James Knox Polk Miller

By the time James Knox Polk Miller began his journey west at the age of nineteen, he had already experienced a lot of the world, even though he had never set foot outside his home state of New York. Orphaned at an early age, James went into business with his guardian and uncle in Clyde, New York. He ran away when a bad argument erupted between them. James left town taking part of the money from the business and leaving behind a large debt.

He began his diary when he arrived in Chicago in 1864. From Chicago he traveled by rail to the river town of St. Joseph, Missouri. St. Joseph was a jumping-off point. It was one of the towns on the Missouri River where pioneers came to be outfitted for the journey...