Wagon Tracks: George Harter's 1864 Journey to California

This book includes the trip journal kept while George Harter and his family traveled, by mule and wagon, from Omaha, Nebraska to Marysville, California in 1864. The journal has been described as one of the better of those available. Among other detailed trail event descriptions, it is the only known journal to record meeting a camel caravan. In Wyoming they passed the site of a California train massacre, which occurred only a week or two earlier. They were able to talk to one of the few escapees at a nearby military outpost. George describes, in some detail, many of the events and sights encountered along the way. While the family did eventually arrive safely in Marysville, the trip was certainly not event free. In Wagon Tracks, the journal is accompanied by editorial comments and pictures from 2000, when Robert Harter retraced the route taken by George.