Original is a handscript leatherbound diary of Justin Chenoweth, which also includes financial accounts. It commences with a narrative account of a trading trip from Darwin, Clark County, Illinois, down the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers with brothers Robert and Charles and continues with a very brief account of travel from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (June 4, 1849) with the U.S. Mounted Rifles, to Oregon City, Oregon (November 15, 1849). The diary concludes with Chenoweth's early experiences in Oregon and Washington, including work as a teacher, mail carrier, and surveyor in Linn City, Oregon City, Cascades, and The Dalles.