ALVIN A. COFFEY (Week 2)

ALVIN A. COFFEY



He was a black pioneer who played an eventful role in the ox-team journey over 100 years ago. He wrote a diary in his own words explaining the event.

It started out with Alvin traveling. He explains how he was on a train with many other people. They would stop off in different settlements and pick up more men. They crossed the Missouri river and one of the men had Cholera, he continued to say how much pain the other traveler was in and Dr. Bassett did all he could but he later died. Along with him, Alvin states how more people got the sickness and started dying. "We got news every day that people were dying by the hundreds..." he states. They carried on moving out in order to get out of the area which had the Cholera. 

They had stopped off in many more settlements and before reaching Black Rock, they needed to pass through a dessert. They crossed the dessert at 4'ocklock in the evening. Before getting there, the cattle had perished and even an ox had died, he explains how everything was left in the wagon about 15 miles from Black Rock. Before they had reached Sacramento Valley, he explains how bad the weather conditions were and how bad feeding was. They left a lot of food in the desert so there was not much for them to eat. One of the Ox that was with them gave way about 100 yards from a spring. He was in a lot of pain so Alvin decided that it was best to put the Ox down so it wasn't bawling due to the fact that wolves were eating it alive. Nobody went with him. He explained how he took a double-barrelled shotgun and shot the Ox.

When they got to Sacramento Valley, he explained how people had been divided up into different wagons. Some went to the Vally to get provisions and water and explained how he went a different way. He went to redding Springs, those who were kept on ended up starting dry-digging mining. They dug and dug till the first of November. The nights were rough as it constantly rained and snowed. They had a tent but he noted how bad it was due to the fact that it did not keep him dry. There was eight to twelve in one camp. They cut down trees to make a cabin and within the following weeks, they had somewhere to rest that was dry.


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We are able to gather from sections that he moved to Missouri with the family of his owner, Dr. Besset. He was a slave in the party going to California. Coffey thought this venture was a golden opportunity to make himself enough money to buy his own freedom. By his time in 1854, he was able to save and acquire seven thousand dollars to make the purchase of his freedom and personal liberty in his entire household.