On June 18, 1850, Micajah Littleton was en route to California and was about 20 miles west of Ft. Kearny and 10 miles east of Plum Creek on the south side of the Platte River. In his diary entry for that day Littleton lists a number of fresh graves that he passed. One of them was "Issac [sic] Gates died June 6th from Geauga Co. Ohio aged 26 years."
The [St. Louis] Missouri Republican of October 7, 1850, p. 3, published a list of new graves located on the trail to California. One of them was "J Gates", age 20, died June 6, 1850, of cholera, about 10 miles west of Ft. Kearny. His home was Geauga Co, OH. The "J" is probably the result of a typesetter mistaking an upper-case "I" as a "J." The age is probably also a typo. As you know, such errors are quite common in old newspapers, especially those dealing with trail deaths.
Based on the two separate observations of his grave and the fact that Gates died more than 200 miles west of the Missouri River (more than 10 days travel by wagon) it seems very likely that the marker in the Gates Cemetery is actually just a memorial or cenotaph and his remains are still in Nebraska. This is a fairly common situation where a memorial marker was erected at home although the deceased remained buried on the trail. Very often, after a generation or two, family knowledge of the actual location of the remains is lost and it *appears* to later descendants that the body was shipped back home for burial because of the presence of the marker. Warm June temperatures would make it impossible to carry a unembalmed body for more than 10 days in a wagon to the Missouri River for shipment back home by riverboat. Without exception, anyone dying on the trail in 1850 more than a day or two west of the river was buried where they died.
The [St. Louis] Missouri Republican of October 7, 1850, p. 3, published a list of new graves located on the trail to California. One of them was "J Gates", age 20, died June 6, 1850, of cholera, about 10 miles west of Ft. Kearny. His home was Geauga Co, OH. The "J" is probably the result of a typesetter mistaking an upper-case "I" as a "J." The age is probably also a typo. As you know, such errors are quite common in old newspapers, especially those dealing with trail deaths.
Based on the two separate observations of his grave and the fact that Gates died more than 200 miles west of the Missouri River (more than 10 days travel by wagon) it seems very likely that the marker in the Gates Cemetery is actually just a memorial or cenotaph and his remains are still in Nebraska. This is a fairly common situation where a memorial marker was erected at home although the deceased remained buried on the trail. Very often, after a generation or two, family knowledge of the actual location of the remains is lost and it *appears* to later descendants that the body was shipped back home for burial because of the presence of the marker. Warm June temperatures would make it impossible to carry a unembalmed body for more than 10 days in a wagon to the Missouri River for shipment back home by riverboat. Without exception, anyone dying on the trail in 1850 more than a day or two west of the river was buried where they died.
On June 18, 1850, Micajah Littleton was en route to California and was about 20 miles west of Ft. Kearny and 10 miles east of Plum Creek on the south side of the Platte River. In his diary entry for that day Littleton lists a number of fresh graves that he passed. One of them was "Issac [sic] Gates died June 6th from Geauga Co. Ohio aged 26 years."
The [St. Louis] Missouri Republican of October 7, 1850, p. 3, published a list of new graves located on the trail to California. One of them was "J Gates", age 20, died June 6, 1850, of cholera, about 10 miles west of Ft. Kearny. His home was Geauga Co, OH. The "J" is probably the result of a typesetter mistaking an upper-case "I" as a "J." The age is probably also a typo. As you know, such errors are quite common in old newspapers, especially those dealing with trail deaths.
Based on the two separate observations of his grave and the fact that Gates died more than 200 miles west of the Missouri River (more than 10 days travel by wagon) it seems very likely that the marker in the Gates Cemetery is actually just a memorial or cenotaph and his remains are still in Nebraska. This is a fairly common situation where a memorial marker was erected at home although the deceased remained buried on the trail. Very often, after a generation or two, family knowledge of the actual location of the remains is lost and it *appears* to later descendants that the body was shipped back home for burial because of the presence of the marker. Warm June temperatures would make it impossible to carry a unembalmed body for more than 10 days in a wagon to the Missouri River for shipment back home by riverboat. Without exception, anyone dying on the trail in 1850 more than a day or two west of the river was buried where they died.
The [St. Louis] Missouri Republican of October 7, 1850, p. 3, published a list of new graves located on the trail to California. One of them was "J Gates", age 20, died June 6, 1850, of cholera, about 10 miles west of Ft. Kearny. His home was Geauga Co, OH. The "J" is probably the result of a typesetter mistaking an upper-case "I" as a "J." The age is probably also a typo. As you know, such errors are quite common in old newspapers, especially those dealing with trail deaths.
Based on the two separate observations of his grave and the fact that Gates died more than 200 miles west of the Missouri River (more than 10 days travel by wagon) it seems very likely that the marker in the Gates Cemetery is actually just a memorial or cenotaph and his remains are still in Nebraska. This is a fairly common situation where a memorial marker was erected at home although the deceased remained buried on the trail. Very often, after a generation or two, family knowledge of the actual location of the remains is lost and it *appears* to later descendants that the body was shipped back home for burial because of the presence of the marker. Warm June temperatures would make it impossible to carry a unembalmed body for more than 10 days in a wagon to the Missouri River for shipment back home by riverboat. Without exception, anyone dying on the trail in 1850 more than a day or two west of the river was buried where they died.
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Died near Fort Kearney?; ag'd 27 yrs 6 mos
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