Many diarists can be excused for writing journal entries only on occasional laundry days, at forts, or during Sunday rest stops. Most letters were written at forts, as they could be posted home from there. These letters and diaries were invested with great sentimental value and often became family heirlooms of a sort. Not surprisingly, most diaries remained in Oregon or California with the descendants of their authors, and most letters remained in the East with the descendants of their recipients. It is generally assumed by this time that most diaries and collections of letters have long since been recognized as historically significant and turned over to museums and libraries, but every so often come rumors of a family still holding on to one.
Diaries are extremely valuable resources for researchers.
Many institutions have microfilmed their collections and made them widely available. Collections worth noting include the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Brigham Young University, the Huntington Library in California, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Western History Research Center at Yale University, and the state historical societies of California, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oregon. With a renewal of public interest in the Oregon Trail, diaries are being published in books such as Platte River Narratives and Dr. Ken Holmes' Covered Wagon Women. Publications of historical societies are also excellent sources of diary material. Among the best are the Missouri Historical Review, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Nebraska History, Wisconsin Magazine of History, and the Overland Journal, published by the Oregon-California Trails Association.