearney” — Fort Kearny on the Platte, in present-day Nebraska. The “New” distinguishes it from the original Fort Kearny at Table Creek on the Missouri. His spelling with the e is the common contemporary variant.
- “belong to our train” — reads as written; he dropped the -ing.
One thing the document does that a transcription can’t quite carry: the whole letter is one breath. No paragraph break, almost no punctuation, and it ends with him telling you why — the teams are already moving and he’s writing on the ground with the train pulling out. That’s worth saying aloud in the audio.