Catherine Haun was a young bride when she and her husband "decided to follow the path of the gold rush." In later years she dictated an account of the 1849 journey to her daughter:

It was the fourth of July when we reached the beautiful Laramie River. Its sparkling, pure waters were full of myriads offish that could be caught with scarcely an effort. . . . After dinner that night it was proposed that we celebrate the day and we all heartily join[ed] in. America West was the Goddess of Liberty, Charles Wheeler was orator and Ralph Cushing acted as master of ceremonies. We sang patriotic songs, repeated what little we could of the Declaration of Independence, fired off a gun or two, and gave three cheers for the United States and California Territory in particular! The young folks decorated "themselves in all manner, of...