This is exactly what it says. The author has reviewed and analyzed a number of diaries written by women who made the journey toward the west coast. First published in 1982, it seems to have been reissued at least twice, and you should be able to find a copy at your library. The author makes the point that most information regarding the Western journey was provided by the men. This book is an attempt to balance that out by focusing as much as possible on the women. Many women either kept diaries on the journey, wrote letters home to family and friends who stayed behind, or later wrote down their remembrances for their descendants.
The book is divided into three main sections, based the time period of the journey – 1841 to 1850, 1850 to 1855, and 1856 to 1867. While the “road” may have been the same, some of the obstacles and experiences differed based on the time frame. The westward journey has been romanticized, but reading the actual words of the people who actually experienced the trip puts it in a more realistic light. The diaries deal with the day to day drudgery of trail life, as well as the beauty of the land, and the dangers as well.
One of the best things about this book are all of the photos. There are photos of the women themselves, family portraits, and pictures of the wagon trains. The other great thing is that she prints four of the diaries she uses in full, at least for the time frame of the author’s journey. She also has a table listing the ninety-six women whose documents were used, and such details as the year of the journey, her age, marital status, and number of children. If you are trying to find a diarist whose journey resembled your ancestor’s, this would be a good place to start. Another place to start would be the bibliography, listed under the title “Overland Diaries and Other Primary Sources”. These sources may have other records that could be useful to the researcher.
If this was your family, how would you research them? Schlissel found most of these diaries in archives. She notes in the introduction that there are some eight hundred diaries and day journals had been published or archived when she wrote the book. More may have been added to the total, and some may have been digitized by now, but local archives, either at the start or the end of your ancestors’ journey would be the best places to look. And even if you don’t find something written by your ancestor, you might find something written by someone who experiences were similar, or who started from the same area your ancestors started out from.